Since its release in March of 2016, critics have weighed in on the ethics of the political agenda hidden within this Disney film. Zootopia, a movie intended for children, tells the story of a young bunny with ambitions of becoming a police officer, and a sly fox who become unlikely friends while trying to solve a criminal case. Taking place in a utopian world in which predators and prey live in harmony, Zootopia uses animal metaphors to teach children the importance of equality and kindness, while simultaneously commenting on prejudice and race relations. For children, Zootopia is a valuable lesson that the world is better when everyone is living together, no different than a fairy tale. For older audiences, however, the political nuances of …show more content…
This Disney movie addresses the harmfulness of stereotypes and cautions against stereotyping through the characters of the film. Unlike most children’s films, where dark, ferocious beasts play the villains, a seemingly meek lamb is the evil mastermind of Zootopia. Officer Hopps originally underestimates Assistant Mayor Bellwether, driving home the lesson that thinking in terms of stereotypes can lead to bad conclusions and bad situations. Film critic, E. Oliver Whitney, claims, “The biggest strength of Zootopia is in how it acknowledges all identities are capable of carrying prejudice and wielding judgement, yet the first step toward change is awareness” (Whitney). This is a message that translates across all audiences of the …show more content…
Critics of the film complain that Zootopia blurs the lines of race relations and that the film falls apart on a level that correlates with reality. Pointing out the movie’s suggestion that, prey animals were right to be suspicious of animals at one point, an incredibly troubling fact when applied to the real world, considering many viewers interpret the predators as representing minority groups such as African Americans. One review summarizes the problem with Zootopia as, “The film’s unspoken (and likely unconsidered) message is that the minorities were once dangerous but have now been civilized” (Faraci). The problem adults have with Zootopia is that the allegory does not match with the problems of the real world and have not considered that the creators of the film did not intend for the film to have a direct, allegorical relationship with