I know that when it comes to major pop culture efforts like these, no one looks to critical perspectives. Zootopia will garner 400M at the box office just like Big Hero 6 and Wreck-It Ralph and so on. But man, I just can't help but feel like the whole goddamn thing feels pointless. Rendering each species with their respective amount of rendered hairs? Coming up with a little backstory for each character designed? The intense amount of planning that went into making a world that accounts for the difference in size between all of those animals, complete with walls in the city separating habitats appropriate for them? All of that hard work over what must have been at least five years for what? Product placement and a platform to boost some singer who's been irrelevant since 2005? Anecdotal evidence right here, but seriously, even Jeopardy contestants drew the line at remembering that junk compared to the other junk they bother cramming into their heads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehnm4rq9hikSo what's the point, really? Yes, it's money, but does Disney really think girls buying stuffed dolls and branded bric-a-brac will somehow match boys buying toys and bedsheets of Lightning McQueen? You know, the character that made them $10,000,000,000 from merchandising? Look, either make your artsy film like Up or make it a transparent marketing ploy like Cars. Otherwise this is what you get. They can't all be gems, but more of them would be when you make it your clear goal to appeal to either investors or the audience first. Also, it's being released in March, make of that what you will.
