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  • Zootopia is hardly the first kids movie to appeal to adults, but what stands out

  • about Zooptia is that it tackles adult topics that family films usually avoid:

  • racism, sexism, bigotry, and drugs.

  • [Crazy world are you living in where you think a bunny

  • could be a cop]

  • Of course none of these terms is ever expressly named.

  • The movie uses metaphor and analogy

  • so that kids can grasp the underlying point, while

  • adults also might learn a fresh approach to controversial issues,

  • and you'd never call Zootopia gritty, heavy, or moralizing

  • because it pulls all this off while while still feeling light, entertaining, and heartfelt.

  • Even before the film's release,

  • Zootopia was already making strides to draw in a more mature crowd.

  • Many of their promotional pieces were parodies of film posters for R-rated films such

  • as The Big Short, The Revenant and Mad Max Fury Road.

  • On the primary level, Zootopia is an allegory about prejudice.

  • [The next time you think you

  • will ever be anything more than just a stupid carrot farm and dumb bunny]

  • The way that the Zootopia animal society is structured mirrors our real-world racial tensions.

  • The city is made up of 90% prey and 10% predator.

  • [Vicious Predator or Meek Prey]

  • Even though the prey is the vast majority and thus protected by social

  • institutions, the minority, the predators, are made out to be feared.

  • Authorities and power, who are part of the majority, vilify the predators, highlighting

  • their physical strength and different looks.

  • There's also a clear segregation

  • that takes place as animals are separated by species

  • and businesses turn away certain kinds.

  • [We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.]

  • [Very first rabbit officer: Judy Hopps/O. M. Goodness they really did hire a bunny.]

  • Then, there's the discrimination in Judy Hopps workplace.

  • As a bunny surrounded by

  • physically larger animals, Judy represents the female in a

  • male-dominated workplace.

  • [Parking Duty.] [I was top of my class at the Academy.]

  • [Well then writing 100 tickets a day should be easy.]

  • When she's first forced to work

  • parking duty this speaks to how women historically have been stalked in

  • secretarial or administrative jobs with the excuse that they're unfit

  • for more leadership roles.

  • [I don't want to be a meter maid, I want to be a real cop.]

  • Judy's co-workers equate her smaller size with an inability to do the job

  • because the job is designed for animals who fit the Big Animal for Male profile.

  • But like other smart women facing sexism, Judy uses her smarts to outwit,

  • work around, and find different means to excel.

  • [I gotta tell you, you are even cuter than

  • I thought you'd be.] [A bunny can call another bunny cute,

  • but when other animals do it...] [You're a cute meter maid doll. It's not exactly a place

  • for a cute little bunny.] [Don't call me cute. Get in the car.]

  • She objects to being called cute,

  • challenging her co-workers and even us watching because naturally we'd never

  • thought twice about calling bunnies cute. [Go back home would that cute fuzzy wuzzy little tail]

  • It seems absurd that this would be offensive.

  • [You're not seriously looking

  • for a new assistant, are you?]

  • But as we react to that absurdity we're implicitly

  • encouraged to apply the same questioning to how we talk about women

  • while sure it might be a nice compliment for some to tell a woman she's cute or pretty,

  • In a working context, this talk elevates her appearance over her merits and minimizes

  • her status as a serious professional.

  • Zootopia also casts a spotlight on the

  • dangers of media fearmongering.

  • When Judy hold the press conference, she's

  • surrounded by horrifying imagery of predators in mid growl, shrouded in black

  • and white. The way the Predators are portrayed in the media masks that as

  • much outnumbered minority, the Predators are actually a disadvantaged group.

  • The reporter's questions seem intentionally leading, meant to instigate fear, alienate

  • predators solely for the sake of pushing headlines.

  • [Have any other foxes gone savage?]

  • [More bad news in this city gripped by fear.]

  • The media's tendency to sensationalized

  • and play upon the public's fear is an ever-present reality.

  • This problem is exceptionally relevant in today's media climate

  • with its polarized news sources and plethora of fake news feeding divisive political agendas.

  • Even though Judy is one of the prey and experiences discrimination, she's not without fault.

  • [It may have something to do with...biology.]

  • Her remark, while not intending to

  • perpetuate problematic stereotypes, alludes to highly racially charged

  • offensive discussions of genetics from our world in history.

  • Afterwards, Judy is confronted by her partner Nick, the Fox, who's a predator.

  • [Nick, stop it. You're not like them.]

  • [Oh, there's a them now...]

  • This event leads to a series of scenes showing microaggression:

  • a mother on the train pulling her child away from the predator,

  • Judy carrying around Fox repellent.

  • [What can you tell us about the

  • animals that went savage?]

  • [..by a savage polar bear.]

  • And repetitions of the word savage,

  • which can be associated with critiques of the media's

  • usage of words like thug.

  • Judy's mistake and its consequences is

  • one of the movies most explicit lessons to the audience.

  • Even if we don't consider ourselves guilty of prejudice,

  • microaggression, and even word choice can be

  • gateways to treating people as others or less than.

  • [They thought it would be better

  • if a predator, such as myself, wasn't the first face that you see when

  • you walk into the ZPD.]

  • So we should examine even our small

  • and unconscious actions.

  • As Judy discovers that Bellwether orchestrated the

  • predator attacks to fear monger and seize power,

  • the movie points out government's officials ability

  • to use fear to coerce and manipulate voters.

  • [Get them.]

  • [Prey fears predator and you stay in power?]

  • [Fear always works.]

  • This is a relevant parallel to the rise of populism all over the globe today,

  • and it's unusual for a kid's film to raise the prospect that authorities might not

  • be trustworthy, honest, or well-intentioned.

  • [I was trying to protect the City.]

  • [You were just trying to protect your job.]

  • [Hey, no kiss bye-bye for Daddy?]

  • [You kiss me tomorrow, I'll bite your face off. Ciao.]

  • And let's not forget other inside jokes that make the movie fun for adults.

  • [Oh, hi! I'm Judy your new neighbor.]

  • [Oh, yeah? Well we're loud.

  • Don't expect us to apologize for it.]

  • We see an array of pirated DVDs

  • that pun on Disney and Pixar movie titles.

  • The mask the scientist uses to make the Night Howler drugs

  • in an abandoned train car, visually recalls the mask and

  • environment we associate with the process of cooking meth.

  • The movie also contains references to The Godfather

  • which most kids won't have seen.

  • [To come here unannounced on the day of my daughter is to be married.]

  • And the visit to the DMV finds comedy from its reputation for being unreasonably slow.

  • [They're all SLOTHS?]

  • A problems kids are unlikely to have experienced.

  • [D.] [Mhm, 0-3.]

  • When kids emerge from Zootopia, they won't be using any of this advanced

  • language to discuss race, drugs, gender or the DMV,

  • but it raises an interesting discussion

  • about how we can talk to kids about issues like inequality.

  • So yeah,

  • Zootopia is a fun ride that makes us smile while also encourages us, adults and kids,

  • to think a little deeper.

  • [Judy Hopps can do anything like a boy can do.]

  • [Zootopia isn't just for kids.]

  • [That's a wrap.]

Zootopia is hardly the first kids movie to appeal to adults, but what stands out

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