‘Zooptopia’ Just Entered the Billion Dollar Box Office Club
As it turns out, making a politically-minded movie for kids can be financially successful.
Disney’s Zootopia has just crossed $1 billion mark at the global box office. After opening 17 weeks ago, the movie has grossed $337.2 million domestically and $663.5 million internationally. It’s now officially the fourth animated movie in history to reach the $1 billion mark (not counting for inflation), along with Frozen at $1.277 billion, Minions at $1.159 billion and Toy Story 3 at $1.063 billion. The Disney film is also the second movie from the studio to break $1 billion in 2016 beside Captain America: Civil War. Out of the 26 films that made it to the billion dollar club, 11 of are Disney properties.
Zootopia, which opened March 4, follows Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnfer Goodwin), who becomes the first bunny to join the police force in the titular mammal city. Along with the help of fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman), the two aim to expose a conspiracy threatening the city. But instead of simply being another animated Disney movie with anthropomorphic creatures, Zootopia told a story that touched on real-life topics of Black Lives Matter, police brutality, and race relations.
The movie is currently boasts the second highest rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 98 percent fresh, shortly behind Whit Stillman’s period piece Love & Friendship. I called Zootopia the Disney’s most important and political film to date, and it’s refreshing to see a movie with a socially-aware message be such a success with both critics and audiences. Hopefully this will usher in a new age of meaningful storytelling in animated films.