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Welcome to the urban jungle.
―Tagline

Zootopia (also known as Zootropolis or Zoomania in various regions) is a computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is directed by Byron Howard, co-director of Tangled, and Rich Moore, director of Wreck-It Ralph with Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero co-creator Jared Bush as co-director, and is the 55th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was released on March 4, 2016.[1]

Development

Byron Howard directed a comedy adventure film with a working title Zootopia. The film, written by Jared Bush, was scheduled for 2016. It tells a story about a fast-talking fox, named Nick Wilde, who lives in an animal city of Zootopia, divided in neighbourhoods like TundratownSahara SquareLittle Rodentia, and Bunnyburrow. Wilde "goes on the run when he's framed for a crime he didn't commit. Zootopia's top cop, a self-righteous rabbit, named Lt. Judy Hopps, is hot on his tail, but when both become targets of a conspiracy, they're forced to team up and discover even natural enemies can become best friends."

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During early development, the film was to feature a male rabbit named Jack Savage, but was changed to a fox named Nick Wilde, because the name "Jack Savage" was already being used in the cancelled film Gigantic.

Zootopia was to be different from other animal anthropomorphic films, where animals either live in the natural world or in the human world. The concept, where animals live in a modern world designed by animals, was well received by John Lasseter, who lifted Howard "in the air like a baby Simba," when he proposed the idea for the film.

The film was to feature Nick helping Judy to solve a case of shock collars, but it was deemed too violent for a PG-rated Disney movie. When Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore was hired to direct the movie with Howard, the film changed to Judy Hopps' plot. In the final film, Judy solves a case about predators that are mysteriously reverting back to their savage ways.

Plot

Zootopia is a gleaming metropolis populated by anthropomorphic mammals, divided into several districts including Savanna Central, Sahara Square, Tundratown, Little Rodentia, and Rainforest District, each one home to countless species of mammals specifically adapted to these environments. The code of the community is “Anyone can be anything”.

Judy fast walking

Judy arriving in Zootopia

The film begins in a treacherous jungle which fades into a children's play about the history of Zootopia where three children reveal their lifelong dreams and future careers. Among them is Judy Hopps, a 9-year-old optimistic rabbit from rural Bunnyburrow, who reveals her dream of joining the Zootopia Police Department as its very first rabbit officer. Her parents, Bonnie and Stu, are unsupportive, saying that could very well be impossible, and suggest she embrace the blissful complacency of becoming a carrot farmer instead. Nonetheless, she refuses to give up without a fight, and proves her mettle and commitment to such a dream when she defends her friends from the local bully, Gideon Grey.

15 years later, Judy, now 24 years old, is officially a cadet at the Zootopia police academy. Her training proves difficult at best, as the courses are built for much larger mammals and not designed for the athletic prowess of lagomorphs in mind. However, with sharp wits, determination, and perseverance, she passes all her tests with flying colors, graduating at the top of her class. At graduation, the Mayor of Zootopia, Leodore Lionheart, is pleased to announce that his new Mammal Inclusion Initiative has produced it’s first police academy graduate in the form of Officer Judy Hopps and takes great honor in assigning her to Precinct 1 in the heart of Zootopia.

On her first day, Chief Bogo, the Cape buffalo chief of police with an “I-don’t-care” attitude, explains that 14 mammals have disappeared without a trace and he assigns everybody, except Judy, a case to solve in different sections of the city while he assigns her to parking duty. During her shift, she encounters Nick Wilde, a con artist fox, who tricks her.

Zootopia-15

"You strike out, you resign."

The next day, Judy unlawfully arrests Duke Weaselton in Little Rodentia and is reprimanded by Bogo. She tries to tell him she dreams of being a real cop, but he refuses to hear any of it and callously tells her that her dreams are not worth pursuing as far as he cares. Just then, Mrs. Otterton, an otter, arrives pleading for help in locating her missing husband, one of the many recently missing mammals. Judy volunteers to find him and Assistant Mayor Bellwether praises her for taking the case, much to Bogo's dismay. Left with no other choice, Bogo makes a deal with Judy: she will resign if she cannot solve the case within 48 hours. With Nick as a key witness of Mr. Otterton's disappearance, Judy locates the fox and coerces him to assist her with the investigation lest he be charged with tax evasion, to which he openly admitted and Judy recorded with her carrot pen.

