I actually just got around to seeing this film a few weeks ago, even though it was released a few months ago. This is easily one of the best films of this year, and probably one of the greatest animated films of all time.

Zootopia is one of those Disney films that is really good for kids to watch, but its moral can really be appreciated by those who are older. This is a film that is, at its heart, about prejudice, and how difficult it is to overcome a bad history.

At first, it seems like Zootopia would be a cute animal film in an anthropomorphic world. The trailers showed a lot of jokes based on animals, and I’ll get to why some of them don’t work later. I thought this film was going to succeed in theaters, but would gain a lot of hatred later, like Disney’s Chicken Little. Instead, I believe that this film will pass the test of time, and the story could have been told in any time.

The film opens up with Jenny Hopps, a young rabbit. She is in a play that tells how Zootopia is the big city in this world, and this alternate universe has a history of predator and prey species living like the ones in our world. Apparently, the world has evolved past this point, and predator and prey species live together, but the relationship is strained.

Jenny Hopps wants to be a police officer when she grows up, but her parents don’t really approve. There is a very badly written scene where they want her to give up on her dreams, and the statement is a little too on the nose. We then see a scene where Jenny stands up to a gang of predators, and she then becomes a police officer in a quick montage. Apparently, her parents didn’t stop her.

Officer Hopps has a difficult time fitting in the world of police, who are mostly predator species. They stick her on meter maid duty, and for the most part, this plotline feels like every kids’ film ever made.

What saves Zootopia is the fact that the world is simply beautiful. The city of Zootopia has cold regions, jungle regions, and I honestly wish that I could visit it. It is a world that has individual neighborhoods for the small and the large animals, and each species has ways of adapting. For example, the train has three different sizes of doors.

While on the job, Hopps meets a fox named Nicolas Wilde, who is a con man. As it so happens, he is a witness to a big case of 14 missing animals, so the two of them have to work together in what is essentially a buddy-cop film.

It feels like this film has nothing original to show, and yet is something that audiences really need right now. Once Hopps and Wilde have teamed up, they go from scene to scene in order to solve a mystery. I’m going to spoil this one after the jump, as there is a lot to talk about with this film once you know it all.

The missing animals are a result of them being drugged into a fury, and the mayor is trying to keep these cases secret by locking them all away. It actually can be argued that perhaps these animals were using drugs to get high, but this isn’t really stated. I actually would have bought it if it was. Anyway, all the drugged animals are discovered by Hopps and Wilde, and it seems like the case is over.

Hopps is then being made as the poster child for the police force, but the public is beginning to distrust predators. Even Officer Hopps makes a public statement that essentially denounces predator species, and Wilde is very against that. At this point, the friendship between Hopps and Wilde has what most critics refer to as “the misunderstanding” or “the third act breakup”. Many romantic comedies have this scene where the friends or lovers have a disagreement, and both of them go their separate ways. In the case of Zootopia, this plot point actually makes a lot of sense and serves the theme of the story.

In fact, Hopps realizes that the cases of ravaging predators is all a part of a plan to discredit predator species. What makes this amazing is that the main villain is one of the prey species. Yes, this is a film that shows that a victimized people can become agents. That is what I truly like about this film, as it could have showed the predators as bullies, and just made them the villains. Many kids’ films want to go for this simplistic point of view, but Zootopia doesn’t dumb down the audience.

In spite of its heavy theme, the film is very feel-good. There is a song in it called “Try Everything”, which I’m surprised isn’t a huge hit. It really captures the themes of never giving up, and leaving the past behind you.

I only have a few nitpicks for this film. First, there is a line in the film where a character says “we need to address the elephant in the room”. This happens at the precinct on the first day where Jenny joins the force. After this line is uttered, there is a close-up on Jenny, as it seems that her captain is referring to the first rabbit on the beat. Instead, the captain is referring to an elephant police officer, who is having his birthday.

Get it? The elephant in the room? Okay, here’s the issue I have with that joke. There is no reason why any culture made of animals would have the expression “the elephant in the room”. We humans have this expression because an elephant in the room is an unusual thing, and it refers to people attempting to ignore a big problem. My point is that an animal civilization, where elephants are a common people wouldn’t have this expression. If you think about it, it makes sense, and it is a nitpick.

Here is another nitpick that I have. In the film, the pop star Shakira plays a pop star named Gazelle, who is essentially Shakira. She sings that great “Try Everything” song, but it doesn’t make sense that Gazelle, who is an actual gazelle, would be named as such. At first it sounds good, as there is no first and last name, like Madonna or…Shakira. However, there are other gazelles in this world, aren’t they? This would be like Madonna calling herself…White Blonde Lady.

Seriously, besides those nitpicks, I have very little bad to say about this film. Just see it, as it is available to rent right now.