in other words
august3
2017
9
Inside Our Films: Zootopia (2016)
By Jim Bryson
Although
it certainly took its
time, summer is fi-
nally upon us here
in Western Oregon.
With the summer
season here you most
likely have kids that
are home from school
and needing some
entertainment. For-
tunately, we have a
wonderful
library
here in Vernonia with
lots of options for
summertime enter-
tainment.
My
son,
Tyler, insisted on
borrowing Disney’s
Zootopia (2016) from our local Vernonia
library, under my protest. I have found that
I have an adult aversion to current Disney
projects. Of course, these feelings are entirely
the product of a lack of exposure. I have not
seen the bulk of the last several decades of
Disney animation. I, pretty much, moved
on after Robin Hood (1973) (an exceptional
and entirely relevant movie by the way) into
more live action interests. With the advent
of modern computer technology and the
introduction of new media giants such as
Pixar there are new and fascinating animated
film options.
This month I watched Zootopia
(2016). This animated film follows the ad-
venture of the lead character, Judy Hopps
(Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny rabbit and as-
piring police office for the Zooptopia Police
Force. Zootopia, of course this is a Disney
film, is populated by all the familiar animal
species with the exception that these animals
walk and talk just like us. Being evolved ani-
mals does not take away from the very famil-
iar societal interactions that we see in our day
to day lives.
Judy, as a new Police recruit, finds
herself embroiled in a conspiracy and cover-
up involving the apparently random re-wild-
ing of certain (formerly) predatory species
members. In her in-
vestigation she ends up
teaming up with Nick
Wilde (Jason Bate-
man) a “shudder” fox,
of all species, and a
“reformed” conman at
that! Zootopia makes
full use of the implicit
racial divide in our own
society to show an ini-
tially rocky buddy-cop
relationship between
“predator” and “prey”
and in that way is very
approachable.
One
of the beauties of this
film is that it finds a
way of being very clear
with its messages of
tolerance and pre-con-
ception without being
“preachy” for either a child or an adult audi-
ence.
Zootopia is the latest in a long string
of animated films cleverly intended for both
an adult and child audience. A good compari-
son example would be SpongeBob which has
forged a new path of childrens entertainment
where the makers clearly recognize that chil-
dren are not their only captive audience. As
an adult watching a “childrens” movie I was
very pleasantly surprised by the wealth of
meat and reference that this film brings to the
adult watcher. Specifically, watch for a third
act Breaking Bad reference!
With this film and many other
wonderful childrens titles there is very little
reason for you and your family to not be
making use of our exceptional Vernonia
Public Library.
Vernonia 4-H kids spent the week of July 19-23 at the
Columbia County Fair. Kaitlyn Eyrrick shows off her
bunny and Lauren Ely shows off her sheep.
Donation to Vernonia Cares
Members of the Pacific Northwest District of Kiwanis International delivered
food to Vernonia Cares Food Bank, including cheese, sausage, ham, eggs, assorted
dry and canned goods, and bread, totaling 395 pounds. Added to 423 pounds the
Kiwanis delivered earlier in the year, it brought the total donated to over 700 pounds.
Pictured left to right are Cares Director Sandy Welch, Kiwanis members
Jewell Bailey and Oscar Domingo, and Cares volunteer Randal Harvey.
“This nutritious food will be wonderfully enjoyed by our clients,” said Welch.
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