In a bustling metropolis where predators and prey live in harmony, Judy Hopps becomes the first rabbit to join the police force. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to solve a mysterious case of missing mammals. However, she finds herself forced to partner with Nick Wilde, a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, to uncover a conspiracy that threatens to tear their civilized society apart.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
March 4, 2016 |
Running time |
108 minutes |
Genre |
Animation Adventure Comedy Mystery Family |
Budget |
$150,000,000 |
Box Office |
$1,025,521,689 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Byron Howard Rich Moore |
Produced by |
Clark Spencer |
Written by |
Jared Bush Phil Johnston |
Music by |
Michael Giacchino |
Cinematography |
N/A (Animation) |
Edited by |
Fabienne Rawley Jeremy Milton |
Production Co. |
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios |
Distributed by |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in Zootopia Collection
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The Plot
Predator and Prey
Zootopia stands as a gleaming metropolis where anthropomorphic mammals of all species coexist, divided into distinct habitat districts such as the luxurious Sahara Square, the frozen Tundratown, the miniature Little Rodentia, and the humid Rainforest District. The city's golden rule is that "anyone can be anything." The story begins in the rural town of Bunnyburrow, where a young rabbit named Judy Hopps performs in a children's play about the history of Zootopia. While her peers dream of simple lives, 9-year-old Judy boldly announces her dream to become the first rabbit officer in the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD). Her parents, Bonnie and Stu Hopps, try to dissuade her, suggesting she settle for the safe complacency of carrot farming. Judy’s resolve is tested moments later when she intervenes to stop a local bully, a fox named Gideon Grey, from tormenting her friends. Although Gideon scratches her face and mocks her dreams, Judy remains undeterred, revealing she successfully recovered the tickets he stole.
Fifteen years later, a 24-year-old Judy enters the Zootopia Police Academy. Initially, she struggles significantly, as the obstacle courses are designed for much larger mammals like rhinos and hippos, not the slight frame of a lagomorph. However, through sheer determination and by utilizing her agility, Judy eventually excels, graduating as the valedictorian of her class. Mayor Leodore Lionheart, a lion who spearheaded the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, proudly assigns her to Precinct 1 in the heart of the city. After a tearful goodbye to her family at the train station, Judy travels to Zootopia, watching the landscape shift through the city's magnificent districts before settling into her new, albeit cramp and noisy, apartment.
The Hustle and the Parking Duty
On her first day at the ZPD, Judy attends roll call expecting a glamorous assignment. However, Chief Bogo, a tough Cape buffalo who doubts a rabbit's ability to be a police officer, assigns her to parking duty while the other large officers are tasked with investigating 14 missing mammal cases. Bogo dismisses her ambition, but Judy resolves to be the best meter maid ever. During her shift, she spots a suspicious fox entering a jagged-pop shop. She follows him, only to discover he is merely trying to buy a "Jumbo-pop" for his toddler son. When the elephant owner refuses service based on species, Judy steps in, threatening the owner with health code violations unless he serves them. She even pays for the popsicle when the fox claims he forgot his wallet. The fox introduces himself as Nick Wilde and thanks her.
Later that afternoon, Judy discovers she has been played. Nick and his "son"—actually a diminutive fennec fox named Finnick—melt down the Jumbo-pop to create dozens of smaller "pawpsicles," sell them to lemmings for a profit, and sell the leftover sticks as construction lumber to mice. When Judy confronts Nick, he smugly explains that while his actions are deceptive, he has permits for everything and hasn't broken the law. He condescendingly tells her that Zootopia isn't a place where dreams come true and that she will never be anything more than a "dumb bunny." As he departs, he leaves her with a cynical parting shot: "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
The 48-Hour Ultimatum
The next day, a disheartened Judy abandons her parking post to pursue Duke Weaselton, a crook who stole a bag of what appears to be moldy onions from a floral shop. The chase leads them into Little Rodentia, where Judy has to be careful not to crush the tiny citizens. She eventually captures Weaselton using a giant donut sign, simultaneously saving a shrew named Fru Fru from being crushed. Despite the arrest, Chief Bogo reprimands Judy for abandoning her post and causing property damage. During the dressing down, Mrs. Otterton bursts into the office, desperate for help finding her missing husband, Emmitt Otterton.
Bogo is dismissive, but Judy immediately volunteers for the case. Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether, a sheep who often finds herself under Lionheart’s thumb, enters and praises Judy’s initiative, texting the Mayor about the new assignment. Cornered, Bogo allows Judy to take the case but imposes a strict condition: she has 48 hours to find Emmitt Otterton, or she must resign from the force. Judy agrees. Examining the case file, she finds no leads except a grainy photo of Otterton eating one of Nick’s pawpsicles. Realizing Nick is a key witness, she tracks him down and blackmails him into helping her by recording his confession to tax evasion with her carrot pen. Nick reluctantly agrees to help, hoping to get it over with quickly.
Mr. Big and the Jaguar's Descent
Nick takes Judy to the Mystic Springs Oasis, a naturalist club, to run the license plate of the limousine Otterton was seen entering. They get the information from Flash, a sloth at the Department of Mammal Vehicles, whose agonizingly slow speed wastes nearly the entire day. The plate leads them to a limousine service in Tundratown, where they discover the car belongs to Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in Tundratown. They are captured by polar bear henchmen and brought before Mr. Big, who turns out to be an arctic shrew. He intends to "ice" them until his daughter, Fru Fru, intervenes, recognizing Judy as the officer who saved her life in Little Rodentia.
