An Interview with Zootopia Directors
Byron Howard & Rich Moore
Zootopia may seem like a funny animal movie, but the film actually touches on some deep topics and themes, while still managing to be hysterical. We sat down with Zootopia Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore to discuss some fun facts about the film, including how the idea for the film came about, including the research they did to prepare, deeper meanings within the movie, and animation challenges.
photo credit: Disney
A world where animals walk and talk is not exactly new territory for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In it's 92-year history, there have been a handful of films like this, including "The Jungle Book" and "Robin Hood" that are true classics. No doubt these films had a lasting impact on the lives of many, and especially those that are now making movies for Walt Disney Animation Studios now. This is definitely true for Zootopia directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore. Before our screening of Zootopia at the Zootopia Event at Walt Disney World Resort, Howard told us how when he pitched the idea for this film, John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios) actually hugged him and lifted him off the ground. He was so excited to create a movie with animals with human qualities and so the work began.
Zootopia Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore sat down with a small group of us at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was their very first stop in the research process, to discuss how the idea of Zootopia was born, how they learned about the animals they were going to include in the film, and animation challenges that they faced.
photo credit: momstart
6 Fun Facts about Zootopia
1.) Research for Zootopia started at Disney's very own Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Having access to some of the most amazing animals in the world right here in the United States paid off for the talented individuals who helped to make Zootopia. We asked, "So, now that you’re here [at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge] it’s almost like you’ve come full circle. What is the experience like to know that you came here in the beginning and you’re finishing up here?"
Byron Howard (BH): You’re right. It’s a lot like a bookend.
Rich Moore (RM): The circle of life. It all works out, right?
BH: ... That was very good, thank you. This was one of the first places that we came. After we pitched the idea of the movie, what we start with is research. And the fact that this company has this amazing animal preserve, which is honestly the best in the world. Like if you look at the animals, they’re in herds. They’re moving around these amazing environments that feel like a real African environments and Asian environments. And the fact that we could take that real knowledge and these great animal experts and incorporate that knowledge into the film, it was amazing for us. And, so, we stopped here first. We went back to LA and told John, Lasseter about our findings here. And he said, "That’s amazing, but the next step you guys gotta do is actually go to real Africa," ... and he sent us. We took 14 of our leadership over there. And, a good compliment for this place is that when we landed in the Savannah of Africa we stepped out of these tiny bush planes, and it felt like this. They did such a good job here in turning Florida [into Africa]. Africa was a life changing experience for us all. I think all of us came back honestly changed. We’re very fortunate with these jobs because they send us on terrific places all over Asia and Europe and South America. But Africa, for me, I had never been any place that kinda changed you down to your core. Because you’re stepping into an environment that has been the same for 40,000 years. I’d only been zoos where I’d seen like two zebra at a time. And then just 30 feet away from us were 200 zebra. Or 50,000 wildebeest. 100,000 wildebeest. Or being as close to a lion as we are to you in the front row... And just to see nature, like full on nature right there. It really made us feel like, "Okay, if we’re gonna do this movie, we’re gonna do it right." And we came home just full of all this information and this great passion for what we’re gonna create with Zootopia. I think that’s why the crew dug in so much. We geeked out on all this stuff, and it came across in the film because all our crew cared so much.
ZOOTOPIA - Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore present some of the research they did at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park in collaboration with Dr. Mark Penning - Vice President, Animals, Science and Environment, Disney Parks. Photo by Alex Kang. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
2.) Judy Hopps was based on Byron Howard's earlier sketch of a character named "Rocket Johnson."
Prior to the screening, we saw some very early sketches from Byron Howard that served as inspiration for the characters in Zootopia. One such character was Rocket Johnson, a cute bunny in a space suit. So, during our interview we wanted to know more about her. We asked, "So, you started with that drawing and she looked a little bit like Judy. But, that was from outer space. So, how did you end up from that original concept to Zootopia?"
BH: Oh, that was a long time ago, actually. So, Rich knows this story. When we first pitched these movies to John and to Ed and to the story trust... John's suggestion is not to put all your eggs in one basket. Not to just pitch one idea. ‘Cause I think he wants to find out who you are as a filmmaker. So, he wants to find out what you’re passionate about. So, most filmmakers, I think like Rich or of Jen Lee will come in with three, four, five ideas.
RM: He wants to hear at least a minimum of three. And some people have come in with like 20 good ideas. I don’t know how they do it. It must just be tiny little, just nuggets of an idea.
