Finally watching Zootopia!

Over the weekend I was finally able to see probably one of the greatest animations Disney has put out in recent years, Zootopia! And while it is a rockin’ children’s film it is also very culturally relevant and people of all ages have most definitely enjoyed it. I mean went to see this film in theaters about last week and the theater was nearly full. Zootopia has most definitely rekindled my love for watching not only animations but movies in general. Although Zootopia is most definitely a movie for children, there are some jokes that are thrown in there for it’s probably not so intended older audience. Zootopia is more than just a children's movie that is about how any “animal” can be what it wants to be when it grows up but goes into the deeper relations with other “animals” that aren’t like you. The Predator vs. Prey dynamic is a main story element and the way that it is deal with in a way that shows not all Predators are evil at heart but also not all Prey are always innocent. This film shows a a wide range of characters that could easily be from the everyday life and because of this it is easily one of the most relatable Disney Animations to date.

Perspective in "Zootopia"

Walt Disney Animation Studios' new movie Zootopia came out last weekend and was an instant hit at the box office. In its opening weekend, it made more money than Frozen and critics gave it a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes' "Tomatometer." So what makes Zootopia so likable?

Many sources have reported that the movie is made both for kids and adults--which is something I find very common in animated films. What I learned through researching the film (I'm hoping to see it this week or weekend) was that two thirds of the way through, Walt Disney Animation Studios' made a tweak to the story that completely changed it.

Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps

Apparently it was originally supposed to be told from Nick Wilde's perspective. Nick (Jason Bateman) is a fox and low-level criminal that does not like the city of Zootopia. They ultimately changed the film to be told from the perspective of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny who wants to be a police officer and loves living in Zootopia.

Rich Moore, the director of the film explained why the perspective swap was necessary in a Q&A event in St. Louis:

"About two-thirds of the way through production, we changed the story to Judy's story, because Nick, being kind of a cynical character, he didn't like the city of Zootopia. He was kind of oppressed by the city of Zootopia. And in our movies, we want the audience to like the world, not dislike the world. And it was very confusing with our main character as someone who didn't like the city, how do we feel about this world? So we said, let's just try, as an experiment, making Judy the main character--since she's an optimist, she sees the best in everything--let's try making it her story and see what happens."

Based on the estimated $73.7 million made during the opening weekend, I think it's safe to say that this change paid off (literally) in a big way.