Grateful, Mr. Big invites them to his daughter's wedding and provides information. He explains that Otterton was his florist and was coming to discuss something important, but suddenly "went crazy" in the limo, attacking the chauffeur, Manchas, before running off. Judy and Nick visit Manchas, a black jaguar, at his home in the Rainforest District. A terrified Manchas describes how Otterton was yelling about "night howlers" before the attack. Suddenly, mid-conversation, Manchas goes savage himself, reverting to a feral, predatory state. He chases Judy and Nick through the rainforest canopy. Judy manages to chain Manchas to a lamppost and calls for backup. However, by the time Chief Bogo and the reinforcements arrive, Manchas has vanished. Bogo, believing Judy is hallucinating or lying, demands her badge. Nick steps in to defend her, pointing out that she still has 10 hours left on her deal. As they leave, Nick opens up to Judy on the sky tram, revealing his own trauma: as a child, he was muzzled by prey scouts for being a fox, which led him to embrace the stereotype that the world expected of him.
Cliffside Asylum
Nick realizes that the city's traffic cameras might have captured Manchas's abduction. They consult Assistant Mayor Bellwether at City Hall, who gives them access to the system. The footage reveals that timberwolves captured Manchas. Judy assumes these wolves are the "night howlers" Otterton warned about. Following the vehicle's path, they locate Cliffside Asylum, a hidden facility guarded by wolves. Inside, they discover all the missing predators, including Otterton and Manchas, imprisoned and in a savage state.
They eavesdrop on Mayor Lionheart consulting with a doctor, revealing that he has been hiding these savage predators to protect his political image and prevent public panic, though he doesn't know the cause of the affliction. Judy records the conversation on her phone. They narrowly escape the facility and contact the ZPD. The police raid the asylum, arresting Mayor Lionheart and those involved. With Lionheart removed, Bellwether is sworn in as the new Mayor.
A Broken Partnership
Judy is hailed as a hero for cracking the case. She invites Nick to join the ZPD as her partner, handing him an application form. However, during the subsequent press conference, a pressured Judy suggests that the predators may have gone savage due to their "biology" and a reversion to their primitive instincts. Nick, watching from the side, is hurt by her implication that he is a ticking time bomb. When he confronts her, Judy fearfully reaches for the fox repellent she carries, confirming her ingrained bias. Betrayed, Nick returns the application and walks out. Judy's comments ignite a wave of fear and discrimination against predators across Zootopia. Pop star Gazelle holds a peaceful protest pleading for unity, but the city remains divided. Guilt-ridden and realizing she has broken the city she promised to protect, Judy resigns from the ZPD and returns to Bunnyburrow.
The Truth About Night Howlers
Back home, Judy returns to her life as a carrot farmer. Some time later, she encounters Gideon Grey, now a reformed baker partnering with her parents. Gideon apologizes for his past bullying. During the conversation, Judy learns that "night howlers" are not wolves, but toxic purple flowers (Midnicampum holicithias) that have severe psychotropic effects, causing any mammal who ingests them to turn savage. Realizing this was the cause of the outbreak, Judy rushes back to Zootopia.
She locates Nick living under a bridge and tearfully apologizes, admitting her ignorance and begging for his help to set things right. Nick forgives her, and they reunite to solve the conspiracy. They track down Duke Weaselton again, who admits he stole the night howler bulbs for a ram named Doug. They find Doug in a secret lab hidden in an abandoned subway car, where he is manufacturing a serum from the flowers and shooting predators with pellet guns to make them go savage.
The Subway Showdown
Judy and Nick hijack the subway car to transport the evidence—the lab itself—to the ZPD. They are pursued by Doug’s hench-rams, Woolter and Jesse, through the subway tunnels. In the ensuing chaos, the train car derails and explodes, destroying the lab. However, Nick reveals he managed to salvage a case containing the sniper pistol and the serum pellets. They make a run for the ZPD through the Natural History Museum.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Just before they can reach the exit, they are intercepted by Mayor Bellwether, who demands the evidence. Judy realizes Bellwether is the mastermind behind the conspiracy, intending to frame predators to keep the prey majority in power through fear. Bellwether’s henchmen knock Judy and Nick into a museum exhibit pit. Bellwether shoots Nick with a serum pellet from the case and calls the ZPD, feigning distress to frame Nick for killing Judy.
Nick appears to turn savage, snarling and cornering Judy. As Bellwether watches triumphantly, admitting her plan to divide Zootopia and rule it, Nick suddenly stops and smiles. It is revealed to be a ruse; they had swapped the serum pellets with blueberries from Judy's family farm. Judy holds up her carrot pen, which has recorded Bellwether's entire confession. Chief Bogo and the ZPD arrive just in time to hear the recording and arrest Bellwether and her accomplices. Later, Lionheart publicly denies knowledge of the plot but defends his imprisonment of the predators as a "wrong thing for the right reason."
A Better Zootopia
An antidote is developed, and all the savage predators, including Emmitt Otterton and Manchas, are cured and returned to their families. Judy is reinstated into the ZPD. Months later, she attends the police academy graduation ceremony to pin a badge on the force's first fox officer: Nick Wilde. The two become official partners, banteringly assigning each other parking duty before speeding off in a patrol car to stop a speeder.
During the credits, the entire cast attends a massive concert by Gazelle, dancing to her hit song. Meanwhile, in prison, a furious Bellwether watches the concert on a TV until her ram cellmates force her to endure it.
