Disney’s Zootopia created tremors worldwide with its enthralling performance both at the box office and the minds of the people leaving the audience with one question – How was this whole movie conceptualised?
Fusion, joint venture between Univision and The Walt Disney Company, spent two years with the production team of Disney for Zootopia to compile, shoot and document a 46 minute documentary film ‘Imagining Zootopia’.
Director Byron Howard and Rich Moore along with co director Jared Bush explain the undue back and forth changes that went into the plot of the film. Also, how the archives of the Disney studio were looked upon for the research work and were analysed to create an association with the characters to form a town of living talking animals.
The documentary showcases the journey of how the vision for Zootopia changed over the course of time. The team went on to reveal that they had a darker idea for the film that was later abandoned, the themes of prejudice, its Robin Hood influences and much more. Along with that right from the development stage (planning the story, writing the script and storyboarding) to the production stage which includes the digital and visual development, modulars, rigging, look and feel, class simulation, camera placement, animation, lightning have been touched upon.
The documentary truly showcases the amount of efforts that goes into the making of an animated feature film. It’s incredible to see the extensive research that went into capturing the real movements and backdrop of the African wild life to give Zootopia the look and feel it showcases in its final version.
