‘Zootopia’: How Political Should Kids Movies Get?

How deep and smart and meaningful show a children’s film be? It’s a loaded question. On the one side of the debate, you have movies like Minions. (Oh, Minions, how you confound and terrify me.) Minions is a frenetic journey into the abyss of nonsense. It’s silly and charming, but short on morality or philosophy. Disney’s big spring Zootopia just hit Netflix yesterday and it’s positioned on the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of being just a joyful bit of cotton fluff, Zootopia is a nuanced exploration of liberal political values.

That’s right: Zootopia is set on making your kids Hillary supporters.

Yes, Zootopia is a cute little caper about a bunny and a fox who join forces to solve a crime, but it’s also chock full to the brim with allegories for social injustice.From the opening scenes, it becomes apparent that the metaphor the film is pushing is that people shouldn’t be held back by antiquated prejudices, but Zootopia is full of little flourishes that call upon politically charged conversations in our everyday life. Judy tells people off for using the word “cute” to describe her, as only bunnies can use that word with one another and later she catches the mayor’s corruption with a camera phone. In the last act, though, Judy has to confront her own anti-predator beliefs and we see the residents of Zootopia unravel because of fear. The villain actually brags that the plan is to stir up fear to maintain power. (Sound familiar?)

The message that gets repeatedly hammered home is one of acceptance and cooperation. So, yeah, it’s a very complicated look at modern politics…with fun animal jokes.

The question, again, is should Zootopia be so aggressively political? Is it okay for kids to watch a film with this much not-so-subtle messaging? I suppose your opinion probably depends upon whether or not you agree with its values. It’s easier to approve of blatant messaging when you want kids to get that message. And if you don’t agree with the film’s politics, then you probably don’t want the children in your life to blissfully watch the film. Nevertheless, I always think it’s better to expose kids to big ideas in art. Children’s films might seem like fluffy diversions, but they can be safe places to explore complicated ideas like morality, death, and, yes, political agendas. These films offer kids a rubric to help them digest a crazed and complicated world — and that’s important.

In any event — and this is my personal opinion — I’d rather a kid get too much politics with their animated adventures than an overdose of…this:

[Watch Zootopia on Netflix]