A Fable On Racism Gets PG Treatment: Zootopia

The Good: Moments of theme, Some good voicework, Decent animation
The Bad: Predictable reversals, Obvious character arcs, Troubling theme issues
The Basics: Disney's fable Zootopia is well-executed, even when it is obvious and there are issues with the theme.


When it comes to reviewing media works, one of the reasons so many people flock to the early reviews is that any interpretation one reads there is bound to be original. In fact, one of the dangers of reviewing older works - even those only a few months old like the Disney animated film Zootopia - is that a reviewer can find their interpretation of a movie to be one that is entirely derivative. Disney animated films are not my cup of tea all the time, but my wife is a big fan and tends to want to watch all of them - either in the theater or as soon as they hit Blu-Ray and DVD. As a result, I end up watching a lot of Disney movies, even if it is when they drop on DVD. In the case of Zootopia, rather than go too far into my own thoughts on the subject, because I encountered an interpretation of the film that truly hits the nail on the head, it behooves me to reference that instead of desperately trying to rephrase my shared thoughts on the film.

The interpretation of Zootopia that anyone reading reviews of the film ought to see is the "Honest Trailer" for the film. For those unfamiliar with them, "Honest Trailers" are videos produced by Screen Junkies and are humorous clips of a movie that rework the trailer as if the Truth In Advertising Laws applied to the film industry. As a result, Screen Junkies tends to strip away the hype that accompanies trailers - which tend to be loaded with the film's high points and elements that obscure the actual plot and character balance - and replace it with a substantive presentation of what the film is actually about. The "Honest Trailer" for Zootopia absolutely nails the true nature of the movie. In fact, Screen Junkies, in making humor and truth, exposes Zootopia for what it truly is: an animated film that attempts to explore racism and instead becomes something that is terribly racist in itself.

Zootopia is a classic fable - a story using animal characters intended to reveal deeper truths about people. Set in a fictional city called Zootopia, Zootopia features animal characters who live in peace and harmony, despite the fact that the city and its suburbs includes both predators and prey animals. Zootopia uses the diversity of animals in its setting to explore racial stereotypes and it is supposed to teach the viewer that racism is wrong. Unfortunately, Zootopia manages to simply reinforce racist stereotypes for the vast majority of the film. In a world where a young rabbit worries about running afoul of a fox out of ingrained fear that was passed down to her by her parents, that rabbit discovers that the first fox she meets is, in fact, a con man. Despite how they drive, the sloths are slow, the weasels are thieves, the desk sergeant at the police department is a fat, donut-eating glutton, and the polar bears are thugs for the mob, for example. While Zootopia never becomes nearly as offensive as Shark Tale (reviewed here!), it still falls drastically shy of actually confronting and combating racism.

Judy Hopps is a rabbit from Bunny Burrow who takes part in the Mammal Inclusion Initiative to graduate the police academy and get assigned to the animal paradise Zootopia, where predators and prey live together in harmony. Despite her parents' fear of the big city and foxes there who might menace Judy, Hopps heads off to the Zootopia where Chief Bogo assigns her to be a meter maid, as opposed to a beat cop like she was trained to be. Assigned to write 100 tickets a day, she rushes out and gives out 201 tickets before noon before she sees a fox, Nick Wilde. Wilde wants to buy an elephant pop for his son, but the elephant denies him service. Feeling guilty over prejudging Wilde, Hopps buys the fox the frozen dessert before she discovers that he is just running a scam. After parting ways with Wilde, Hopps chases a weasel suspect into Little Rodentia, which earns her the ire of Bogo. Returning to the Zootopia Police Department, she sees Mrs. Otterton trying unsuccessfully to get Bogo to pay attention to her missing person's report for her husband, Emmitt Otterton. Before she can stop him, Hopps volunteers to take the case and help the Ottertons and Bellewether, the deputy mayor, hears her before Bogo can get her off the case.

Chief Bogo challenges Hopps to close the case within 48 hours or quit the police force in disgrace. Looking over a picture of Emmitt Otterton, Hopps realizes that Wilde might be involved in the disappearance and hunts him down. While he is not involved, Hopps deputizes Wilde to help her with the search. The clues take the two to the DMV and then into mob-run Arctic Town. Their search takes them to the limo driver who drove Otterton and discovers that the driver, a jaguar, was attacked by Otterton. The pair makes the discovery right before the jaguar goes savage and attacks them. In the process of following the clues, Judy Hopps uncovers a massive conspiracy in Zootopia.