After acquiring Mr. Otterton's license plate number from Mystic Springs Oasis, Judy and Nick track the vehicle from the Department of Mammal Vehicles to a limousine service in Tundratown. When they get there, Nick realizes this very limo is owned by Mr. Big, a feared crime boss who hates Nick, and the two of them are captured by two of his polar bear henchmen. Mr. Big, an arctic shrew, spares their lives after learning that Judy had saved his daughter earlier and informs the pair that Mr. Otterton is his florist and had gone savage - reverted to a feral state - and attacked his chauffeur Manchas, a black jaguar.

Screenshot 80

"Nick, you are so much more than that."

Judy and Nick locate Manchas at his home in the Rainforest District. Manchas describes the attack on him and mentions that Otterton had been yelling about "night howlers". However, before he can reveal anything else, Manchas himself suddenly goes savage and chases the pair through the Rainforest District. Judy calls the ZPD for help and they escape Manchas’s deadly jaws by chaining him to a lamppost and swinging out from the vines. Just when it looks like they’re about to plummet to their deaths, they wind up tangled in vines at the foot of Bogo and his reinforcements arrive. She explains what she’s learned thus far, but when she takes him back up to where they trapped Manchas, he is nowhere to be found. With no evidence to back up her case, unwilling to hear any witness statements from Nick, and believing her two days to find Mr. Otterton have expired, Bogo reminds her of the deal they made and demands Judy to resign at once. All hope seems lost, but Nick takes a stand, citing Bogo's pessimistic lack of faith in her due to his baseless bigotry is what nearly proved fatal on his part under these circumstances. Nick seals the deal by reminding him of the technicality that he gave Judy 48 hours, not 2 days, to solve this case, insisting they still have 10 more hours to find Otterton. With that, they head for the sky tram without saying another word. As the pair leave the Rainforest District, Nick opens up to Judy, revealing that he always wanted to have friends and be part of a team (most notably, as a junior ranger scout), but never had a fair chance because he was bullied by prey animals as a kit for being stereotyped as a shifty and untrustworthy fox. With that, he locked away his softer side and subsequently became a con artist, resolving to live out the "sly fox" stereotype, as no one saw a fox as capable of being anything else. When Judy empathizes with Nick, he tries to awkwardly redirect attention to the traffic jam below. However, doing so makes them notice the security cameras all over the place. Nick realizes that the city's traffic camera network may have captured how Manchas disappeared, and the pair consult Bellwether at city hall.

Judy Recording Mayor L

Judy recording Mayor Lionheart

While she works to help them, she confides in them that her mundane job as the Assistant Mayor of Zootopia is really nothing but a glorified secretary - she does all of Mayor Lionheart’s busy work while he takes all the credit and glory for any if at all of the important things Bellwether actually does. They then discover Manchas was captured by timberwolves just as they swung from the vines, which Judy assumes is what Mr. Otterton had meant by "night howlers". The two of them subsequently conclude they also took Otterton and they track the rest of their movement through the traffic cam recordings.

Judy and Nick find their hideout at Cliffside Asylum, an abandoned sanitarium that has recently been recommissioned. With Judy’s cleverness, they’re able to sneak past the guards and infiltrate the facility. Judy uses her phone to document everything they find, including brand new medical equipment and they discover all the missing mammals (including Mr. Otterton and Manchas) are all contained in this very stronghold, all of which have gone savage. During their investigation, they also discover Mayor Lionheart consulting with a doctor about their condition, revealing that he has been secretly rounding up all the savaged predators and illegally imprisoning them to prevent citywide panic, and by extension of him being a lion, the loss of his reputation. The pair narrowly escape with documented evidence and warn Bogo. The police then swarm the area, arresting Lionheart and those involved.

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Judy reaches on instinct for her fox repellent

