Does Zootopia Right Disney's Former Wrongs?

I will admit it right now: I am Disney trash. My home University is a ten minute drive away from Disneyland, and yes, I even have aspirations to work for the company. That doesn't mean that I support all of the decisions the company has made in regards to its storytelling and depictions of ethnic and racial groups. As discussed in lectures for this class and even by some of you in previous blogs, the studios have produced content that includes whitewashing, stereotyping, and even just blatant racism. Believe me, I can speak on this personally: I am the eleventh great granddaughter of Pocahontas, and I'm not entirely thrilled with how my grandma was portrayed either!

Be it live action or animated, Hollywood just can't seem to get my grandma's story right. 

But despite all of this, I truly believe that at its core, Disney is trying to be more inclusive and increase diversity with the stories it's telling. Whether or not these methods are successful or handled with care is another matter, but I do believe that the intention is there, be it with the first African American princess in Princess and the Frog, or most recently a depiction of the blended cultures of Japan and America in Big Hero 6. However, I recently saw Walt Disney Animation Studios' newest product and 55th animated film, Zootopia, and I was surprised by the strong undertones of race and xenophobia throughout the storyline. I can't help but wonder if this might be the first step in what might become a push for a more diverse, inclusive, and correct voice in Disney's storytelling.

Without giving too much away for those of you who want to see the film, Zootopia tells the story of anthropomorphic animals that live parallel lives to humans: they wear clothes, work, and drive cars. Particularly, the story focuses on a small-town rabbit named Judy who was raised on a farm but dreams of being the first rabbit cop the metropolis of Zootopia, advertised as being a place, "where anyone can be anything." Almost as soon as she arrives, Judy encounters prejudice in her new position, and struggles to overcome the expectations of her peers just because of her outward appearance. She teams up with a fox named Nick to solve a crime that ultimately makes Zootopia unravel into a place full of hatred and prejudice. At the heart of the problem, Nick and Judy must work together to overcome the divide between "predator" and "prey," "sly fox," and "dumb bunny."

Below, I have jotted down a few lines from the film:

• JUDY: Ooh, ah, you probably didn't know, but a bunny can call another bunny 'cute', but when other animals do it, that's a little...
• JUDY: [when Nick secretly explores a sheep's wool with glee] You can't just touch a sheep's wool!
• JUDY: Predators appear to be reverting to their primitive, savage ways. Clearly, there's a biological component.
• NICK: If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point trying to be anything else.
• NICK: So are all bunnies bad drivers, or is that just you? 
• NICK: What? Are you saying that because he's a sloth, he can't be fast? 
• SHEEP: Go back to the forest, predator! CHEETAH: I'm from the savannah! 

Read anything familiar that you maybe have heard before? Replace any of the animals in the above lines with a racial or ethnic group, and suddenly we are no longer watching a family film, but are placed into the heart of racial divide.

The movie is incredibly topical, and not only pushed for racial equality, but also equality of the sexes. The voice cast is made up of a diverse group of actors, but it was an interesting choice to put two white actors (Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin) in the lead roles of Nick and Judy, the two characters who are the audience's vessels by which we see the race issues in Zootopia in both large and small scales. Zootopia opened in the United States to a record-breaking box office of $73.7 million in the first weekend, and stayed at the top for three weeks. The main demographic of Disney animated features is of course children, but with numbers like these beating out even the mega-hit Frozen, there must be something deeper resonating with a wider audience. I think the response is due to the message Zootopia is emphasizing. 

But how accurate is this message? From my perspective, which is that of a white girl from a middle class family in the United States, it at face value seemed to be a very timely and appropriate response in such a politically tumultuous time, and a means by which (hopefully) young children can understand the message of the film and apply it into their adult lives. However, writer Nico Lang brings up a valuable argument that Zootopia presents racism without privilege and hierarchal power:

"It’s a lot to ask for a film to explain concepts of privilege and systemic injustice to young kids in a way that won’t have their parents running for the exits. But Zootopia’s message is at best muddled, and at worst it contradicts many of the lessons the film is attempting to impart. In Zootopia, no one really benefits from racism, and everyone is thus harmed by it equally — which is actually a pretty dangerous idea. But Zootopia’s racial parable is so opaque that you can almost read into it anything you like."

So perhaps, when all is said and done, Zootopia is not the beacon shining the light on the truth about racism. While progress still needs to be made on that front, to Disney's credit, this was at least a tiny step forward from some of the dismal portrayals of race in the past, and hopefully will set the stage for authentic portrayals of cultures around the world in upcoming animated projects, such as Moana (the South Pacific), Gigantic (Spain), and Coco (Mexico). 

References: 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=disney2016.htm

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/03/how-disneys-zootopia-gets-racism-wrong/

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-zootopia-music-20160308-story.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/burn-your-princess-dress-disneys-new-heroine-is-a-badass-feminis/

http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/zootopia-film-review-1201703504/