Zootopia

Story:

Walt Disney Animation Studios created the 2016 American animated buddy police comedy film Zootopia (known as Zootropolis in some markets). It is the first movie in the Zootopia series, written by Jared Bush and Phil Johnston and directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and Shakira are among the vocalists. The movie centers on the fox Nick Wilde, a con artist, and the hare Judy Hopps, a rookie police investigator, as they collaborate to unearth a plot involving the disappearance of predators.

On February 13, 2016, Zootopia made its world premiere at the Brussels Animation Film Festival. On March 4, it was released in the US. Critics gave the movie favorable reviews, praising its subject matter, animation, and script. Zootopia is the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2016 after opening to record-breaking box office receipts in multiple countries and earning over $1 billion. Among other honors, Zootopia won Best Animated Feature at the 89th Academy Awards and was ranked among the best ten movies of 2016 by the American Film Institute. Zootopia+, a television spin-off series, debuted in 2022, and Zootopia 2, a sequel, came out in 2025.

Plot

Judy Hopps, a bunny from rural Bunnyburrow, realizes her childhood dream of becoming the first rabbit police officer in the city of Zootopia in a world full of anthropomorphic animals. Chief Bogo underestimates Judy’s abilities and assigns her to parking duty on her first day at the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD). Nick Wilde, a red fox con artist, hustles her during her shift and tells her she will never be a real police officer. The following day, Judy leaves her position to apprehend Duke Weaselton, a small-time criminal, for stealing a florist. Mrs. Otterton then goes to Bogo and begs someone to locate her husband, Emmitt, who is one of several missing predators. Bogo becomes irritated and threatens to fire Judy if she doesn’t find a solution within 48 hours after she accepts the case without asking permission.

Judy blackmails Nick into assisting her after learning that he was among the last to see Emmitt. They follow hints to the DMV and then a naturist club. There, they obtain the address of the vehicle that drove Emmitt out of the club and track it down Mr. Big, the Arctic Shrew mafia boss who harbors resentment toward Nick. Mr. Big is about to drown Judy and Nick when his daughter Fru Fru tells him that Judy prevented Weasleton and saved her life. After welcoming them inside, Mr. Big tells them that Emmitt suddenly “went savage” in the limousine and attacked the black Jaguar’s driver, Renato Manchas.

Manchas explains that Emmitt shouted about “Night Howlers” before hitting him when Judy and Nick question him. Before he can elaborate, Manchas abruptly transforms into a savage and starts chasing them. Judy calls the ZPD, but before backup can arrive, Manchas disappears. Nick reminds Bogo that there are still a few hours remaining before he requests Judy’s resignation. Later on, Nick tells Judy that he was bullied as a kid and has come to terms with being perceived as a “shifty fox” all the time.

Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether grants them access to Zootopia’s traffic cameras at City Hall, revealing that Manchas was kidnapped by timberwolves, whom Judy believes to be the Night Howlers. Judy and Nick find Emmitt and the other “savage” predators who have gone AWOL by tracking the wolves to an asylum. To keep the city from going into hysteria and to safeguard his career, Mayor Leodore Lionheart had put them in jail. The lost animals are taken to the hospital, Bellwether is appointed mayor, Lionheart and the asylum staff are arrested, and Judy and Nick notify the ZPD. Nick accepts Judy’s invitation to become a partner in the ZPD when she is commended for solving the case. Judy claims at a press conference that the predators’ wild behavior was brought on by their physiology.

Nick departs after being deeply wounded, and Judy’s remarks spread prejudice and terror toward predators across Zootopia. Guilt-ridden, Judy leaves the ZPD and goes back to Bunnyburrow. Judy discovers while running her parents’ vegetable stand that Night Howlers are actually flowers that, if consumed, offer strong, long-lasting psychotropic effects. Judy returns to Zootopia and makes amends with Nick after learning that someone is using the flowers to turn carnivores nasty. When they question Weaselton, he admits that he was recruited by Doug, a ram, to steal Night Howler bulbs. They discover Doug in his lab, where he uses a dart gun to poison predators with a serum made from Night Howlers.

After a chase, Judy and Nick take the gun as evidence, but Bellwether confronts them at a Natural History Museum before they can get to the ZPD. Bellwether traps Judy and Nick in an exhibit and tries to poison Nick and force him to kill Judy, revealing that she was the genius behind the entire prey-supremacist scheme to seize power as a result of the labor abuse she endured at the hands of Lionheart. But before that, Judy and Nick had recorded Bellwether’s confession and substituted blueberries for the serum.

While Bellwether and her accomplices are taken into custody, Lionheart, who is still behind bars, publicly denies any role in her plot. Nick becomes Judy’s partner and the first fox police officer after the vicious predators are healed and Judy is allowed to return to the ZPD.