# Zootopia Seen it Thread. Spoilers probably **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977 "2016-03-05T03:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/41 "2016-03-21T20:22:12Z")
Just saw it on Saturday. Everyone in the family thought it was great. I too went home and downloaded the Shakira song. Catchy! I loved the scenes with the shrew as The Godfather. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/42 "2016-03-22T21:39:22Z")
It was rated PG which I guess most people did not notice. Not many Disney movies are PG are they ? (I think overall PG movies are rare now, most are PG-13) I suppose the scary parts pushed it to PG. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/43 "2016-03-23T01:19:43Z")
I enjoyed this. No surprise, really; since the Pixar revolution I feel like animated films of this ilk have been of consistently high quality. More so than most genres, anyway. I wouldn’t put this up there with the _best_ of that lot - some of the plot turns turned the end seemed rather, er, arbitrary? - but it was definitely a fun way to pass a couple of hours. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/44 "2016-03-23T02:33:54Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It was rated PG which I guess most people did not notice. Not many Disney movies are PG are they ? (I think overall PG movies are rare now, most are PG-13) I suppose the scary parts pushed it to PG. Some Pixar movies have been PG. _Up_ and _The Incredibles_, specifically. Maybe a couple others. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/45 "2016-03-27T21:00:18Z")
I enjoyed this one immensely. Cute, funny, and smart, with a great message. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Last thing: The movie is about chasing your dreams and forgiving people who are different than you just like a million other kids movies. It’s not about: black people, feminism, distrust of police, sexism, racism or any of the other crap people say it’s about. Holy mackerel, we must have been watching a different movie. This one was clearly about racism, black people (the fox was called “shifty,” for goodness sake! And “articulate”), hidden prejudice and bias, privilege, sexism, demagoguery and fear-baiting, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic prejudice, and a host of other things. It wasn’t subtle in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/46 "2016-03-27T22:12:06Z")
Saw this movie with my wife and kids on Friday and loved it. Some observations that I don’t see upthread: [ul] [li]The scene in the nude yoga resort was interesting - they showed the animal’s hind-leg areas in full, simply smooth with no genitals, rather than hiding implied naughty bits behind props of the like[/li][li]Nick’s accomplice as the little kid that wants to be an elephant when he grows up is adorable in the extreme, when he toots in that costume[/li][li]Spotted two references to “Frozen”. The flower thief is “Duke Wesselton”, and Nick tells Judy at one point, “This isn’t some fairy tale where you sing a song and you get everything you want - **let it go**.”[/li][li]As soon as the weasel said the buyer for the flower bulbs was a ram, I realized the villain had to be the sheep deputy mayor, but not any sooner[/li][li]They faked me out with the blueberry switcheroo at the end - I totally expected Judy to save herself with an emotional appeal to Nick to overcome his savage nature. Execellent inversion of that old trope.[/li][li]On the other hand, it’s strange that Judy clearly knew what those stolen flower bulbs were (not onions, she named them by species) but didn’t know they were known as “night howlers” - even though her parents did[/li][/ul] A fantastic addition to the Disney animated canon. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/47 "2016-03-28T00:46:36Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > The scene in the nude yoga resort was interesting - they showed the animal’s hind-leg areas in full, simply smooth with no genitals, rather than hiding implied naughty bits behind props of the like Yeah, I thought those “Barbie crotches” sorta killed the joke, though realistically it’s hard to know what else they could have done with it in a kids’ movie! The basic premise of animal nudity being considered shockingly unconventional was funny. But the repeated horrified embarrassment at seeing an uncovered animal crotch that looked fundamentally no different from an uncovered animal elbow seemed rather feeble. [QUOTE=cmkeller] On the other hand, it’s strange that Judy clearly knew what those stolen flower bulbs were (not onions, she named them by species) but didn’t know they were known as “night howlers” - even though her parents did [/quote] IIRC it was Gideon Grey who called them that: > [@](#): > > Stu: Hey, kids! Don’t you run through the _Midnicampum holicithias_! > [The bunny kids stop running and move