Zootopia

[Elton John]

Saw this a few months back. I like the scene, but I also think it would go against a few of the messages I think they were trying to tell in the movie. It would definitely paint the prey animals in a very bad light to allow this kind of thing to happen.

It also feels too cynical for a Disney movie. If I remember correctly, Walt had one major rule for all Disney movies. No cynicism. I had a friend who hated Frozen because he felt it went against Walts rule. Not completely sure what he meant by that, but I think it was because of

Spoiler: show

Hans and the twist regarding him

.

[PridelandsPhantom]

Yeah, they said they showed the tame collar with a few employees who said it really didn't work and should be replaced with stereotypes instead like Nick being a sneaky fox who only cares about himself. I think it had to be more subtle and I see what you mean. Nick was also the central character once rather than Judy so it would have worked better in that dynamic but still like you said too dark and difficult to work plus it would have developed hatred towards prey rather than just bigoted prey animals.

[Carl]

It should be fairly obvious that I adore Zootopia even though I have only seen it once (thus far tonight will be my second viewing) Being the movie nerd I am, I found the deleted scenes and I actually liked the tame collar plot in Zootopia far better than "evolving" beyond eating prey. An example of the storyboard for the collar sequence for the Taming Party is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkJGLCleFmI.

I think it would have made the movie darker and more interesting. What would predators eat otherwise? Tofu? Many animals cannot process without meat and although some are omnivores (foxes and wolves) they still need meat to survive. It could also explain why predators are more stand-offish towards prey species being made to wear collars that literally shock them each time they get too strong of physical emotions. I don't buy the whole harking back to genocide themes. In order to have a world where prey and predators co-exist there would have to be some serious physical and mental reassignment. Predators might be able to evolve beyond their needs for meat in time, but not right away. In order for these results to occur the severe aversion therapy would need to occur before biology began to evolve. I get it's just a movie and a universe won't answer everything, but I find it makes it more interesting for the predators to have the collars and it explains a lot of bitterness and anger many of them carry.

It would have never made it into the movie being dark as it is just like I would have preferred elements of TLK to remain in such as Scar being consumed in flames at the final battle between him and Simba, Scar choosing Nala as queen, and even Zira's suicide, but most of the more fascinating tidbits are cut from these movies for fears of being dark. I'm still shocked The Hunchback of Notre Dame made it off the board room floor because it's darker than any of these ideas IMO.

Hi, I merged your topic with the already existent Zootopia thread.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that even in the tame collars plot, the animals had still evolved. In the special features on the bluray, they said that the collars weren't necessary to control preds in that plot, but instead simply made prey feel safer, and that's why they used them. It was even more cruel this way.

Additionally, they stated (once again, in the features on the bluray) that the predators eat insects (like Simba did in TLK), and it's important to remember that according to the film, only mammals are evolved. This would mean they could still eat fish and poultry, among other things.

[PridelandsPhantom]

Never seen it. Heard some furries threw sh*t fits because "their species wasn't in it". Thought that was a bit ridiculous. Perhaps if it shows up on Netflix in the future I will watch it.

I'm sorry to hear that. Not all furries are like that and it's a shame that some of them are doing this I just liked the vibe in general fur or non-fur everyone can enjoy it.

Carl Skywalker, thanks for the info on the blue-ray extras. I will have to check those out sometimes. I can see even more how the collar plot is not needed and made it harder to sympathize with prey animals. Good info

[Squeely]

Yeah the shock collar plot was a bit... much. Disney should have it's heavier, darker moments and shouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows, but still, something about it doesn't feel right. It's probably a bit too cruel.

[Azdgari]

So I missed the bus on discussing this, but I really, really enjoyed Zootopia. I think it was The Lion Prince who mentioned the world building and art direction---wow. When people say that animated movies are 'lesser' in terms of artistic vision, I challenge that wholeheartedly. The sheer creativity and artistic vision to build a world on that scale with detail that practically (re: literally) comes down to individual bricks is daunting.

I thought the voice acting was superb, and the dialogue was quick and biting. The characters are usually the most important part of movies for me, and I love Judy and Nick. Their development is enjoyably sweet without being saccharine, and their interplay and chemistry is fun. Love that there's no romantic subplot too, although don't tell the fandom that or they'll freak out. It's also legitimately funny at several parts. Nick's face when Judy calls him out for 'felony tax evasion'... and then Finnick's voice, 'HAVE FUN... WORKIN WITH THE FUZZ!' cracks me up every single time I see it.

It's an interesting point on the biology bit, and I do think the script gets a bit confused. But I don't think its irreconcilable. Predators evolved from their violent instincts to live in modern society. And this is more @TLP, but does it have to be a 'subgroup'? After all, they do delineate that in the beginning that prey were also limited by biology to being meek and living in fear. To me, it just felt like a statement that as society grew civilized, different groups put aside archaic roles and behaviors and learned to live productively in harmony. That was my interpretation. And yeah, it was occasionally heavy handed, but man, it hits close to home in this day and age, especially with the crises of identity and civility going on in our country, regardless of where you fall on the political/ideological spectrum.

This summer, I wrote the only multi-part fanfiction I've ever finished for the Zootopia fandom, which is small but has some tremendous authors (LIKE OUR OWN YFWE <3) and talented artists. If you're into it, check out the subreddit or look around on DA, there's some cool stuff!

[Shadowfax]

I was skeptical about watching this movie as I'm not a huge furry fan, but my brother leant it to us and I'm so glad he did! Actually really enjoyed it and found it very well written and animated. The characters are great and the storyline was very unpredictable (IMO)

So I give it 9/10

[KopsTheTerminator]

^ Honestly I'm not even sure furries were an intended audience, I'm not a fan of the furry fandom personally either but this easily became one of my top favourite Disney films. If there's anyone here that hasn't watched this yet and is put off by the whole 'furry' aspect, I strongly recommend they give the film a try. It's actually really, really good, IMO.

[Shadowfax]

^ Oh definitely. I just saw alot of furries getting excited about its release, so I kind of assumed its target audience was the furry fandom (Lol, love how my phone went to autocorrect 'furry' to 'curry' Then it was a bit overhyped so I avoided it for a while as I tend not to like anything that's overhyped. Hence my loathing of Frozen.

But I agree. It is an awesome movie and I'd watch it again

[FlipMode]

I still need to watch this. I have the film on Blu Ray and just haven't got around to actually watching it yet.