The next morning, a press conference is held at the precinct where Judy is to be the keynote speaker. While Bogo addresses the crowd first, Nick helps Judy overcome her present stage fright. Having developed a deep and meaningful friendship with Nick throughout the course of their adventure, Judy offers him a chance for redemption at the ZPD as her partner, which Nick happily considers. She hands him an application form and seals the deal on the trust she has in him by handing him the carrot pen. However, when the time comes for her to address the public, Judy is pressured to the point where she describes the savaged mammals' condition as them reverting back to their "primitive savage ways", which effectively and categorically labels all predatory animals as predisposed savages. This also seemingly confirms Judy's secret bigotry against foxes to Nick. When she finishes her statements and returns to Nick, he confronts her, demanding to know if any of the trust he thought they established is real. He puts it to the test and when she instinctively reaches for the fox repellent (which he had known she had in her possession from the very first infinitesimal second they met in the ice cream shop), he is gravely disappointed to have all the confirmation he needs to believe that they were never friends. He morosely hands her back the employment application form fully filled out and walks out on her offer, deciding for both of them that she should never have a predator as a partner. When fear and discrimination against predators spreads across Zootopia, pop star Gazelle holds a peaceful protest and publicly asks for the harmonious Zootopia she loves and cherishes to be restored. During this time, Judy and Bogo are summoned to the Mayor's office and she begins to see the damage she's caused; Clawhauser is being transferred to records downstairs due to all the civil unrest regarding predators, believing that one such as himself shouldn't be the first made apparent in a police precinct. In City Hall, the newly appointed Mayor Bellwether explains to Judy what she represents to those who fear for their lives against the predators and offers her the opportunity to be the public face of the ZPD. However, Judy denounces the civil unrest she incited as anything but heroic and reminds both Bellwether and Bogo of the sacred oath she swore as an official officer of the law to serve and protect the city above all else. Racked with guilt over violating her oath, she outright resigns from the ZPD and walks out on both of them altogether.

Zootopia Nick hugs Judy

Nick forgives Judy

Returning to Bunnyburrow, a depressed Judy rejoins the family business as a carrot farmer. However, she later learns from her parents and reformed childhood bully, fox Gideon Grey, that "night howlers" are toxic flowers that have severe psychotropic effects on mammals. Realizing they are the last piece to the puzzle Judy was missing from her case all along, Judy returns to Zootopia and searches for Nick. When she finds him, she tells him she believes predators are being targeted and subjected to going savage against their will. At first, Nick wants no part of her or her investigation after the way she hurt him. She tearfully apologizes to him and swears to make things right if he helps her clean up the mess she made. After Nick forgives Judy, they successfully reconcile and set sail, planning to follow the night howlers to their culprit. They then locate Weaselton, who explains that he has been collecting night howlers and selling them to a ram named Doug, who runs a secret underground laboratory built out of a derelict subway car.

Evil Bellwether

Bellwether's true side is revealed

The pair find the lab and discover Doug creating a night howler serum which he has been injecting into predators via paintball-like pellets fired by an air-powered sniper gun. Judy and Nick manage to incapacitate him and activate the train car intent on racing it back to the ZPD with the evidence. They fight off Doug's henchmen, but the skirmish ends with the pair crashing the car into a dead end subway station and it explodes with everything in it. All hope for their case is lost before Nick reveals he managed to save the case containing the paintball cannon and a sample of the serum. Judy and Nick cut through the Natural History Museum and race for the ZPD in their sights. Just short of the ZPD, they encounter Mayor Bellwether who insists on taking the evidence. However, Judy refuses when Bellwether has no explanation for how she knew where she and Nick were at that exact moment and continue on to the ZPD. When another ram thug is standing in their way, Nick and Judy make a run for it, realizing she has been the culprit the entire time, but Judy's mobility is impeded when she clips her leg hard on one of the museum pieces. They try to escape but are knocked into a pit by Bellwether’s henchram. With them both at her mercy, Bellwether shoots a night howler dart from the evidence case at Nick and frames a call for help to the ZPD. Nick turns savage and corners Judy while Bellwether confirms all of Judy's suspicions by relaying her master plan; incite prey-supremacy to take over Zootopia and rid it of all predators while she remains in power. Just as Bellwether appears to be watching Judy's demise at Nick's hand, they reveal themselves to have been pretending the entire time and the dart gun ammo replaced with blueberries from the Hopps' farm. Bellwether furiously threatens to frame the pair, like she framed Lionheart, but Judy reveals the full extent of the trap they set with Bellwether's monologue of her openly confessing to terrorizing Zootopia this whole time recorded on Judy's carrot pen as Chief Bogo and the ZPD arrive just in time to arrest Bellwether and her henchrams. Upon being informed and interviewed on the matter, Lionheart denies any knowledge of Bellwether's plot, but admits to having illegally imprisoned the savage predators for the sole purpose of protecting the city, claiming it to have been the wrong thing for the right reason.

