Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Zootopia 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 10, 2016

Disney Animation is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the monster success that was Frozen and the lovable Big Hero 6 comes Zootopia, a hilarious, tender, and action-packed animal-centric movie that's about individuality, acceptance, and co-existence. The movie's themes aren't really new, but they're interwoven into a pleasing package rich with well developed characters existing in a fun, colorful, and extraordinarily detailed world. Co-Directors Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-it Ralph) leave no stone unturned, crafting the movie with a near perfect blend of humor, heart, characterization, and detail. The story, themes, and laughs all play in harmony, yielding a seamless and enjoyable film that's sure to hold up for years to come and be remembered as an integral part of Disney's current run of success in the digital animation era.

What do you call a sloth working at the DMV?

Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) wants to be a cop. It's her one and only dream, but she's told "no" at every turn. She's too small, they say. No rabbit has ever gotten into law enforcement. Her parents (voiced by Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake) want her to continue on in the family business of carrot farming. But she's a determined little cottontail, goes to the police academy, defies the odds, and not only graduates, but graduates at the top of her class. She heads out on her own, for the first time in her life, to Zootopia, where she hopes to fulfill her dream of busting bad guys and keeping the world safe for animals of all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, she's treated to her size. None of her co-workers, including her chief, Bogo (voiced by Idris Elba), believe in her abilities. She's relegated to meter maid duty, but she becomes determined to be the best meter maid she can be. That leads her to a chance meeting with a sly fox scam artist named Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman). She falls for his ploy but quickly learns the truth about who he is. She also finagles her way into real police work: a missing person's case. Bono gives her 48 hours to solve the case or turn in her badge for disobeying orders. If she's going to work that fast, she'll needs help. She turns to Nick, blackmailing him to her cause. The two develop a friendship as they unravel a mystery that could have dire consequences and unseat the harmonious balance between predator and prey animals.

Zootopia doesn't really explore new and exciting themes, so the movie is better enjoyed for its characters, locations, and, to a lesser extent, its technical qualities. The story is more than adequate in framing the movie's quirky fun and setting a stage through which it can explore those themes, but the film shines brightest elsewhere. Judy and Nick are strong characters, more similar than one would think going in, with largely parallel arcs that move apart but come closer together again as their adventures reveal who they are below the surface, particularly as Nick's backstory is revealed. There's no shortage of supportive thematic imagery -- the fox repellant Judy's parents give her being the most obvious -- that helps prop up the movie's overt themes that it chooses to wear on its sleeve rather than more subtly woven into the story. That's arguably the movie's biggest weakness, but there's at least enough fun around it all to make up for the central bluntness and parallels to today's headlines (xenophobia, personal identity, adherence to societal norms vs. individuality, etc.) that adults, for sure, will grasp early and often. But the story and themes allow the movie to journey through some really great moments and have a lot of fun exploring its world, a world that, even physically, is all too familiar but reworked for the contemporary, clothes wearing, headphone listening, car driving, busy-busy-busy biped animal kingdom.

Zootopia's richness in detail is its primary strength. Few, if any, digitally animated movies feel this alive, involved, and lovingly assembled. With all the diversity in the movie -- the animal kingdom is represented widely and fiercely -- there's no shortage of opportunity to exploit every last little bit of potential zaniness, which the movie does with confidence, keen insight, and aplomb. Characters are very well drawn, and scope and scale are used to excellent effect, implemented not in one-off gags but made integral to most every scene in the movie, in some form or fashion. Judy's diminutive size next to her fellow officers -- who are elephants, lions, buffalos, animals much bigger than she -- is certainly one of the film's central focuses, but several scenes are built around other characteristics, such as a chase through "Little Rodentia," a sealed-off section of the city where Judy is as proportionality large as Godzilla and must avoid trampling on scurrying residents and toppling over rows of buildings while chasing her bad guy. Little touches throughout the Zootopia universe keep it fresh and enticing with usually perfectly designed and executed touches that have a recognizable center but an animal-centric, and often species-specific, construction. Then there's the DMV sequence, one of the absolute funniest moments in Disney movie history. It's a perfect storm of perfect timing, excellent use of a particular animal, and a clash between urgency and slow motion. Never has a slow sequence been so wonderfully executed and begged to stay on the screen as long as possible, and it's sure to leave the audience in tears and stitches.

