Zootopia is one of many Disney animated films, yet it continues to stand out due to its important message. The film addresses bigotry and prejudice in a subtle manner that is palatable for children. Due to the film's star-studded cast, delightful animation, and important themes, Zootopia saw critical and commercial success upon release (and even four years after). However, the film's metaphors ring true as much today as they did six years ago, and due to the present relevance of these issues, the film is still widely shown and talked.

While Zootopia is a well-made film that was praised for its allegorical content regarding prejudice, it is not a perfect film. Zootopia does not truly encapsulate systemic racism, but instead focuses on personal prejudices. On the other hand, main character Judy Hops is able to demonstrate female empowerment in a male-dominated field (the police force) which is important for young viewers to see. Considering the film is made for children, no one expected it to be thematically perfect, but understanding its shortcomings can be an opportunity to affect the way we as a society address and understand racism.

How Zootopia Addresses Prejudice

Zootopia addresses prejudice by discussing the predator-versus-prey hierarchy that exists within the animal kingdom. Zootopia takes place in a utopian animal society in which predators and prey are able to suppress their natural animal urges, reminiscent of Freud's idea that civilization exists as a result of the repression of human desire. Since the animals are so evolved, all of them are able to live in harmony, but there remains prejudices between predator and prey.

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For example, Judy Hops (a bunny) has a bad experience with a fox from childhood, thus Judy unknowingly brings anti-fox sentiment to her early interactions with Nick Wilde. Judy had prejudices against people that look like Nick from her childhood experiences. Over time and getting to know Nick, Judy learns to separate the individual person from a group they may be a part of. Nick, a fox and thus a predator, has experienced prejudice his whole life. He struggles to get certain jobs, join social groups, and even participate in normal activities on a daily basis. Due to these experiences, Nick can often be jaded when it comes to helping others. However, through understanding one another more clearly, Judy and Nick help to better each other and allow themselves to accept how they are and how others are without prejudice. .

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How Zootopia Succeeded

Zootopia is able to very successfully address personal biases/prejudices and how one can repair those prejudices. The character of Judy Hops reveals how past traumas and distant memories can continue to shape present perceptions, coloring them with bias of all kinds. However, through her gradual development of exposure, compassion, patience, and listening regarding Nick, she is able to remove these biases from her mind and learn to know individuals as specific, unique subjects rather than as an entire species like 'fox' or supposed race like 'white' or Black.'

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The film also addresses how stereotypes can hurt everyone involved, how the stereotypes of one group not only affects those in the group but also those who do the stereotyping. Nick has been stereotyped all his life because he is a predator; not only does this hurt him, but it hurts those who could have been close with Nick had they not stereotyped him as well. It prevents whole swaths of people from experiencing the rich, beautiful diversity and wonderful differences that life has to offer. The stereotypes that affect Judy affect those that hold them as well. Judy is offended when she is called cute by a cheetah, because when others see Judy as cute, they do not take her seriously. This is the kind of microaggression and racial profiling that conditions people to mistrust others and avoid certain language and situations. This unwittingly offensive terminology also hurts the cheetah who said it, because that cheetah never be able to build a beneficial relationship with a bunny since they only see them as cute (and consequently inferior, perhaps) and are blinded to all the aspects which actually make up that individual rabbit.

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How Zootopia Failed

While Zootopia was able to demonstrate the prejudice we see in society in a more kid-friendly manner, the film struggled in other ways. Not everything in the movie perfectly emulated society, and some elements missed the mark a bit. One thing Zootopia fails to do is differentiate between systemic racism and the bigoted views one person may hold. While the film does demonstrate how certain professions are dominated by a certain race (i.e. policing), it only focuses on the individual experiences of the characters. Strictly considering the perspectives of individual worldviews, the film ends up being more about diversity than racism, and more about the individual than culture, society, or politics.

Due to Zootopia's vague method of discussing racism (using the predator vs. prey allegory), it could also be disturbingly easy for intolerant viewers to leave the film thinking that it reiterated their views. Zootopia uses very broad language and metaphors to show racism and prejudice, thus leaving some viewers to take it differently than other viewers depending on their ideological background; the film just fits too easily into whatever a viewer brings to it, which can be a problem for a film with big issues. The biggest problem with the metaphor of Zootopia is that it's a story about human societal problems, but told by animals. In reality, there is no way predators and prey can live in harmony, which allows prejudiced viewers to conclude that different races are unable to live in harmony. This does not allow the film to get its core message across properly, and creates space for the message to be skewed. At the end of the day, it may be more educational to watch films that explicitly discuss our society's systemic racism in order to actually understand the topic. Zootopia was a bold and very entertaining experiment in social consciousness, but one that decidedly falls short of the standards the world needs now.