BH: Just little notions of an idea. But, that way you can see sort of what you’re interested in. Nathan Greno and I, right after we finished "Tangled," we pitched the beginnings of what this movie became. We had about six ideas and the one thing that almost all these ideas had in common... one was a space movie and it was called "Pug, The Bounty Hunter," that had a space rabbit. Rabbit in a space suit. One was called "The Island Of Dr. Meow," which was a sort of cheesy B movie version, like a Roger Korman film from 1960, where teenagers went to this island and there was this six-foot tall cat that was turning these people into animals. And, John saw that a lot of these films had these anthropomorphic animals in common from what I did with the others. And he said, "I will do anything to support a film that features animals running in tiny clothing." ‘Cause he loved the idea of doing this, he got so excited, he hugged me and he picked me up off the ground like they described. And he held me in the air. I think it's because we hadn’t done one of these films in a long time. We have a great legacy of these films. You know, "Robin Hood" was one of my favorites. His favorite was "Wind In The Willows". Rich grew up on "Jungle Book". So, we all had this sort of love of these films. And we hadn’t really done one. Especially not in CG where we could wrap these animals with a great Disney character design and put them all in this amazing fur and detail and claws.
photo credit: momstart
3.) Realistic fur is the hardest thing to animate... next to touching.
Expounding on how the idea of Zootopia came about, the directors said that this was the first time ever that the technology had allowed them to create such realistic creatures. Surprisingly, we found out that fur is one of the hardest things to animate to appear realistic.
RM: It’s the first time we’ve had the technology and the computer power to actually groom them as they are in the wild. In the past, Bolt was seven years ago and that character was groomed with something that was just kind of like human hair. And to pull off the scene where Bolt is sticking his head out of the car window and the wind is blowing in his face. It’s a big emotional scene in the movie and they couldn’t do it because the technology just didn’t know. They said, "We don’t know how to do that kind of, you know, fur being affected by wind." So, it’s almost a didn’t exist.
BH: We had to cheat it. And, if you look at the movie [Zootopia] now we have wind going through fur, and affecting cloth. And we have rain and characters getting wet. There was even a point when with Bolt, where they said, "Please don’t have the characters touch each other. That would be the worst thing you could possibly do for us as your technological leads. This is very hard to do."
RM: "We don’t like touching. We don’t like touching. Makes us nervous."
BH: No, and then if you look at Zootopia, it’s a very touchy movie. The characters touch and interact with each other a lot. And they have fur and they have cloth. And they have fur on top of cloth.
RM: Even the idea of clothes interacting with fur, to them was like, "Oh, my God." You know, it’s a big deal. But to their credit they really buckled down and said, "Okay, we’re gonna figure this out, you know? The strangest things are really kind of a groundbreaking big deal to our tech department.
4.) Kristen Bell was cast for the role of a sloth via text message.
Kristen Bell is not exactly new to Disney films, having starred in one of the biggest animated successes in recent years. As Princess Ana in Disney's Frozen, Bell was hands down amazing. So, how does one approach a hugely successful actress for ONE line in a film?
RM: She loves sloths. Did you see that clip from Ellen where she was breaking down? We said, "We have one line from Flash’s friend Priscilla. God, do you think she would do it?" And we were trying to figure out how, because it would be perfect if she did the voice. And we’re talking with our casting director, Jamie Roberts, and we were talking about, "Well, how do you go to someone like Kristen Bell and present like this idea. Will you do one line that is literally two words? And we were thinking about how do we approach Kristen with this idea. And Jamie said, "Why don’t I just text her? Right now. I know her. We’re going about this the wrong way, let me text her and ask her. And she literally [texted], "Kristen, would you like to play a sloth that has one line in the movie?" Then five minutes later when we got talking about something else, Jamie said, "Oh, by the way, Kristen just texted back. She’s in."
5.) The frustration that adults feel with offices like the DMV crosses all country lines.