NickandJudyasCops

Judy and Nick as partners

The predator/prey racism subsides as an antidote is discovered for the effects of the night howlers and all the infected predators, including Mr. Otterton and Mr. Manchas, are cured and rehabilitated. Months later, Judy is reinstated back in her place among the ZPD, and she acts as the keynote speaker addressing the newest police academy graduates, of which Nick is amongst. As she pins on Nick's badge, she announces that Zootopia may not be as perfect as advertised, but the effort to make it so is worth the struggle as long as there are still animals out there who believe in every bit of the community the city stands for and change starts with everyone. Nick, now a full-fledged member of the ZPD as the first fox officer and Judy's partner, patrols the streets with her, keeping predators and prey alike safe.

The final scene has almost all of Zootopia attending a concert from Gazelle while Bellwether angrily watches it on television from prison.

Transcript

For a full transcript of Zootopia, click here.

Credits

For a full cast & crew of Zootopia, click here.

Top Billed Cast

  • Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, the protagonist. She is an enthusiastic optimist rabbit who wants nothing more than to be a member of the ZPD. Along with Nick Wilde, she cracks the biggest case of all time.
  • Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, the deuteragonist. He is a backwater streetwise fox who knows Zootopia like the back of his paw. He reluctantly joins Judy Hopps to crack the case of the missing mammals.
  • Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, the tritagonist. He is a pessimistic Cape buffalo, the Chief of Police, and Judy's boss. He allows the rabbit 48 hours to solve the case of the missing mammals, or else she resigns, to which she agrees.
  • Jenny Slate as Assistant Mayor Bellwether, the hidden main antagonist. She is a diminutive sheep who is a slight pushover and the assistant mayor of Zootopia. She has secretly been terrorizing Zootopia by subjecting random predators to going savage in her efforts to achieve equal rights for prey animals, such as herself.
  • Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, a supporting character. He is an obese cheetah who’s love of donuts is matched only by Gazelle. He assists Judy in her case, presenting her with info she needs.
  • Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps, the mother of Judy. She is a caring rabbit who supports her daughter, but fears for her too.
  • Don Lake as Stu Hopps, the father of Judy and a carrot farmer. He is a nervous, but kindhearted rabbit who is a bit overprotective of Judy.
  • Tommy Chong as Yax, a supporting character. He is a laid-back yak who is the owner of The Mystic Spring Oasis, a naturalist club.
  • J. K. Simmons as Mayor Lionheart, a supporting character. He is the pompous, but noble mayor of Zootopia.
  • Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Otterton, a supporting character. She is a concerned North American river otter whose husband, Emmitt Otterton, has gone missing.
  • Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton, a supporting antagonist. He is a small-time least weasel crook who runs a bootleg DVD stand.
  • Shakira as Gazelle, a pop star. She is Zootopia's resident celebrity and a mammal rights activist.

Characters

For a full list of characters, click here.

Additional Voices

  • John Lavelle - Additional voices
  • Bob Bergen - Additional voices
  • Dave Boat - Additional voices
  • David Cowgill - Additional voices
  • Eddie Frierson - Additional voices
  • Elisa Gabrielli - Additional voices
  • Spencer Ganus - Additional voices
  • Jackie Gonneau - Additional voices
  • Nicholas Guest - Additional voices
  • Jess Harnell - Additional voices
  • Bridget Hoffman - Additional voices
  • John Kassir - Additional voices
  • Daniel Kaz - Additional voices
  • Marcella Lentz-Pope - Additional voices
  • Yuri Lowenthal - Additional voices
  • Mona Marshall - Additional voices
  • Scott Menville - Additional voices
  • Paul Pape - Additional voices
  • Phil Proctor - Additional voices
  • Lynwood Robinson - Additional voices
  • Patrick Seitz - Additional voices
  • Lloyd Sherr - Additional voices
  • Shane Sweet - Additional voices
  • Kari Wahlgren - Additional voices

Music

Michael Giacchino, who had previously composed scores for Pixar, composed the film's score. This film marked Giacchino's first feature-length project for Walt Disney Animation Studios. "Try Everything", an original song by pop star Shakira, also contributed to the films soundtrack; the song was written by Sia and Stargate. Shakira also voices the character of Gazelle, who performs the song in the film. The song was used in the third promotional trailer for the film. The film's score was recorded with an 80-piece orchestra in November 2015, with Tim Simonec conducting.

John Lasseter instructed Giacchino that he wanted the score to have a "world music" vibe. Giacchino explained: "Basically, the idea for this film was to bring a bunch of weird sounds together. John kind of challenged me to go out and find exotic things." Bernie Dressel, the drummer for the score, created a custom drum kit with a kick drum and toms made from old washtubs.

