Why’s it Forgotten? Zootopia (2016)
https://lebeauleblog.com/2017/11/22/whys-it-forgotten-zootopia-2016/
Kevthewriter thinks people should talk about Zootopia more than they do.share
Let me clarify one thing about this series: not every movie I cover is really forgotten. Like how with Why’d it Bomb, I sometimes cover movies that weren’t box office bombs but rather just movies that didn’t do as well as the studio hoped (like Amazing Spider Man 2), this series sometimes covers movies that aren’t forgotten per se but just didn’t have much in the way of a pop culture impact.
As a result, I think Zootopia counts. No, it’s not forgotten as it still has a dedicated fanbase (re: mostly furries) and I’m sure it would still be fresh enough in most people’s minds that if you mentioned it, they would know what you’re talking about, it’s just that…honestly, the success of this movie has always dumbfounded me.
I’ll admit, when I first saw the movie had a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I was surprised because the movie looked so adequate and generic. And, honestly, when I saw the movie, I thought it was mostly just adequate and generic. But, even if I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie personally, I realize that it’s just my opinion and I wouldn’t question those who enjoyed the movie more than I did just because I thought it was only okay.
No, what surprised me about the success of the movie is that, even though it had an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and made a billion dollars at the box office (not to mention the awards it got later on), it never seemed to really become a huge phenomenon or got a ton of hype. I rarely saw people talk about it and most of the time, when I did, it was internet articles (or videos) talking about the anti-racism/anti-prejudice message the film had and whether or not they did it well. Or it was furries on Twitter going gaga over the film. Otherwise, I can’t really think of a line, a character, or a scene (maybe the sloth scene?) or anything from the film that has really become popular with the public and gets referenced or quoted often.
I mean, this year, there was a debate over whether white kids dressing up as Moana was considered racist or not. Last Halloween, was there any debate over whether, I dunno, having kids dress up as Zootopia characters for Halloween would turn them into furries? No, there wasn’t, because seemingly more kids wanted to dress up as Moana than they did anyone from this movie.