Jean-Paul’s Rating: 4/5 stars

Bottom Line: Well told. Well crafted. Legitimately funny. Recommended for all ages.

I knew I wanted to see “Zootopia” when I saw a preview for it featuring a scene where they go to the DMV and it was run by sloths.  It was hilarious.  The scene did not get old when seen again during the movie.  It may never get old.  The same can be said of all of “Zootopia”.

There’s just so much “there” there.  Every scene is meticulously and lovingly put together with so much attention to detail and so much happening in the background.  Given, there’s a very large pool to choose from when you can choose from every single animal and show how they interact in the bustling metropolis of Zootopia.

Since it would be a really boring movie if it were true, Zootopia is no where near the utopia claimed in the brochures.  The entire premise of the movie revolves around both soft and hard racism and the myriad places we find it in society.  That they are able to do it in such a way that elegantly gets the point across without beating you over the head with it is a credit to the writers.  They handle the topic with both aplomb and humor.  Well, for most of the movie they do.  There’s a little bit of shoe-horning from act two to act three, but that doesn’t detract too much from an otherwise solid movie.

Another thing I am glad for is that the main characters, a female rabbit and a male fox, do not form any sort of romantic entanglement because inter-species marriage is just plain wrong.  Wait, no, I mean because that’s what every other movie under the sun does even when it adds nothing to the story.  So kudos for that.  And if a rabbit and a fox decide to get married that’s nobody’s business but their own.  Their marriage does not in any way detract from your marriage and if it does, your marriage was pretty rocky to begin with and you should really consider getting a divorce because I guarantee you your children will be better off for it.  Or maybe the producers nixed the idea of a fox and a rabbit together because they are against inter-species marriage.  It all makes sense.  Every other movie would have done it, but this movie did not.  Shame on you, producers!  A fox and a rabbit are entitled to all the same happiness that you enjoy!

Ahem.  “Zootopia” is a really good movie and you should go see it.  It has that perfect mix of humor and storytelling and morals the doesn’t come along very often in animated movies.  It will likely become standard in the collection of DVDs that breeders amass for their broodlings.