With their new animated film, Disney has been more than a little cagey when it comes to exactly what the movie was about. We knew it dealt with a bunny police officer trying to solve a case, and having limited time to do it, but the details of exactly what the case was have been a bit cloudy. Now, a new clip has given us some very specific info about what’s going on in Zootopia. Check it out.
Judy Hopps, voiced by Once Upon A Time’s Ginnifer Goodwin, is the newest recruit in the ZPD. As a rabbit, she’s a bit out of her element as all other police officers are much larger animals, like the elephant in the room (Happy Birthday). Our police chief gives us the case that will be driving the plot of the film, 14 missing persons, all mammals, all predators. This will be what drives Judy Hopps to team up with the film’s other main character, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) and attempt to crack the case.
The central premise of Zootopia is that all animals live together in one massive city. Predator and prey alike live side by side. While it’s not entirely clear how that works (lions have to eat something, right?) the fact that all the missing animals are both mammals and predators seems to imply that somebody is holding a grudge.
As the only voice that really speaks in the clip, we now have our best look, or listen, at the cape buffalo police chief Bogo, voiced by the great Idris Elba. He sounds absolutely perfect as the tough, no-nonsense police chief. The character would be a cliche at this point, but the fact that it’s being done in an animated movie and by an animal makes it feel fresh and new. In addition to Elba, Goodwin and Bateman, the Zootopia voice cast includes J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer and Shakira.
We know from the other trailers that Officer Hopps does not, well, hop, right into solving the big case. She’s stuck on traffic duty as Chief Bogo doesn’t think much of his new rabbit police officer. In fact, he’d really like if she quit. Eventually she makes a deal with the boss, solve the case or leave the force. As you would expect, shenanigans ensue.
Zootopia looks to be another solid entry from Disney Animation Studios. The studio has been riding high in recent years on the success of films like Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6 and, of course, a small movie called Frozen. Do you think Zootopia will continue Disney’s box office success. The new film hits theaters March 4.