Release

For undisclosed reasons, Zootopia’s theatrical debut varied widely across multiple countries and regions. Despite being an American film, in the United States Zootopia opened in theaters on March 4, 2016, three weeks before Denmark where the film made its worldwide debut under its European title Zootropolis, and gradually opening in many other countries before the United States.

International releases

Release date Country/region
February 11, 2016 Denmark
February 12, 2016 Spain
February 14, 2016 Belgium
February 17, 2016 France, Indonesia, Netherlands, Philippines
February 18, 2016 Argentina, Chile, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Uruguay
February 19, 2016 Poland, Venezuela, Vietnam
February 24, 2016 Sweden
February 25, 2016 Cambodia, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand
February 26, 2016 Iceland, Norway, Taiwan
March 3, 2016 Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates
March 4, 2016 Bulgaria, Canada, People's Republic of China (except Hong Kong), Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Pakistan, South Africa, United States
March 17, 2016 Australia, Brazil, Ukraine
March 18, 2016 Ireland
March 24, 2016 Hong Kong, Israel
March 25, 2016 United Kingdom
April 7, 2016 New Zealand
April 23, 2016 Japan
June 10, 2016 Turkey

Marketing

On June 11, 2015, the first official teaser trailer was released theatrically alongside Pixar's Inside Out and online at  Walt Disney Animation Studios' YouTube page.

On November 23, 2015, the second teaser trailer was released, this time featuring a large sequence from the film where the main characters encounter a Department of Mammal Vehicles (based on the Department of Motor Vehicles) run entirely by sloths, online once again at the Walt Disney Animation Studios' YouTube page and theatrically alongside Pixar's The Good Dinosaur.

Disney released the official trailer for the film on New Years Eve 2015, online at Walt Disney Animation Studios' YouTube page.

Home Media

Zootopia was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and DVD on June 7, 2016. Bonus features include the Try Everything music video, Scoretopia featurette, and extras exclusive to the Blu-ray release.

Video Games

Judy and Nick are playable characters in Disney Infinity: 3.0 Edition, retaining their police and meter maid outfits, respectively.

Judy and Nick are also featured in Disney Crossy Road and Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ, the latter of which has since been renamed Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross].

A mobile game, Zootopia: Crime Files, was released. It takes place after the events of the film.

Another mobile game, Zootopia Dash, a game sponsored by Target, was released. Judy, Nick, and Yax are playable.

Online games were released at Disney's website.

Sequel

On February 8, 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during the year's Q1 earnings call that a sequel to Zootopia is currently in development and is set for release on November 26, 2025.

Trivia

  • Zootopia was first announced on August 9th at the 2013 D23 Expo.
  • There is a poster for Zootopia in Disney's Big Hero 6 (2014) when Baymax and Hiro fly under the train tracks.
  • With a running time of 108 minutes, Zootopia is the third longest Disney animated film behind Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018) at 112 minutes and Fantasia (1940) at 126 minutes.
  • This is the third film in the Disney Animated Features canon to have anthropomorphic animals with no humans or non-anthropomorphic animals. The other two being Robin Hood (1973) and Chicken Little (2005).
  • Zootopia became the 26th film (and the 24th to do so in its initial release) and the 11th Disney film to reach $1 billion worldwide.
    • Zootopia is also the fourth animated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide. The three that reached the $1 billion mark before it were Toy Story 3 (2010), Frozen (2013), and Minions (2015).
      • The film grossed $1.023 billion worldwide, which made it at the time of its release the 24th highest-grossing film of all time and the fourth highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind Frozen, Minions and Toy Story 3). It is currently the 44th highest-grossing film of all time and the ninth highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind Frozen II, Frozen, Incredibles 2, Minions, Toy Story 4, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me 3, and Finding Dory).
  • "Zootopia" is a play on the word "Utopia", which refers to an imagined place or state of things being perfect. Likewise, "Zootropolis" is also a play on the word "metropolis", which refers to the capital or chief city of a country or region. In essence, the word "Zootropolis" can also be interpreted to mean a capital city of animals.

See Also

Script

Credits

Easter Eggs

Mistakes

Awards

Wikipedia

Gallery

Wiki-wordmark
Zootopia Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Zootopia which can be found at
Zootopia/Gallery.

Videos

References

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