In many ways, Zootopia is a very typical political conspiracy thriller. The mystery is a medium for jokes about different races - in this case in the form of the various animals of Zootopia - and while it is a generally funny film, it never becomes a caper. Because the plot is a familiar one, the character arcs for Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are very predictable. The reversals in Zootopia are so obvious, they will only entertain children . . . children too young to understand the allegory of interethnic relationships that acts as a the heavy-handed subtext for the movie.

That said, Zootopia moves right along and looks very good. The animation is very well-rendered both for the character designs and the various settings of Zootopia. Zootopia features decent voice acting. Led by Ginnifer Goodwin as Hopps, Zootopia has an impressive cast. Wilde is played by Jason Bateman in a voice acting role that sounds nothing like his speaking voice or any other character he has played. In fact, Bateman sounds like he is doing an impression of Robert Downey Jr. the entire film. With a supporting cast including J.K. Simmons, Idris Elba, Nate Torrence, Shakira and Octavia Spencer, Zootopia features performances that are very expressive all-around.

Racism is a complex issue, but when a work wants to confront the issue well, the key is illustrating that stereotypes are inaccurate representations of a group of people. Zootopia does not do that. While it entertains, it falls dramatically shy of being substantive in the way it desperately seeks to attempt relevance.

For other works with Ginnifer Goodwin, please check out my reviews of:
Walk The Line
He's Just Not That Into You
Once Upon A Time - Season 1
Once Upon A Time - Season 2

7/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Bolt Is A Fun Action Adventure Animated Film That Has Some Real Moments!

The Good: Decent premise, Moments of clever dialogue, Good sense of emotion
The Bad: Very predictable plot format, Disney sidekick conceit
The Basics: Bolt is enjoyable, but not as substantial as some other, more unpredictably character-driven Disney animated films.


Part of the fun of the holidays for me is in giving my wife gifts I know she will like. Because so many of the movies she loves are from Disney, I picked up many Disney movies for her in the last year. The thing is, when I had money to do that, I bulked up on the gifts for her. So, when I planned out her gifts, I wrapped up many of them and put on each one the holiday or event it was intended for. Today when my wife was unwrapping gifts, one of them was a Disney film I had forgotten all about. It was Bolt and it became the first DVD or Blu-Ray I bought my wife for the holiday that she wanted to see. So, we spent some time this afternoon watching Bolt and I have to say I enjoyed it!

Bolt begins as an engaging-enough animated film that becomes less distinctive as the movie goes on. While it bursts right into the plotline in a way that is uncharacteristic of Disney movies, it promises something uncommon. Unfortunately, at the moments that Bolt could truly, fully commit to being a powerful, adult film disguised as an animated movie, it cops out and reverts to being a very predictable, surprisingly obvious Disney kid's movie. That made the movie less satisfying for me as one who loves adult films.

Bolt is a puppy when he comes to live with Penny. Five years later, he is a super-powered dog that helps Penny in her unending quest to find her father again. Bolt is fast, strong and smart and with Penny, he takes on an entire international criminal syndicate. At least, that is what Bolt believes. Actually, Bolt works on a television show, unbeknownst to him. When the network comes in and demands the show retain its important demographic by becoming more depressing and real, the producers of the series feature a cliffhanger episode where Penny is abducted. Penny tries to reassure Bolt, but because the producers need Bolt to believe in the reality of the show, she is forbidden from seeing him after the episode wraps and reassuring him.

Bolt, desperate to find Penny, breaks out of his trailer and begins his search for her. Bolt gets mailed off to New York City where he encounters Mittens, a cat running a protection racket. Out in the real world, Bolt begins to fear what it means that he has lost his powers. Together with Mittens and a bubble-ball ensnared hamster, Rhino, Bolt learns to beg and works to get back to Hollywood and his beloved friend Penny!

The road trip movie is hardly a new thing for a Disney animated film. They do that type of character journey on about half of their films and Bolt offers nothing truly new. Bolt is an uncharacteristic action-adventure film with minimal comedy at the outset. What comedy there is in Bolt is slapstick, usually Bolt running into doors, windows and the like. That humor gets repetitive and seems specifically designed to get back the children that are mortgaged by the direct, action, drama aspects that lead the film.

The other big Disney conceit comes in the form of Muffin and Rhino. Disney movies seldom have the character developing on their own. Instead, they need sounding boards and that dependence upon these stock characters is troubling. In Bolt, while Muffin is interesting, Rhino quickly comes across as a very basic, generic sidekick. His lines are not terribly funny, though he is performed as a manic, over-the-top, sidekick who is responsible more for catchphrases than character growth.

