‘Zootopia’ team talks timeliness, collaboration
One of the smartest and most subversive movies in the Oscar race this year comes in an unexpected package, that of a Disney animated film featuring adorable animals that tackle such weighty issues as racism, sexism and governing through fear. “Zootopia” was helmed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore (with co-director Jared Bush), who also developed the story, with a screenplay by Bush and Phil Johnston.
In the film, Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) sets out to be the first rabbit police officer, only to team up with a con artist fox (voiced by Jason Bateman) to solve the mystery of why some animals are turning feral.
Howard and Moore spoke about the timeliness of their film. The following is an edited transcript.
Q: What was the response from the studio when you pitched a $150 million animated movie about racism?
Howard: When we pitched this idea five years ago, doing a movie about bias and discrimination didn’t seem like the most mainstream thing for Disney. But it was readily embraced by everyone. We got nothing but support. And the more chances we took, the deeper and edgier it got. We had a guerrilla filmmaking style, working in this crazy warehouse out by the Burbank (Calif.) airport that had possums in the vending machines, and we all bonded over this bizarre film we’d committed to making.
Q: Wait, you don’t associate the term “guerrilla filmmaking” with Disney. Why were you working in a warehouse?
Rich Moore: Our animation building was being renovated. When it was built in the early ’90s, it wasn’t really conducive to human beings. So we all had to move out for about two years. We were in a big warehouse in North Hollywood next to the runway of the Burbank airport and some train tracks and a junkyard. It was a pretty down-anddirty operation. It reminded me of a lot of the places I worked at early in my career; animation in the late ’80s was not burgeoning like today. It was about the love of the craft, and the rough-aroundthe-edges location kind of made it more fun.
Howard: It felt like a big college loft, and you were making a film with your roommates.
Q: And how did the possum get into the vending machine?
Howard: I still have no idea.
Moore: It was a baby possum, and I want everyone to know, it’s fine.
Q: Disney consistently turns out quality animated films; what is the secret to that?
Howard: I think it’s very collaborative, and it’s something John (Lasseter) and Ed (Catmull) brought to Disney 10 years ago. Everyone has a voice. Everyone feels like it’s their film. I think that makes a huge difference.
Moore: Especially with this film. It wasn’t a traditional subject matter, so any suggestions to make it better, we were open to hearing.
Q: In many ways, the film is timelier than ever.
Howard: That’s true. When we were in production on the film, we wanted to really look at the topic and talk about it honestly. Things were not great in the world. Ferguson and other incidents like it were happening. It made us pause for a moment, not to ask, “Do we really want to be doing this movie about things going on in the real world?” It was more like we had our finger on something important right now, and we really need to do our best to portray this as honestly as we can. Then with the election and the campaign, the real move toward governing by fear, which is what our entire third act is about, our villain is using fear to stoke division, I don’t think we could have predicted it any closer with this film.