Zootopia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Zootopia's Blu-ray 3D 1080p presentation offers a solid enough technical watch, but there's no sense of wow or dazzle to the presentation. Characters, particularly larger and more rotund characters -- a young Gideon seen near the beginning of the movie or the larger animal police officers -- appear with a decent sense of volume, particularly up against smaller and thinner characters like Nick and Judy. The transfer yields a very nice sense of general depth and space. The opening small town play reveals an honest sense of space back into the stage and out into the crowd, where definition is distinct between patrons. In the city, various alleyways, wider and more open streets, and larger vistas present with an appreciable sense of space across all three axes. Unfortunately, there's never a real sense of eye-popping 3D. Rarely does the transfer produce anything that seems to really stretch far back (beyond landscape) into the screen or protrude from it. During a chase with an angry predatory panther, Nick and Judy seem to spring towards the viewer as they leap to safety. A few other little odds and ends threaten to extend beyond the screen, but never to a real dizzying and dazzling effect. On the plus side, the image appears free of obtrusive crosstalk effects as sampled on the review equipment. The transfer's general attributes are fine, with color and detail holding up as well as that seen on the 2D-only version, which is also included in the 3D set. Minor aliasing appears at several junctures, with perhaps the best example along the straight edge of a locked subway station entrance seen late in the movie.

Zootopia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Zootopia's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack compliments the movie extraordinarily well. Though there are a few moments where score seems a little tepid in delivery, the track is mostly rich and aggressive with potent, full-stage delivery of score and Pop musical numbers like. The listening area is frequently saturated with notes, and the track makes excellent use of the added back two channels for a fuller and more naturally enveloping sound field. The track's excellence spreads beyond music, too. Many scenes spring to life with believable atmospherics, from city din to falling rain. Dialogue reverberation is terrific as heard at a graduation ceremony in the first act; the words linger around the stage with spot-on realism. Heavy animal footfalls, growls, and other deep, penetrating elements present with fantastic aggression, particularly around the low end. The track never wants for oomph and effort from the subwoofer. Directionality and imaging are excellent in action scenes and environmental cues that demand precise placement and movement. Dialogue delivery is clear and prioritization is excellent via a grounded, natural front-center delivery.

Zootopia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Zootopia contains several featurettes, deleted scenes, and a music video. The extras are included on the 2D-only disc. No 3D-specific bonuses are included. A DVD copy of the film and a Disney digital copy are included with purchase.

• Research: A True-Life Adventure (1080p, 9:58): The filmmakers immerse themselves in the real world's animal kingdom in order to better construct the movie's characters and world.
• The Origin of an Animal Tale (1080p, 9:15): The filmmakers discuss the various ideas for the movie in early stages of development, inspirations, story themes, the film's evolution in main character focus, and final film themes.
• Zoology: The Roundtables (1080p): A three-part feature. Each section is available with an introduction from Actress Ginnifer Goodwin.
  
  
  • Characters (5:47): The filmmakers discuss inspirations for, details, and the construction of the movie's characters.
  • Environments (5:44): A detailed look at all of the big and small elements that make the movie's world so rich and alive.
  • Animation (6:52): An interesting look into how the animators gave life to the characters and world.
• Scoretopia (1080p, 4:59): A fun look at the making of the movie's unique music.
• Z.P.D. Forensic Files (1080p, 3:23): A quick look through some of the Disney-related easter eggs scattered throughout the movie.
• Music Video (1080p, 3:21): "Try Everything" by Shakira.
• Deleted Characters (1080p, 3:16): Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore look at a few characters removed from the film.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Alternate Opening (4:08), Wild Times Pitch (2:44), Homesick Hopps (3:26), Detective Work (1:39), Alternate Jumbo Pops (2:59), Hopps' Apartment (2:45), and The Taming Party (3:11). With optional Byron Howard and Rich Moore introductions.

Zootopia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zootopia may not be the new standard bearer for 21st century Disney digital animation, but there's no mistaking the movie's proud place as another top-notch picture in a growing list of instant classics from the acclaimed studio. The film has it all: great characters, a wonderfully detailed world, overt but well integrated themes, plenty of laughs, and lots of colorful and enticingly designed digital areas to explore. It's well paced and proportioned, too. And that DMV sequence...goodness! That'll leave a smile on the face for weeks. Disney's Blu-ray 3D release of Zootopia offers a technically good, albeit visually basic, 3D image. Sound is excellent and the supplements are fair. Since the 3D never wows, the 2D standalone version is the one to buy.