Bolt is performed by a surprisingly limited cast for a Disney film. John Travolta takes the voicing of Bolt like a champ, though the musical number during the closing credits did not exactly help to sustain his post-Pulp Fiction comeback. Miley Cyrus voices Penny without real distinction, so it is hard to see why Disney tapped her for the project other than the fact she was probably already on the lot when the movie was being produced. Malcolm McDowell and Diedrich Bader provide distinctive vocals as Dr. Calico and one of the cats, but other major roles, like Mittens and Rhino are voiced by the comparative unknowns, Susie Essman and Mark Walton, respectively.

On DVD, Bolt comes with behind-the-scenes featurettes and some decent additional cartoons, like the one where Rhino is added to the television show that Bolt is a part of! The bonus features are cute and informative, making the DVD a worthwhile buy. Despite the Disney conceits and the sacrifice of the more adult moments that open the film, Bolt is very entertaining and worth picking up.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Monsters, Inc.
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

7/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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An Overbearing Mother's Wildest Dreams (With Music): Tangled Is Simple And Direct!

The Good: Interesting characters, Fun (visually and musically), Decent voice acting.
The Bad: Musically unmemorable, 3-D effects are unimpressive, Plot/Moral messages trend too far toward the safe and conservative.
The Basics: Disney's latest animated feature, Tangled is pleasantly direct, delightfully goofy and annoyingly predictable at moments when it could stretch toward the audacious.


As one who loathes some of the business practices of the company, I've given a disturbing amount of money to Disney this year. I'm not talking about the subtle takeovers of the company like Lost or Iron Man 2, but rather the straight, unabashed Disney products that I usually wouldn't spend money on. I felt I had to see the 3-D versions of Alice In Wonderland (reviewed here!) and Toy Story 3 (reviewed here!) after seeing preview screenings in 2-D and I knew the company was going to end the year well with Tron: Legacy. I forgot, strangely because I had seen so very many previews of it, that they still had Tangled coming out. Last night, after making a new addition to our family (more about that very soon!), my wife took me out to the movies for Tangled.

Here I feel it behooves me to mention some things about my reviews and the way I rate. While a ten point scale might be pretty clear to most, and my index page where those numbers illustrate comparatively what I think about movies makes my pantheon a whole lot clearer, the nuance of it is sometimes less clear. Obviously, the extreme ends of the scale 9-10, 1 - 0 are for the absolute best and absolute worst films. But "average" is a wider number than I think most people consider and in my scale it probably ranges from 4 - 6.5. In other words, 6.5 is not bad, it is the best of works which might dazzle in one way shape or form, but might be a bit more predictable or pedestrian in other ways. With Tangled, it had a lot to overcome with this viewer to get to a 6.5 and yet, it made it there and the truth is, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. But it is not flawless and the flaws actually reminded me far too much of why I don't usually like Disney movies.

In a magical kingdom, the daughter of a benevolent king and queen - Rapunzel - is bestowed with magical healing powers. Gothel, who is terrified of losing her youth and yet is feeling the effects of her age, steals the baby Rapunzel away and hides her in a remote tower. There, she raises her as a daughter and uses Rapunzel's healing hair (activated through song) to keep the girl emotionally enslaved and physically isolated from the world. But, as her eighteenth birthday approaches, Rapunzel becomes obsessed with an annual display of lights which is launched from nearby in the kingdom which she knows happens each year on her birthday. When Mother Gothel refuses to let her out of the castle for that, Rapunzel is distraught.

Enter Flynn Rider, rogue and thief, who has stolen the jeweled crown of the kingdom. As he flees the law, a bloodhound-like horse Maximus, and the two thugs with whom he did the operation, he discovers Rapunzel's tower and enters it. There he is captured by Rapunzel - who knocks him unconscious - and his satchel with the crown is taken. Rapunzel offers him a simple deal; he will get his crown back after he takes her to the lantern festival. With no other options, Flynn sets out with Rapunzel, though he tries to scare her out of the whole adventure. But Mother Gothel is hot on their trail and she sees an opportunity to get Rapunzel back into the tower through force, guile and emotional manipulation. As Rapunzel grows more confident, Flynn finds there is more to like about the young woman.