away from them] > Gideon Grey: Now there’s a four-dollar word, Mr. H. My family always just called them night howlers. > Judy: What did you say? > Stu: Oh, Gid’s talking about those flowers, Judy. I use them to keep bugs off the produce. But I don’t like the little ones going near them on account of your Uncle Terry. > Bonnie: Yeah, Terry ate one whole when we were kids and went completely nuts. > Stu: He bit the dickens out of your mother. > [A realization sweeps over Judy] > Judy: A bunny can go savage… > Bonnie: Savage? Well, that’s a strong word. > Stu: There’s a sizable divot in your arm. I’d call that savage. > Judy: Night howlers aren’t wolves. They’re flowers. The flowers are making the predators go savage. That’s what I’ve been missing! “Night howlers” is apparently some kind of predator slang or popular name that the rabbits typically don’t use. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/48 "2016-03-28T00:57:59Z")
My kid also got really upset and wanted to leave (and while upset during Star Wars, didn’t ask to leave). I said we had to stay so we could watch the happy ending and work through the scary. I’m usually more compassionate, but I felt like for my kid’s disposition leaving would have made it more of a thing than just covering her eyes. She agreed with me after that it was good to stay and see the conflict resolved. We also ended up in the front row of a theater that had about six feet from my feet to the screen. So it was VERY immersive. If we had anticipated crowds and got better seats more in the middle/back, it might have been less traumatizing. I really liked it and was not expecting all the racism and other -isms commentary. I think it was done in a good way. My kid’s takeaway was not that message, but that if you’re smaller, you can still be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/49 "2016-03-28T01:10:26Z")
Chiming in to say this is simply a delightful film. Loved the DMV scene best … along with the ending, which the DMV sets the stage for. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/50 "2016-03-28T01:39:03Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Holy mackerel, we must have been watching a different movie. This one was clearly about racism, black people (the fox was called “shifty,” for goodness sake! And “articulate”), hidden prejudice and bias, privilege, sexism, demagoguery and fear-baiting, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic prejudice, and a host of other things. It wasn’t subtle in the slightest. I want to know what movie YOU were watching! I can get on board with the general racism/classcism etc. but specifically around black people (because of the fox no less)? anti muslim? What? How? Anti-Semetic? Again…how? ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/51 "2016-03-28T01:45:48Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > [ul] > [li]Spotted two references to “Frozen”. The flower thief is “Duke Wesselton”, and Nick tells Judy at one point, “This isn’t some fairy tale where you sing a song and you get everything you want - **let it go**.”[/li][/ul] I think “Let It Go” was a song on Judy’s phone. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/52 "2016-03-28T02:08:54Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I can get on board with the general racism/classcism etc. but specifically around black people (because of the fox no less)? Sure, the “articulate” and “good father” remarks from a “prey liberal” who was ashamed of herself for having initially suspected the fox for being up to something illicit? Those are definitely standard tropes of anti-black racism, in the US at least. [QUOTE=Sir T-Cups] anti muslim? What? How? [/quote] All of “those people” are intrinsically violent/savage/dangerous? [QUOTE=Sir T-Cups] Anti-Semetic? Again…how? [/QUOTE] That one I don’t quite get. Maybe the fox thing again, being innately shifty/untrustworthy/money-grubbing? In any case, the point wasn’t to set up the movie as an exact representation of particular kinds of bigotry in all their details, but just to reference a bunch of specific bigotry tropes that we recognize from familiar forms of bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/53 "2016-03-28T20:25:31Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > In any case, the point wasn’t to set up the movie as an exact representation of particular kinds of bigotry in all their details, but just to reference a bunch of specific bigotry tropes that we recognize from familiar forms of bigotry. This part I can get on board with, it was the rest that threw me for a loop ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/54 "2016-03-28T20:39:50Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > That one I don’t quite get. Maybe the fox thing again, being innately shifty/untrustworthy/money-grubbing? Referenced above in the thread, the super-powerful minority that is seen as smarter and in charge and is really dangerous because of their inherent viciousness and duplicity. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/55 "2016-03-28T22:45:34Z")
