Zootopia (1991 animated film)

Zootopia is a 1991 American animated dramedy-mystery feature film written and directed by British-born animator Edmund Chester (his feature debut after directing short films) and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation using the short-lived Disney MovieToons banner (the second and final film to do so following DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp).

Originally premiering on The Disney Channel, with NBC showing it the following evening, in the summer of 1991 instead of a proposed theatrical release (though it was still released to movie theaters in various other countries), the film gained a cult following through its TV showings and video releases, eventually resulting in an infinitely more successful CGI reimagining released in 2016. It is also known for the rather unusual circumstances by which it was produced (as relayed by Chester himself).

Premise
In the land of Zootopia, with all its various locales (including the big city downtown), almost all predators are forced to wear shock collars supressing their "bad sides". The few who don't wear them work in positions of power, much to the envy of their brethren in lesser class. Nick Wilde, a crafty con artist fox moonlighting as a bank teller, spends his free time observing his surroundings and whoever lives in it. Such skills turn out to be handy when rumors involving mayoral candidate Dawn Bellwether abound, despite her impenetrable publicity campaign.

In order to investigate, he requires the aid of idealistic college yuppie Judy Hopps (who has troubles of her own with her large family and slimy arranged boyfriend Gideon Grey) because of her deep interest in better quality of life for all Zootopians. Along the way, both have not just Gideon's domineering business tactics but also the ZPD (led by take-charge Chief Bogo) and Mr. Big's organized crime syndicate to contend with.

Voice cast

 * Martin Short - Nick Wilde, a former con artist fox released on bail who works at the First Bank of Zootopia (because working with money under a shock collar prevents theft). Underneath his wacky and overdramatic façade is a crafty and observant vulpine who uses bank records and contacts as aid in his and Judy's quest.
 * Bridget Fonda - Judy Hopps, an independence-seeking rabbit college student who constantly partakes in campus protests for better life in Zootopia and is forced to help her arranged boyfriend's pie-selling business. She reluctantly comes along with but later genuinely helps Nick foil the grand scheme.
 * Joanna Lumley - Dawn Bellwether, a sheep and Zootopia's mayoral candidate, rumored to be not on the up and up despite her successful publicity campaign. She serves as the film's main antagonist, given her self-serving scheme to get both prey and predator on her side using taxes and other provisos.
 * Carl Weathers - Chief Bogo, a headstrong and bellicose chief of the Zootopia Police Department who doesn't think highly of Nick (due to the latter's past as a thieving con artist) and is quick to assume the worst when someone's a suspect (as he sees it).
 * Donald Sutherland - Mayor Lionheart, a former mayor of Zootopia who is considering stepping down (even dropping out of the mayoral election) to save face because his tenure was not well-liked by Zootopians before it turns out some of his reasons were based on false planted evidence as part of Bellwether's scheme.
 * Kiefer Sutherland - Gideon Grey, a red fox pie vendor and arranged boyfriend of Judy Hopps due to close relations between his family and hers. Smug, manipulative, slow to anger and unwilling to take "no" for an answer, he's determined to marry Judy so she can help with his business operation and match up to his idea of a perfect body shape.
 * Frank Welker - Travis, a black-footed ferret who works as Gideon's pie truck driver and serves as a butt of jokes because of his clumsiness and tendency to reveal what he shouldn't tell Judy results in minor physical repercussions on Gideon's part.
 * Joe Pesci - Duke Weaselton, a least weasel panhandler and vendor of cheap goods in general who Nick makes contact with to seek further leads on busting the case with Bellwether's plans.
 * Dom DeLuise - Officer Clawhauser, a kindly and eccentric overweight cheetah who works as the ZPD dispatcher. He is not only affable (easily befriending Nick and Judy when they are brought to the police station on suspicion because his job leaves him lonely) but also a chatterbox prone to talking about various subjects at once, especially based on whatever someone asks or happens around him. According to him, he chose his figure and occupation instead of an athlete so he didn't have to be fit into a mold like others wanted him to be.
 * Shelley Thompson - Bonnie Hopps, mother of Judy. A middle-aged rabbit struggling with a large family, her daughter's rebellious nature and slowly dwindling relations with Gideon's pie-vending business sourcing ingredients from her farm, she thinks she knows what's best for her daughter but seems oblivious to her feelings.
 * Brian Cummings - Stu Hopps, father of Judy, who seems to understand how Judy feels about her situation but is too anxious about a potential dispute to try and defend her against his wife.
 * Nigel Planer - Flash, a three-toed sloth at the DMV who's slow in speaking, movement and wit. He inadvertently obstructs Nick and Judy's investigation (with Clawhauser posing as officer) by taking too long prompting Judy to lose her patience and nearly dampen their efforts.
 * Adrian Edmonson - Finnick, a cantankerous fennec fox who used to be Nick's partner-in-crime but now works as the janitor of the First Bank of Zootopia, much to his palpable and vocal dismay. It also turns out he keeps plenty of things necessary to the investigation buried underground.
 * Garrick Hagon - Manchas, a black jaguar limousine driver whose clientele are Zootopia's elite, especially Mr. Big.
 * Sandra Dickinson - Fru Fru, a ditzy shrew who is the daughter of Mr. Big. It's because she vouches for Nick and Judy's good deeds toward her that they are both cleared of foul play accusations.
 * Peter Cullen - Mr. Big, a shrew who is the boss of a notorious crime syndicate with whom it turns out Bellwether has made contact but has yet to receive any returns for their assistance with her election campaign.
 * Alexei Sayle - an unnamed polar bear guard working under Mr. Big. He is gleefully eager to violently punish Nick and Judy in exaggeratedly gruesome ways but is halted only by Mr. Big insisting they both explain their reason to see him.
 * Louise Chamis - Mrs. Otterton, an otter whose husband went missing despite his support for Bellwether before it turns out he had been made an involuntary test subject in Bellwether's scheme to devise punishments for "disobedient" Zootopians post-ban on shock collars.
 * Janet Jackson - Gazelle, a famed dance pop singer who initially campaigns for but later opposes Bellwether, also appearing at the end to perform "Rhythm Nation".
 * Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe - The Pit Stop Boys, a duo of domestic dog and cat attendants at Zootopian gas station Polar Pit Stop who Nick and Judy meet whilst looking for Mr. Big. They also contribute a performance of "Two Divided By Zero", a track from The Pet Shop Boys' 1986 album Please.
 * New Kids on the Block - New Cats on the Block, a popular boy band of various felines who perform "Step By Step" at the ending concert just before Gazelle's appearance.

