Zootopia (2016)

	Also Known As: Zootropolis (French)
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph), Jared Bush
	Actors (voices):  Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses, The Hangover 1-3), Idris Elba (Thor, Pacific Rim)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 21.07.2016, inflight entertainment 8" screen
Synopsis: Judy Hopps has worked hard all her youth to become the first rabbit police officer in the metropolis town of Zootopia in which former predators and preys have evolved to live together in harmony eons ago. She teams up with the crook Nick Wilde to investigate a case of missing predators.
Review: Zootopia is a Disney production. It is important to mention it because this studio has a History that differentiates it from Dreamworks or Pixar for example, although it now own the latter and I have noticed its influence on its recent productions (see Brave). The latest animated movies from Disney itself were not bad actually: Big Hero 6 (2014), Frozen (2013) and Wreck-it Ralph (2012), after a long desert crossing that was lasting since the 1999 Tarzan and 2002 Lilo and Stitch (except for Bolt in 2008 that I love). The story in Zootopia is quite classical for a Disney animation aimed primarily at kids, and it is well told. The anthropomorphic animal characters are as you would expect them at first: cute bunny, sleazy fox, innocent sheep, stubborn bull... but this changes in the course of the movie which makes it more interesting. Note the funny presence of Shakira playing the pop-star Gazelle. Even though I didn't watch the movie in the best conditions, I could notice a step up in the quality of the digital animation: fur, colors, details, backgrounds, contrasts and out-of-focus areas are improved compared to the previous generation of movies, in fact in the continuation of what I saw in Big Hero 6. The first trailer of the movie gives you a good idea of all of those visual qualities and of the kind of humour to expect. To summarize: I liked watching Zootopia but didn't find the story exceptional. There are only some scenes that I found conveying a message above kids' heads: when there are talks about discrimination over a minority of the population, biological tendencies, how a fox will always only be seen as a crook, politicians covering their asses... I found all of this to have a special significance in the current climate of tension present in the USA.
Rating: 6 /10