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| 2nd Anniversary by Byron Howard |
Two years ago today, the world changed.
It was a simple thing. A movie was released, the culmination of five years’ work by an incredibly talented and dedicated team. A story about a bunny who wanted to make the world a better place and a fox who was never going to let the world see that it got to him. As they interacted, they changed and became better as a result of the other’s influence – the bunny becoming less naive, and the fox learning you can be more than you currently are.
But simple things are often the ones that leave the biggest impact. This simple film, which taught lessons every child and adult should apply in their lives, was a huge success by all worldly standards – it earned over a billion dollars in the box office, had an insanely high score on RottenTomatoes, and even won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (along with almost every other award it could possibly win).
But the success of Zootopia can be seen in other, less obvious ways. Zootopia taught us many things that we need to learn in today’s world. It taught us to recognize bias in ourselves, not just in others. It taught us to look outside of ourselves and to do things we may have never considered doing before. It taught us that prejudice isn’t a binary principle – that everyone possesses some biases, and that we don’t always know the full story behind someone’s actions. They may act a certain way on the surface, but when you get to know them you can discover someone that defies all expectations, be it for good or ill.
To put it in the succinct words of Judy Hopps:
No matter what type of animal you are, from the biggest elephant to our first fox, I implore you… Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. it starts with me. It starts with all of us.
From all of us at ZNN, and on behalf of our entire community of Zootopians, I say to Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush, Phil Johnston, and every other amazing person at Disney who worked so hard to bring us this wonderful film…
Thank you for making the world a better place.
And for everyone who reads this, I too implore you to try. Try to make the world a better place, in whatever capacity you are able to. You may think you can’t do anything to make things better, but even if it’s something simple, like getting to know someone who needs a friend, you are making the world better. It doesn’t matter if you think it will actually work, or if it will make a difference. You never know everything a person is dealing with, and so you never know how much of an impact some kind words might have on them. Simple things can make a huge impact on the world.
So please… try. Try Everything.
Here’s to another wonderful two years of this community, and to making the world a better place.
This movie deserves all the praise and attention it gets, it is that phenominal of a film.
Hard to believe it's been two years, it has been a pleasure to have participated in Zootopia's success.
i really hope the fandom survives another 2 years, lol
Happy Anniversary Zootopia! Wow, 2 years. It really is hard is believe. I fell in love with movie and character the first time I saw the film in theater. So much so I went and saw it 5 more times XD. The messages the movie convied we're simple yet profound. Zootopia will always have my love. Thank you Disney!
Am I the only one who thinks their shadows in the picture look like a II on prepuce?
I remember seeing the sloth trailer for the first time in theater, and I knew I would enjoy watching this movie, but after seeing in theater, I’ve feel in love with its characters, message and its world. It was one of the few movies that I went back in theaters to watch again. Thanks to all the great folks at Disney (f̶o̶r̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶X̶D̶) who have worked on this amazing film.
Zootopia was not "just" a movie.
It was a phenomenon.
Its message resonated so powerfully with EVERYONE, so much so that even without significant marketing (that is, not to the same degree as other Disney Animated Features), it broke the billion-dollar barrier.
I am so glad I am part of the Zootopia Fandom.
A thoughtful and touching tribute for Zootopia's 2nd anniversary. Thank you for reaffirming how the movie is about bias. I remember when the movie was first released, more than a few reviewers glanced at the movie, decided the predator vs prey theme was obviously a form of racial allegory and wrote articles expounding on how Zootopia "got it wrong". Of course they totally missed the point that the creative team never intended an allegory and had consciously decided to focus on the much more subtle yet quite pervasive aspect of bias and how it can fuel prejudice which when unchecked or unexamined leads to the socially destructive habits of profiling and stereotyping. Coming to understand that lays the foundation for making the world a better place.
That we've still got fans going nuts over it this long after is testament to its greatness 😀
But really, it's a fantastic movie, and great tribute
For me, it wasnt the simple "try everything" or how we all should love and value ech other. For me, it was really interesting to watch the story of those 2 sides, 2 100{fc17e15ed6c8f701884a899a735d4ed94fc8cfa66fc2f404dd33f42f9afeb7a1} opposites. Obviously, i am talking about Nick and Judy, never before, i have seen such great double. Such chemistry. Those two, their interactions, their reactions is what hooked me up deep. Predator and prey, friends and maybe more? Then i also discovered Zistopia (which is now prolly dead, but hey) and that was even better.
It also was also a really good movie (proved on watching it together with other people) with really real work and thought put in, so that helped a lot. I am glad the community is alive and cant wait what future brings!
I agree that Nick and Judy have some of the greatest chemistry I've seen between two characters in years. However, I wouldn't really say they are 100{fc17e15ed6c8f701884a899a735d4ed94fc8cfa66fc2f404dd33f42f9afeb7a1} opposites.
Consider.. they were both idealistic as children. Both had a dream that was in conflict to what society thought of their species (dumb bunnies can't be cops, sly foxes can't be trusted w/o muzzles), both were brutally bullied as children while being mocked for their dreams. Where they diverged is how each dealt with that trauma. Judy stood up defiantly and said "I don't know when to quit". Nick gave in to society's expectations… "If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying to be anything else."
I think they connect so well because they have strong similarities and during the course of the film, each helps the other grow as an individual. Judy helps Nick see that he is more than a shifty fox, Nick helps Judy see that she is naive and has a blind-spot regarding her prejudice toward predators.
I first saw this film as “Zootropolis” on March 19th 2016 at an advance screening (the UK got it three weeks late, annoyingly) my initial interest had been spurred on by a friend of mine (who now just so happens to write for this very site) and the glowing review of the film by Chris Stuckmann just before its US release.
I knew I enjoyed it from the first viewing, and that same day purchased the Nick and Judy Disney Infinity figures as well as a “Zootropolis “ shopping bag. I felt the urge to go and see it again and thought “Why not?”
Two became three, three became four…let’s just say by the absolute end of its run here come October of 2016, the number was in the double digits. And I don’t regret one second or penny of it and would go again if the opportunity. I own it on blu ray three seperate times (1 US, 2 UK) on iTunes and will immediately buy it on 4K UHD Blu Ray as soon as Disney brings it out, which I hope is sooner rather than later given they’ve began to support the format at long last.
This film means so much to me. For so many reasons that I would be here all typing out a TLDR comment if I listed them all here.
Hope we get a sequel for 2021 to 2022.
When I first saw the teaser trailer, I had low expectations for Zootopia. However, when I heard "Try Everything" and watched several clips, I became desperate to see it. When I finally saw Zootopia, I saw that it was the best movie I have ever seen. Every element stuck with me, and most importantly, the inspirational message that it conveyed. It changed me for the better and I think we can all agree.