Zootopia Through Chinese Lens

In 2016, Disney released once again another cartoon film starring animated anthropomorphic animals — Zootopia. The film, which revolves around Judy Hopps, a rookie bunny cop, and Nick Wilde, a small-time hustler fox, who work together to uncover Zootopia’s disappearances of predators quickly gained success in America, grossing over 340 million dollars. Of course, in such a diverse country like America, it is understandable why Zootopia, with its premise that “anyone can be anything” and lesson on racial prejudice, achieved such popularity. And certainly, this popularity is not only exclusive to America. In fact, Zootopia became the highest-grossing cartoon film of 2016 in China. Undoubtedly Zootopia’s success in its country of origin can be attributed to its easy-to-follow lesson on prejudice and stereotypes; however, it is not the same case for China. 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.

While there is already a countless amount of cartoon films with animals as protagonists, Zootopia delivered new originality to its audience. Dan Kois, writer of the article “Disney’s Zootopia Is a Delightful Kids’ Movie That Is Also Totally About Racial Profiling,” details Zootopia delivers a clear message that people get hurt and treated unfairly when people prejudge others based on their ethnicity — or when a police force doubles down on a certain type of person based solely on their own bias and fear (Kois). Based off this apparent message in the film, we can completely see why Zootopia became such a blockbuster in America. Racial profiling has been a long-standing and highly problematic issue in the United States, and Zootopia’s description of this problem utilizing different animals as a metaphor helped the message become easy to grasp for younger audiences. Additionally, as a coincidence, the movie was released the same year Donald Trump became president. Jason Guerrasio, in his article The Oscar-nominated ‘Zootopia’ has a hidden message for President Trump conveys that the way Zootopia addressed stereotypes and other social issues from the human world was made more pressing in light of Trump’s election win and presidency (Guerrasio). Due to these aspects, it is obvious why Zootopia became such a hit in its home country.

Although we can see the reasons behind Zootopia’s success in America, it’s a completely different story in China. So, why was this cartoon film starring a bunny cop and a wild fox such a hit in China? Despite being condemned as American propaganda for fostering western values, Zootopia received a tremendous amount of praise for its storyline and messages. While the Chinese audience grasped the movie’s main lesson on racial prejudice and stereotypes, they drew a separate message — one that relates to patriotism. 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, and when things aren’t as they appear, 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. The Chinese public also loved the cleverness behind Zootopia’s title, as it is a wordplay of utopia, a fictitious world in which everything is perfect. For many, Zootopia debunked the existence of a utopia (even in the animal world). Even when things are set to be perfect in a peaceful world such as Zootopia, its own government can be corrupt. With this in mind, the Chinese audience 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 (or perhaps, its government) is and will never be perfect. In such a patriotic country like China, its audience was able to grasp a deeper meaning from an animated Disney movie about a rabbit and a fox who work together in order to reveal the corruptness of the government. As such, it is understandable why while the movie received great success, it also received hate for acting as American propaganda and criticism of the government.

However, did China really misinterpret the entire movie? The Chinese audience did not actually miss the movie’s lesson on racial prejudice and stereotypes. In fact, many actually admired Zootopia for delivering such a valuable lesson in the form of an entertaining Disney movie. The deep lessons behind this cartoon film actually generated more revenue and fans in China. However, the Chinese perspective’s focus on the imperfection of society and the corruption of the government is not something that Zootopia’s creators did not pretend to include. Although displayed as an equal society, in which “anyone can be anything,” the setbacks Judy Hopps faced as a police officer in Zootopia show the limits of this utopia. Furthermore, by making the villain of the movie the secretary of the government, Zootopia showed its audience the corruption of the government even in a so-called perfect society. The many allusions to the real world subtly wielded into Zootopia’s perfect animal society can be interpreted in many countries, not exclusive to China. Of course, the Chinese audience did not fail to admire the movie’s primary message, however, it seemed as if the public molded the movie’s many aspects and details and adjusted them into their own society. But overall, Zootopia as a movie was not mistranslated, but simply altered to fit a different cultural narrative.

At first glance (or watch), Zootopia revolves around a bunny cop and a wild fox who work together to uncover a mystery in their metropolis. As the story progresses, racial prejudice and stereotypes are addressed. It is no doubt that the way the movie handled topics like these with the use of anthropomorphic characters is what made it so successful in its homeland and overseas. However, as the movie traveled to different countries and underwent different translations, different interpretations arose. Of course, it is no surprise that from a Chinese perspective, Zootopia was depicted as a movie that raises questions about the existence of a utopia and the alignment with one’s government. Disney, perhaps, did not even have the Chinese audience as a primary focus as their movie’s target, however, Zootopia’s underlying patriotic message truly captivated the Chinese public. Successes like Zootopia show us how movies’ messages and meanings are interpreted differently to fit one’s narrative and society.