Ancillary 7: Underlying Chinese Message in Zootopia

While cartoon films starring anthropomorphic animals are extremely common, Zootopia’s popularity in America is due to how the film talks about current issues, specifically prejudice and racial profiling, in a way that is easy to understand for little kids. In such a diverse country as America, it is understandable why Zootopia is so popular in its home country. Surprisingly, Zootopia reached across seas and became China’s highest-grossing cartoon film in 2016. Though criticized as American propaganda, the Chinese audience expressed their love and admiration for the film’s lesson on prejudice and stereotypes. However, the Chinese audience also drew a different message from Zootopia. From a Chinese perspective, Zootopia reveals how, on the surface, a society may appear calm and ideal, but on the inside, there are numerous levels of darkness and conspiracy. For many Chinese people, Zootopia delivers the message that things aren’t as they appear, and people must reconsider who they may trust and dissect the relationship between dedication to one’s country (in this case, Zootopia) and one’s government. In essence, the Chinese public saw Zootopia as a movie that debunked the existence of a utopia (even in the animal world). With this in mind, it seems as though the Chinese established a parallel between Zootopia and their own home country — in spite of one’s patriotism and respect for China, one has to acknowledge that China is and will never be perfect. As noted, Zootopia’s main message incorporates prejudice and racial profiling, and this was delivered in a way that younger audiences quickly grasped the lesson. These aspects popularized Zootopia both in its home country and across seas, specifically, China. However, it was the movie’s underlying message that trapped the Chinese audience into making Zootopia the highest-grossing cartoon film in 2016. While some may believe that Zootopia’s message about prejudice and stereotypes was the reason for its popularity in China, I argue that the Chinese audience drew a different interpretation. With nationalism and patriotism being common Chinese values, the Chinese public depicted Zootopia as a film that established that one’s home country might not and will never be perfect and dedication to one’s country does not necessarily determine adherence to the government.