Zoo(U)topia

Zootopia is a great animated film which seems geared towards an audience of young children, but truthfully this film has so much meaning and depth that only an older person could understand, but it can hopefully shape the minds of its young viewers. Zootopia is clearly meant to represent a utopia due to its name, but it has much more than the name in common; Zootopia has the main parts of a utopian narrative that allow it to be understood and interpreted as one.  Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! TURN BACK IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THIS MOVIE YET!!!! If Zootopia is to be watched as a utiopian-esque narrative the clear social change that is intended to make the titular city so utopic is the equality between the majority and minority, which can be directly related to the United States’ inequalities and stereotypes. In the film, there is initially a clear thought of how predators – the minority – tend to be the criminals in this city. This seems to fall in line with the sad truth that there are many people who believe that the minority in the United States are the only causes of crime. Then as the movie progresses people begin to fear predators more and more as the cases of predators “going savage” rises. Zootopia’s citizens are fear stricken by the minority and are seen avoiding them as much as possible. In a scene on a train a mother rabbit is seen scooting her child away from a lion who appears very friendly and has a smile on his face. This overall division between predator and prey even goes as far as to drive a wedge between the stories two main characters. This underlying fear of the minority is seen in many places around the U.S. and is a true problem in society that is clearly addressed in the movie. As the plot further develops it is revealed that a prey, Assistant Mayor Bellwether, was behind the predators “going savage” and the racism between predator and prey subsides. The utopian idea behind this movie is that racism and prejudices will not exist in a utopia. This strange new land which Judy Hopps arrives in is meant to be her utopia in which the differences between predator and prey, as seen in the relationship between foxes and rabbits in her home town, no longer exist. Upon her initial return home after her split from Nick Wilde, the male lead, her parents, who were avidly filled with distrust towards foxes, have begun trying to be more open minded and started working with the fox who bullied Judy in her youth. This shows the main character bringing the social change back when she leaves the utopia. Zootopia has a main character who finds herself in a new place where there is a clear social difference from where she came, it shows the structure of the government and explains how it came to be, and it has the character go back to her home and witness the social change there. Clearly Zootopia has more than just the name in common with a utopia, and hopefully this utopic idea is realized as the children this film was targeted for come to age and recognize the split between majority and minority in our own society.