Saturday 13 June 2015

Zootopia Teaser: Are Disney Onto Another Winner?



As many of you are aware, Disney have released a surprise teaser trailer for their upcoming feature film Zootopia. The 55th feature in their canon is expected to premiere in March 2016, and the trailer gives little away concerning the plot. The main ‘original’ aspect of the movie that the teaser highlights is the fact that, while humans do not exist in this world, all the animals are anthropomorphised, fully clothed and civilised. But really, this seems a rather peculiar thing to have to acknowledge in advance of its screening, as the animated genre is already broadly familiar with this concept, and Disney features are, themselves, no stranger to it; just look at Robin Hood (1973) and Chicken Little (2005). Cartoons have even utilised anthropomorphism since the days of rubber hose animation in the ‘20s and ‘30s. In any case, the teaser succeeds in emanating a semblance of originality, in that it implies that animals have evolved beyond their basic natural instincts and collectively developed into a civilised society (coincidentally very much like our own…).

Okay, so although the tagline claims it’s ‘like nothing you’ve seen be-fur’ (which is quite possibly one of the worst taglines I have ever heard), the concept behind it sounds a little derivative, but the character designs look smooth and quirky, and it conveys a strangely sincere undertone akin to that of an American crime drama – wherefrom, no doubt, many of the laughs will derive. The others are likely to revolve around the double act comprised by the fox-bunny partnership – comedy deriving from the pairing of oppositional counterparts representing yet another common trope in cinema. Regardless, while it indisputably covers old ground in these respects, it might yet make a compelling film, as long as it maintains a solid, gripping and impactful narrative, and the characters have chemistry. Without these factors, however, the film may prove little more than a fur-gettable (sorry) affair.
Check out the teaser trailer below:

No comments:

Post a Comment