It's not all cuteness and feel-good Girl Power - although those are in there - and are GREAT!
I was excited to see it because. . .. girl hero who accomplishes her dream, Jason Bateman (I am being honest - I love him) . . and ANIMALS. I was pleasantly surprised that it was MORE!
Here are my Top 10 reasons I think Zootopia is so cool:
Oh - I should add that these themes are presented in a way that I feel is appropriate for all ages - enough to bring up a discussion, but not overwhelming or overdone or offensive.
1: It's funny for parents & kids AND it is super cute - really beautiful visually, AND has a lot of interesting characters all WITH enough twists and turns and actions to keep it interesting. (yep, i'm counting that all as "one"!)
2: Girl hero! She follows her dream despite bullying, despite prejudices against her being a girl AND being a bunny - stereotypes of bunny-ness plague her throughout.
3: Problems can be possibilities - those things that are different about us or that someone thinks are a disadvantage can be turned around into something of value . . . bunny is too small? or bunny is small enough to help in areas the "big" cops can't even get into?
4: GAZELLE! Our little one was literally up dancing during one part. PLUS, glittery, tiger dancers - cool! Click here for clip of Shakira talking about her involvement and some scenes from the movie: Shakira - Try Everything (from Disney's Zootopia)
5: It shows that you can help someone else see their potential - you can help someone overcome what the world sees them to be - even when that someone has internalized what "They" say about him.
6: Reveals that someone who is outwardly confident and even tough may have gone through something traumatizing which shaped them in a significant way, but they keep hidden.
7: There is a whole "us vs. them" theme - a minority that the majority fears already & someone in power promoting that fear.
8: Even someone who has overcome prejudices against them & who thinks they have overcome their own preconceived notions about a different group finds out she has more "That" in her than she thinks.
Unconscious Bias or Implicit Social Cognition: " . . . thoughts and feelings outside of conscience awareness and control" (from Project Implicit) is a part of all of us. we all hold thoughts, feelings and biases that are under the surface about gender, race, disability, weight and more. I feel really strongly that we - as a society - need to become aware, accept that it exists and learn how it can affect our lives and work. I think real change can come from awareness, acknowledgement and working towards change (instead of shying away from a discussion)
You can take a test here: Project Implicit
You will likely be surprised by the results. You can compare your results to others. They use this for research, so you'll be learning about yourself and helping science too!
9: Shows that damage done to a friendship (or wider damage) and/or a previous failure can be repaired. It's not too late to try, to fix, to become!
10: Demonstrates that someone or a group of someones who are not seen as "The Type" CAN be bullies or cause deep pain to someone.
11: I know, I know, I said Top 10, but I couldn't resist adding that . . . I thought Nick Wilde was so SPOT on for the voice of Jason Bateman. . . the experssions, the smirks, the posture - all of it.
Did you see it yet? What did you think?
Here's our little one LOVING the whole experience! Yes, she dressed for the occasion - she's been watching trailers for months!