RM: We had a few story sessions where we were thinking, "What would be good jobs for animals to perform? And should we go against type for some? Or should some be very kinda on the nose?" And our head of story, Jim Reardon, kinda just threw out this idea, "Well, how about sloths working for DMV? You know that could be a funny scene." And it was kinda one of these things where everyone was quiet for a moment. And thought like, has this been done before? It seems like such an obvious joke or situation. And we went to the internet and put in "sloths and the DMV," and, "Oh, my God! I think we found something that hasn’t been done yet!" And again, to keep it on a level of that a child could get it... to them they’re watching Judy who’s in a hurry at the mercy of a sloth who’s slow. But then for the adult, it’s like, "Oh, yeah - I know the DMV. That’s happened to me." And then also we wondered, well is this universal around the world? Do they have [something] like the DMV? Do they have anything? And I am happy to report the frustration with red tape and bureaucracy is well known everywhere. Every place that we’ve screened this around the world, they’ve said that reminds me of our "blank". You know, we a department just like that.
BH: And a real quick story, ‘cause we’re talking about seeing that scene around the world, and we had a really nice experience in Belgium. They showed it in Belgium French and also Belgium Flemish. When we were watching the Flemish audience watch the DMV scene and there was this father and this little boy. And the father, watching the Flemish movie was cracking up at the sloths and the DMV. And his little boy was watching his dad and he’s smiling at it - seeing his dad crack up at this lady. So, even the little boy who was like four, didn’t get the scene, he was getting such a kick out of watching his dad crack up. It was just the sweetest thing.
6. Zootopia was written for kids of all ages.
Like most Walt Disney Animation Studios films, Zootopia has multiple layers of themes and comedic lines that will resonate with people of all ages. It's no easy feat to accomplish this task and Disney always does it so seamlessly. We asked the directors, "Speaking of like things like racial diversity, tolerance and acceptance. How do you tell that story so that it resonates with kids of all ages?"
RM: Well, that was very important to us, that this wasn’t just an adult movie. That it was playing on some kinda lofty level that a child would be like, "I’m not getting this at all. I don’t relate to it." It was important to us that Judy’s kind of journey, and her as a character, a child could relate to her. That’s why, and we knew if this is a story about discrimination and being put in a box by other people, then Judy has to have a moment where that happened to her. And that’s why we chose that it was at the hands of a bully when she was young. As a little girl and a little bunny. Because, unfortunately, I think that adults and children can relate to those moments. Unfortunately, I think that all of us have had those moments. Some more than others. But, it’s relatable. So that’s why we chose to have that happen to her as a child. It kind of became very relatable to both a child and an adult of what this movie was about.
We also asked, "What made you really want to appeal on so many levels? Because it’s just so many fun levels for adults and kids."
BH: I think we tried to include as many levels of the audience as possible. ‘Cause we’re adults making these movies....
RM: It’s rumored. Yeah, on the outside.
BH: We’re kinda children inside. But, the kids aren’t necessarily going to laugh at the "Breaking Bad" reference. Or "The Godfather" reference. But the adults get it. And it’s funny, ‘cause when Rich and I watch audiences see the film, we can kind of predict when the adults will laugh and when the kids will laugh. And to hear the giggles when the Godfather turns around in the chair, or when we mention Jessie and Woolter for the sheep.
RM: On a personal level, what I loved growing up were shows or movies or cartoons or books where I knew I was enjoying it, but I knew that my brother was getting it on some level. And that my parents were laughing at something. And it made me feel like, "Well, someday I’ll get that." Whatever it is that they’re getting but I’m getting my thing, you know? And then as an adult, to go to movies with my kids, and when the filmmakers where giving my children something and that it didn’t feel like that they were speaking down to me or down to my kids. That there was something in it for me in it, too. I’m just always like that. And, everything I’ve ever worked on in my career, I always try to kind of give service to everyone in the audience. Not just one group of people. So, that’s what we do.
Special thanks to Rich Moore and Byron Howard for sitting down with us!
Be sure to check out my full Zootopia review and my interviews with Jason Bateman (Nicke Wilde) and Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps). Also, be sure to check out my thoughts about Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Check out the trailer for Zootopia here:
Official Information for Zootopia:
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,” a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (“Tangled,” “Bolt”) and Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Simpsons”) and co-directed by Jared Bush (“Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero”), opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.
Zootopia Official Website
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Amber Ludwig says
OH I just can't wait to see this!! I had no idea how hard it was to replicate fur!! I feel like they do such an amazing job in animation these days that I would have never known if they were awful at it lol 😉 Yay for Kristen Bell, she's so fabulous 😉
Deborah D says
I can't wait to see thia movie.
Sarah L says
My nephew would get a kick out of this movie.
Looks like a fun trip.
Mia says
Its amazing how many little details the directors had to attend to in making this movie. Very interesting facts.