The new movie Zootopia will take you on an animated safari in a urban world where friends and foes work together. Meet Judy Hopps, a bunny with big dreams to pursue — she wants to be a cop in Zootopia. Things don’t quite lives up to her expectations until she gets assigned to a big case that needs to be solved within 48 years. She hops upon Nick Wilde, a con-fox who might be the only one to help her solve the case.
Based upon early footage released, the film looks hysterical. Sloths work at the DMV (how ironic is that), massive cattle work at ice cream shops and a gazelle is the famous star in town (think Shakira — wait, she actually voices Gazelle!)
Sadly, the film doesn’t come out until March, here are some factoids to get you acquainted with the film making! And stayed tuned for more wild coverage.
1) It’s An Urban Jungle (think Los Angeles!)
There are no signs of humans, or even apes, because they are too similar to us. John Lasseter talked about making an animal movie that we haven’t seen before. People have done “animals in an animal word/natural world,” like Lion King, Ice Age; “animals in the human word,” such as Jungle Book and Madagascar. We haven’t seen “animals in the modern world where humans never existed,” a twist that got John Lasseter excited. What could this world actually be? Zootopia is a mammal metropolis. Something people haven’t ever seen.
2) Zootopia: A Place You Would Want to Visit
The film making team really researched this film’s setting. Inspiration includes Las Vegas, San Francisco and a deep dive of all the boroughs and ethnic neighborhoods of New York City. Zootopia is an international city that serves as a melting pot of cultures and species living in harmony. The world they created is almost like another character in the movie.
3) Why a fox and the bunny?
Who should be the heroes in this film? When it was time to put the animals into Zootopia, the creators didn’t want it to be arbitrary. It was decided that having two animals that were relatively small and underdogs felt right. The characters also needed to feel equally smart.
4) A great maturity story for Judy
We see Judy (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) at the beginning of the movie as a young child. She has all of these sunny ideals about this amazing city. So when she travels to Zootopia for the first time on that train the viewer learns about the city alongside her character. The story of a country girl with all of these great ideals and how she’s going to make a difference. That’s part of the fun of the story. Judy learns that not everything is as she expected. Things are more complicated than what she thought. It’s a great maturity story.
5) Jason Bateman’s first voice work!
Start off with archetypes we put up a picture, here is a con-man fox, who in the acting world can be charming, smart and not off-putting. Not very many people do it. Back in the day it was Bill Murray, Chevy Chase but now-a-days there are very few people who can can do it. Can it be true that Jason
Bateman has never been approached for animation? Well apparently he jumped at the chance. He and his daughters loved The Princess and The Frog film so he was already primed for the role.
Visit the official Zootopia website here.
* We were invited to a press day for editorial purposes. Photos ©Disney. All rights reserved.
