Zootopia

Zootopia is a modern metropolis in which anthropomorphic mammals have evolved beyond their primitive predator/prey status, with each species living peacefully in its own appropriate habitat, including Sahara Square, Tundratown, Rainforest, and Little Rodentia. Plucky Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is an idealistic rabbit who is not content to work on her family's carrot farm with her 225 siblings. When a bullying fox bothers her classmates, she shows an early aptitude for conflict management, becoming the first bunny to enroll in Zootopia's Police Academy. Despite graduating at the top of her class, Bogo (Idris Elba), her gruff Cape buffalo boss, makes tiny Judy a lowly meter-maid while larger, more experienced officers investigate an intriguing case involving 14 missing mammals. Protesting that “I'm not just some token bunny,” Judy becomes obsessively determined to write more parking-violation tickets than anyone ever before. On duty, she spies wily Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a hustling, fast-talking fox who becomes her frenemy as they become entangled in the missing mammal mystery. Some of the funniest, most inventive sequences include visits to the Department of Motor Vehicles (staffed by slow-moving sloths) and the hideaway of a Godfather-like gangster, as well as a musical interval with pop star Gazelle (Shakira) warbling “Try Everything.” Deftly directed by Bryon Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush, Zootopia is an imaginatively amusing, subversively relevant, heartfelt parable/police procedural about tolerance and acceptance. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Scoretopia” music segment (5 min.), the music video “Try Everything” by Shakira, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (22 min.), a “Zoology: The Roundtables” production featurette (19 min.), the behind-the-scenes segments “Research: A True-Life Adventure” (10 min.), “The Origin of an Animal Tale” (9 min.), and “Z.P.D. Forensic Files” (4 min.), a deleted characters segment (3 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a wonderful Disney film.] (S. Granger)