Tangled is, in many ways, a very obvious hero story. The heroine, Rapunzel, is instantly likable and easy to empathize with. Whether she knows it or not, she is a victim of emotional abuse (the song "Mother Knows Best" adequately explores Gothel's campaign of fear used to keep Rapunzel in line) and her confidence is undermined at the outset. Despite her friendship with her pet chameleon, Rapunzel has a lonely life as Gothel comes and goes (using Rapunzel's 70 ft. long hair) while she is kept a prisoner. But even from the outset, Rapunzel has strong goals of her own and she is very expressive about them. So, it is easy to see her as a young woman who is not the stereotypical milquetoast Disney princess who is simply waiting for a man to come along to rescue her.

Moreover, Rapunzel has more strength than Gothel knows and while her naivete allows her to survive an encounter with the worst ruffians in the land, she actually has a force of character that is enviable. Rapunzel, not a simple hero, not a complete victim, takes charge of her own destiny by taking Flynn Rider and making demands of him. In this way, she is expressive about her wants and needs and the moment she takes control of her life, she becomes an exceptional role model.

Rapunzel is also presented with a realism that is decent for her emotions as well. While it is presented in a laughable way, when Rapunzel leaves the tower with Flynn, she has an exceptional feeling of conflict. She is terrified she has ruined her relationship with her "mother," but she is elated by the sudden freedom and the strength that comes with being a self-determined individual. That plays well and is a positive message.

Unfortunately, what might be argued to be a decent feminist message from a Disney film is all undermined in the final five minutes of the movie. While I shall not spoil the classic tale ending, I will state that the movie makes a move toward the surprisingly audacious both in terms of what is shown and what the final voiceover states. But then, writer Dan Fogelman takes a huge leap back to pre-Sexual Revolution politics and with the final voiceover undermines the real strength of Rapunzel's character. The most annoying thing about it is there seems to be no actual reason why Fogelman guts a fairly liberal (or what should have been liberal fifty years ago) idea. It's no funnier, it's no more clever and it's no more character-building with the final change and thus, it just seems like shallow Disney propaganda.

That said, the only other serious problems with Tangled are that it seems to want to be a musical, though characters seldom break into song, and the film is entirely predictable. Tangled does not have a ton of songs in them and while the ode to abusive matriarchs is catchy, it is hardly the popular hit Disney was known for in my teen years. The musical numbers are fun, but they seem a stretch in some places more than organic to the story or even musical. Similarly, the plot is very predictable and surprisingly linear. Beyond being a simple fairy tale, Tangled makes effort not to stray into the surprising. Indeed, the most surprising aspect of Tangled is arguably that the ruffians all want to be artists and lovers of one form or another. I suppose Tangled could actually be seen as a subtle argument for the importance of the National Endowment Of The Arts, but I suspect that is giving too much credit to a gag.

The 3-D effects in Tangled are minimal and are not nearly as impressive as some of the other films I've seen using that technology this year (or in prior years). So, those considering shelling out for the big ticket, I'd recommend save the few extra bucks. Nothing will be lost seeing this in 2-D.

Tangled is brought alive through vibrant colors and some truly wonderful voice acting. Zachary Levi, whose work I was almost entirely unfamiliar with before seeing this movie, has a great voice to embody the suave Flynn Rider and he plays the role well. His deliveries are good and the animation that accompanies it is appropriately gallant. The more adult performers - Donna Murphy (Gothel), Ron Perlman (one of the thugs Flynn pulls off the initial heist with), M.C. Gainey (the guard who is tracking Flynn), Jeffrey Tambor, Brad Garrett, and Richard Kiel - all perform well within what is expected of them, especially for supporting roles. They embody their characters through voice acting well and directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard get performances out of them that are unsurprising.

As well, lead Mandy Moore is unsurprising as Rapunzel. I write "unsurprising" because as far as I'm concerned, Moore has already cut her acting chops on American Dreamz and Saved! In other words, she is no longer fighting for legitimacy as an actress, so when she makes the wide-eyed, longhaired Rapunzel come to life through the power of her voice, we are not surprised. We are pleased she has continued to confound expectations of anyone who popped up as a pop star during the same rise as Britney Spears. Mandy Moore is fabulous and Tangled is just another notch on what will undoubtedly be a long resume.

Tangled might not be indispensable to see on the big screen, but it is certainly worth seeing. It is fun and while it is annoyingly predictable, it does it well. Very child-safe, Tangled is arguably the family movie of this holiday season.

For other films currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
Love And Other Drugs
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 1
The Next Three Days

6.5/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts.  May not be reprinted without permission.


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