Disney’s Zootopia Teaches Kids about Inept Government

By Edward Hudgins

March 29, 2016 - The popular Disney kid-flick Zootopia does something unusual for Hollywood: it takes a swipe at government.

The cartoon film is set in a city where all animals, the minority predators and the majority herbivores, seemingly live in peace and harmony. But a string of disappearances leads a rookie bunny cop to enlist the help of a hustler fox to help her solve the mystery.

Sloth slow bureaucrats

The heroes must act fast and need to run a license plate. They rush into the Department of Motor Vehicles only to see it is staffed by sloths, an entire room full of them, sitting behind their desks, moving very, very, very slowly. The fast-talking bunny, quick as a rabbit, gives a clerk, ironically named Flash, the plate number. She watches in frustration as seconds pass and the sloth’s finger slowly rises, stops, and then slowly, oh-so-slowly, descends to the keyboard. One. Painful. Letter. At. A. Time.

When I saw the film with my five-year-olds, the adults in the theater howled with laugher. They’ve all been through it before. Perhaps some of the elders in the audience with their grandkids remembered the old Bob and Ray “Slow Talkers of America” routine.

Consciousness raising against government bureaucrats

Let’s hope the scene is a consciousness-raising experience for adults. Visits to the DMV... (Continue reading here.)