Disney’s latest animated film “Zootopia” had a spectacular opening weekend, earning about 19.5 million dollars on its March 4 opening alone, even beating out Disney’s own “Frozen.” The film has received critical acclaim from critics all around the board, with many praising its animation, humor, and its themes and messages.

The overall plot of “Zootopia,” known as “Zootropolis” in the UK (and several other different titles depending on which country you live in) is about a civilized society where animals have evolved to walk upright, talk and behave like humans do.

As someone who’s aiming to study animation in college, I’ve always been a sucker for animated Disney films with talking animals, so of course I was eager to see this film as soon as it was announced and the first teaser trailer was released. Going into the movie, I expected it to be a fun experience as many family-friendly flicks are, but nothing too special.

Surprisingly and unexpectedly, for me at least, the movie had a great message about tolerance and diversity. In the film’s fictional universe, predatory species and prey live together. Despite living together peacefully, there is still prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes based on an animal’s species. For example, the protagonist, a rabbit named Judy Hopps is told growing up that she could never achieve her dream of becoming a police officer, because her species isn’t seen as capable enough. As the film progresses, Judy is able to break that stereotype and becomes the Zootopia Police Department’s first rabbit officer.

Without giving away too much of the plot, the movie is filled with clever references to other forms of media, such as “The Godfather” and even “Breaking Bad.” I won’t give any context to these references to avoid spoilers, but I can assure you they’re spectacular.

While I don’t think I’d say “Zootopia” is a perfect movie, it was both fun and thought-provoking, and a film that I definitely plan on seeing again while it’s still in theaters.
8/10