Zootopia was, for me, one of the best animated films of the past decade, a film that has become a classic work of animated films with a fantastic mystery at its heart and captivating characters. When they announced that they were going to release a series of shorts based on the movie, however, I wasn’t that excited… I’m not a big fan of short films, I prefer feature films. Zootopia+ is something VERY similar to what we saw in Baymax earlier this year; the difference is that Zootopia+ has stories that explain events that happen in the original movie while Baymax is disconnected from the plot of the movie. The series consisted of 6 episodes in about 7-9 minutes each, and I will evaluate one by one and say which one I liked the least and which one I enjoyed the most…
‘Hopp On Board’, the first and worst short of all, for simply bringing a very generic story that has nothing interesting but all the action it brings, the parents of Judy Hopps when saying goodbye to Judy (scene of the movie), accidentally did not notice that one of her children was on the subway, somehow… And the short is basically they trying to rescue the child, it does not introduce anything interesting, unlike the other shorts that make you have a different perspective than what the movie had shown you.
“The Real Rodents of Little Rodentia” is ridiculous but fun, it’s not the best but it’s not the worst either… This short is presented as a wedding television program, where we see the bride in preparation, until her annoying cousin appears to be her bridesmaid, basically the main focus of the plot of the short is the conflict between the cousin and the bride, the short adds interesting details related to the giant donut that almost hit the little rat… that’s a rat right?
“Duke the Musical” is a 7-minute music video basically, it doesn’t have much history, Duke, the weasel we know for being a thief in the movie, wants to have a successful life but can’t abandon his evil side that he has inside him. It’s a fun short, but I think it would be the second worst, behind only the first.
“The Godfather of the Bride” is, without a doubt, the best short of all! The mouse/rat with the Marlon Brando-esque accent from the movie tells us his story with his grandmother and how Zootopia was in the past. I loved this short; it shows us how Zootopia was a long time ago, It also shows us how polar bears started working for rats, and contains a lot of intrigues that shows us the development of the character, undoubtedly the most fun and best short of this season!
“So You Think You Can Prance” is funny and fun, Bogo and Clawhauser decide to perform for Gazelle and have the chance to dance next to her at the show. They are really making a DREAM come true… The short reminds me of Sing! From Illumination to be honest…
“Dinner Rush”, you can’t make a Zootopia project without those sloths right? Flash and his girlfriend decide to go to a romantic dinner, but the problem was that the weasel who worked there, and also the protagonist of the short, was in a hurry to go to a show, but I don’t think these sloths will let her arrive on time… It’s fun.
Zootopia+ is a solid and fun series for fans of the film. The shorts bring stories that will change your perspective in relation to certain moments of the film and give a greater exploration in the city and its residents.