Production
Disney had taken notice of Chester's previous short films being played at film festivals. Per his memory, he was contacted about working with them on a project because "(he) impressed them", which later turned out to be a stagnating concept involving a city of animals where predators were required to wear shock collars. Although meetings went smoothly, it soon became clear to him the project was not to be made by Disney's main studio, but instead through its television department.

According to him during a fan Q&A many years later, Disney chose him for a project made to write off taxes and the basic premise was convenient for that reason. As such, he also remembers being told by Disney, "Just don't make a PG-13 or R-rated Touchstone feature and you'll be fine." as his only real instruction.

Chester stated that given the circumstances, "(he) had more free reign than (he) realistically should've been given". With his friend Albert O'Connell, both worked out many drafts before finalizing a script (because he noticed the studio never assigned anyone to write it with nor for him), using their experiences and observations to flesh out the setting and characters.

Given the allotted budget and lower-scale nature of the project, animation work was largely subcontracted; character designs and storyboards were drawn in California and then faxed to Disney's then newer animation studios in England and France. Other studios assigned to the project included Bardel Entertainment and Phoenix Animation Studios in Canada and A. Film A/S in Denmark with Hanho Heung-Up in South Korea, Pacific Rim Productions in China and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan providing ink and paint services.

Voice work was recorded both in the United States and United Kingdom (in part because some of the animation was outsourced there).

Release
Although a North American theatrical release for the summer of 1991 was originally projected, it was cancelled months in advance and instead relegated to a television premiere on then-premium The Disney Channel on July 12, 1991 at 7 PM EST, with NBC showing it the following day also at that hour and CBC simulcasting it in Canada.

A week later, it was theatrically released in the UK and Republic of Ireland on July 19th by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Bros.] (who held the rights for Disney films in Europe at the time) through the Touchstone Pictures banner (ironic, given what is mentioned above), presumably due to its unusually emphasized sociopolitical commentary for a Disney feature and it receiving a PG rating from the BBFC. It was also released under Touchstone in Australia and New Zealand.

Reception
Due mainly to it being released directly to TV and video instead in North America, mainstream critics generally overlooked the film. Common Sense Media rated it 3 out of 5, advising it is more appropriate for children 10 years and older but commended its message and balanced tone.

However, in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Brazil and others, it was better-received by audiences and even did well in movie theaters, practically covering for its small budget and cancelled US theatrical presentation.

Home media
Nearly three months after its TV premiere, it was released on VHS in North America by Walt Disney Home Video on October 1, 1991, progressively selling over 10 million units by sometime in 1992. It was also a popular rental at Blockbuster Video stores in the USA and Canada within weeks of its release date.

It was re-released on VHS and finally given its first Disney DVD release on February 20, 2001 for the film's 10th anniversary, with the former containing the music video to Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation after the movie (it is also a DVD bonus feature). The DVD, much to fans' disappointment, only presents the movie in pan-and-scan format with few other features besides the music video, international theatrical trailer, a trivia game and language options.

A 15th anniversary edition (tentatively for release in 2006) with a widescreen option and other bonus content had been planned and advertised online but was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons with the 25th anniversary release of The Fox and the Hound taking its place.

On July 5, 2011, a 20th anniversary DVD with all the promised features (and more) finally materialized although a Blu-ray Disc release had not been announced at all. This release also came with a contest fuelled by a "Mystery" challenge requiring the usage of an insert inside the DVD. In February 2016, a high definition physical release finally occurred in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack sold as a Disney Movie Club exclusive to coincide with the 2016 movie of the same title.

Music
The film's score was jointly composed by David Newman and Alan Silvestri, released on CD, LP and cassette a week before its VHS release.

Unusually for a Disney production, the soundtrack includes songs from various artists not traditionally associated with children's media.


 * "Rhythm Nation" - Janet Jackson
 * "Joyride" - Roxette
 * "Bad Boys" - Inner Circle
 * "Criticize" - Alexander O'Neal
 * "Dangerous" - Roxette
 * "Two Divided By Zero" - Pet Shop Boys
 * "Secret Love" - Bee Gees
 * "I've Been Thinking About You" - Londonbeat
 * "Fantasy" - George Michael
 * "Step By Step" - New Kids on the Block