Zootopia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Zootopia is the 55th animated feature film in the Disney Animated Canon, premiered in 2016. It was directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and had the vocal talent of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and Shakira.

In a World of Funny Animals, the very cheery and optimistic rabbit Judy Hopps fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a police officer and being assigned to the city of Zootopia, an megacity that allegedly welcomes all mammals equally. Her first day there is not as grandiose as what she expected: her rural upbringing clashes a bit with the cosmopolitan city, her boss, Chief Bogo delegates her to parking duty despite her having graduated as valedictorian; and she is conned by two expert fox hustlers, the very cynical Nick Wilde and his diminutive partner Finnick.

On her second day, while Judy is reprimanded by having abandoned her parking duties to chase a criminal, she hears about a missing persons case where the only common characteristic is that all of them are predators. Judy manages to get the case assigned, and, after realizing that Nick may have a clue with him, blackmails him into helping her. But as Judy and Nick gets further and further in their investigation to unravel the mystery, they get involved in a deep conspiracy that can destroy Zootopia from their roots...

Tropes used in Zootopia include:
  • The Don: Mr. Big. Who also is a literal shrew.
  • Interspecies Romance: Nick and Judy are intensely shipped.
  • Justice by Other Legal Means: The way Judy manages to rope Nick on her investigation: when she discovers that she can't charge Nick for his "pawsicle" scheme because he has legally covered his ass in every possible step, she then threatens him with fiscal evasion charges, as she realized that he hasn't declared any of his income and she recorded his boasting about his earnings to prove it.
  • Market-Based Title: it was named Zootropolis or Zootropolis: Animal City in some European markets, Zoomania in Germany, Zootopie in France, Zwierzogród in Poland, Zveropolis in Russia and Ukraine, or Dòngwù Fāng Chéngshì ("Crazy Animal City") in China.
  • Mister Big: at some point Nick and Judy get involved with "Mr. Big", a crime boss based very obviously on Don Corleone from The Godfather — and he's a shrew. (His Mooks are polar bears, just to really peg the Big Guy, Little Guy meter.)
  • N-Word Privileges: apparently rabbits have "c-word" privileges.

Clawhauser: You are even cuter than I thought you'd be.
Judy: You probably didn't know, but, a bunny can call another bunny cute, but when other animals do it it's a little...
[Clawhauser reacts in horror to his faux pas]
Clawhauser: Oh, I am so sorry.