As of today, I have not seen “Zootopia” yet. I’m paralyzed, in a convalescent hospital, and dependent upon my sister to take me out in my wheelchair to see movies. Sherry hasn’t had the time to take me to see “Zootopia” yet; she hopes to next week.
However, I’ve known the plot of the movie and “whodunit” since late January when I read the “Zootopia Junior Novelization”. And I’ve read (and reviewed; http://dogpatch.press/2016/03/05/the-art-of-zootopia/ ) “The Art of Zootopia” which also reveals whodunit and why there are no birds in Zootopia (the city), so I can read these reviews without worrying about spoilers.
“Zootopia” may be almost unique in being an intelligent ANTHROPOMORPHIC animated movie for adults, but there are more and more movies for grown-up animation fans. They just aren’t anthropomorphic (meaning “not for us”). Frankly, they leave me with the feeling of, “Okay, but why didn’t they just film it in live-action?” I will make exceptions for the current animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dY5zkwK5M) which is basically a showcase of several different animators’ art styles”; and for a 1970s Japanese animated version of “The Diary of Anne Frank” that combined realistic cartoon animation of her life with abstract, Picasso-like depictions of the horrors of war. Other than that, there are the current “Anomalisa” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSWBxzWpgNQ) that is getting rave reviews for how realistic its stop-motion animation looks; the Israeli “Waltz With Bashir” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg),, a story about Israel’s 1990s invasion of Lebanon; “Persepolis”, a true-life story of one woman’s growing up in Tehran during the establishment of Iran’s current oppressive theocratic government; Bill Plympton’s “Cheatin’” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ilPAEgkpA) , an adult comedy-romance … how many examples do you want? But have you ever heard of them? They don’t get American theatrical distribution because “animation is just for the smallest kiddies”.
One question I have about “Zootopia” is that Judy Hopps has wanted to be a policewoman since her childhood; she goes to the police academy and passes; and she goes to Zootopia to join its police department. Okay; where is that police academy located? Obviously somewhere outside of Zootopia. Why not inside Zootopia? (Remember, I haven’t seen it yet. This may be answered in the movie.)
As of today, I have not seen “Zootopia” yet. I’m paralyzed, in a convalescent hospital, and dependent upon my sister to take me out in my wheelchair to see movies. Sherry hasn’t had the time to take me to see “Zootopia” yet; she hopes to next week.
However, I’ve known the plot of the movie and “whodunit” since late January when I read the “Zootopia Junior Novelization”. And I’ve read (and reviewed; http://dogpatch.press/2016/03/05/the-art-of-zootopia/ ) “The Art of Zootopia” which also reveals whodunit and why there are no birds in Zootopia (the city), so I can read these reviews without worrying about spoilers.
“Zootopia” may be almost unique in being an intelligent ANTHROPOMORPHIC animated movie for adults, but there are more and more movies for grown-up animation fans. They just aren’t anthropomorphic (meaning “not for us”). Frankly, they leave me with the feeling of, “Okay, but why didn’t they just film it in live-action?” I will make exceptions for the current animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dY5zkwK5M) which is basically a showcase of several different animators’ art styles”; and for a 1970s Japanese animated version of “The Diary of Anne Frank” that combined realistic cartoon animation of her life with abstract, Picasso-like depictions of the horrors of war. Other than that, there are the current “Anomalisa” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSWBxzWpgNQ) that is getting rave reviews for how realistic its stop-motion animation looks; the Israeli “Waltz With Bashir” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg),, a story about Israel’s 1990s invasion of Lebanon; “Persepolis”, a true-life story of one woman’s growing up in Tehran during the establishment of Iran’s current oppressive theocratic government; Bill Plympton’s “Cheatin’” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ilPAEgkpA) , an adult comedy-romance … how many examples do you want? But have you ever heard of them? They don’t get American theatrical distribution because “animation is just for the smallest kiddies”.
One question I have about “Zootopia” is that Judy Hopps has wanted to be a policewoman since her childhood; she goes to the police academy and passes; and she goes to Zootopia to join its police department. Okay; where is that police academy located? Obviously somewhere outside of Zootopia. Why not inside Zootopia? (Remember, I haven’t seen it yet. This may be answered in the movie.)
More later.
Fred Patten