There were a lot of lines in the movie that translate directly to real-world stereotypes and tropes: Bunnies can’t drive - asian drivers “You can’t touch a sheep’s wool!” - touching African-American hair A bunny can call another bunny cute, but you can’t - The n-word Judy calling Nick savage and being unable to take that back - basically any hurtful slur, but also a riff on Hillary Clinton’s “super predator” remarks Hopps joining the police and getting relegated to menial labor- women as cops or military, or other traditionally make jobs. Plus the “articulate” and “good father” bits mentioned above, and plenty of others. It’s not accidental. The subtext of the movie could not be any clearer. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/56 "2016-03-29T01:49:39Z")
So you’re telling me the writers of the movie meticulously combed through seemingly every race and thought “how could we say something offensive about them” and threw them all into the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/57 "2016-03-29T03:19:34Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So you’re telling me the writers of the movie meticulously combed through seemingly every race and thought “how could we say something offensive about them” and threw them all into the movie? Alas, I bet it was a lot easier than that. I wasn’t there at the writers’ meetings, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just browsed Urban Dictionary and Reddit for fifteen minutes and came up with enough derogatory stereotypes of various groups to last them all the way up through the zany Hopps-Wilde/Lemming-Oryx-Antlerson wedding in _Zootopia VI: The Family That’s Prey Together_. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/58 "2016-03-29T13:52:12Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > There were a lot of lines in the movie that translate directly to real-world stereotypes and tropes: > > Bunnies can’t drive - asian drivers > “You can’t touch a sheep’s wool!” - touching African-American hair > A bunny can call another bunny cute, but you can’t - The n-word > Judy calling Nick savage and being unable to take that back - basically any hurtful slur, but also a riff on Hillary Clinton’s “super predator” remarks > Hopps joining the police and getting relegated to menial labor- women as cops or military, or other traditionally make jobs. > > Plus the “articulate” and “good father” bits mentioned above, and plenty of others. It’s not accidental. The subtext of the movie could not be any clearer. I agree, but they don’t line up one-to-one with real world prejudices. It’s a mix-and-match. For example - nearly every major protagonist in the movie has one “US Black” stereotype/trope aimed at him or her: Hops - bunny calling another cute; Nic - “articulate”; The deputy mayor - sheep’s wool; the predators generally - the majority claims to accept them, but when push comes to shove, fears them. Yet in other ways each one fails to track “US Black” prejudices: the feared minority also tends to be in positions of power (like the lion mayor); Hops is part of the majority, not minority. I think the makers were deliberately doing this, to get people to think outside their usual categories, about how prejudice could impact them in different ways as both victim and perpetrator of it. There is no-one anyone can point to and say ‘yup, that’s definitely me’. There is no-one one can point to and say ‘yup, that’s definitely not me’. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/59 "2016-03-29T15:05:23Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > So you’re telling me the writers of the movie meticulously combed through seemingly every race and thought “how could we say something offensive about them” and threw them all into the movie? No, I’m saying that they wanted to make a movie about prejudice of all kinds. Part of the technique they used to drive that concept home was to use real world stereotypes to demonstrate how the cartoon compares to our own lives. By distributing the tropes amongst the characters, it helps send the message that in the movie, predators aren’t simply a stand-in for African-Americans (or gays, or women, or the disabled, or atheists, or whatever), they are illustrating a broader concept of prejudice that we can all learn from. **Malthus** is exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977/60 "2016-03-29T18:12:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > This one was clearly about racism, black people (the fox was called “shifty,” for goodness sake! . “Shifty” is some sort of code word now? 😕:dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zootopia-seen-it-thread-spoilers-probably/747977.md?page=4)