Story Surgery - Zootopia

Comments · 50

• WI

  @williambaldwin9487 · 6 years ago

  I love this addition to the story. I've noticed that you treat the source material in your videos with an extremely high level of respect, and I can safely say that every change you offer to make genuinely improves each story as a whole. Your passion for storytelling shines in every video of yours that I've seen so far, and I'm really glad that I found your channel

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• GE

  @genehen6495 · 4 years ago

  I always saw Bellweather as a reflection of Judy, in a world that still keeps a more human symbolic view of animals.<br>Both small herbivorous animals seeking a place in specific job environments that are &quot;better suited&quot; to other animals with skills they don&apos;t, and CAN&apos;T, have.<br><br>For Judy, who wants to be a cop, it is anyone bigger and more imposing... like a Water Buffalo. Stubborn and bulky, used to defensive action and holding his own. Rabbits... aren&apos;t that.<br>For Bellweather, who is in politics and wants to be mayor, its someone flashier than a little lamb. A Lion, taking the spotlight, taking initiative and being a striking, aggressive leader. Sheep... aren&apos;t that (unless you are Chirin)<br><br>They both, at some point in the movie, achieve their dreams anyway. <br>Judy has traits that are considered un-like her kind. She is determined, resilient, assertive, strong, confident - all things a simple carrot farming, baby loving bunny typically aren&apos;t. <br>Because of this she becomes a respected and honored cop, no longer looked down on for her differences and instead celebrated for what she can bring to the table.<br><br>Bellweather... doesn&apos;t have those traits. She is small and weak and poorly balanced, she hides and bleats away passively, pleasing people and staying unseen.<br>I think she does indeed use this as a cover... but that it is also her natural personality, just trained to its full potential. <br>While Judy is a very odd rabbit - Bellweather is a sheep through and through. She works confidently with other sheep, but not well with large Lions around treating her dismissively.<br>So she removed that Lion - and others like him - not by letting her own skills shine through... but by taking him, all everyone else like him, down a notch.... a few notches.<br><br>Judy builds her own way up to her dreams and shows everyone her worth, making them look down to her. But Judy is a special sorta gal, she is an odd bunny.<br>Bellweather is a pretty typical sheep... so instead, she has cut everyone who stands (literally) above her down so she can stand ontop of them.<br>While she was underdeveloped and abrupt, I really don&apos;t mind her as a villain. :)<br><br>Your interpretation just... works so well, though, and really aids the messages of the film, so cleverly mixed between sexism, racism, classism and ableism - there&apos;s a little bit of everything in there, while being about none of these specifically, because its about predators and prey... the assumption that some people are gonna be more aggressive than they are, and some are gonna be more helpless than they are.<br><br>And really, thats the core of all of those &quot;ism&quot; words, isnt it?<br>Some types of people suck and need looking after, or some types of people are too strong to treat equally.<br>Some types of people are helpless in their differences to &quot;normal&quot; people, and for some their differences make them dangerous.<br>We should all be given the chance, as individuals, to not have things assumed of us.<br>Some people are gonna be just how you think, for better or for worse, and some people are going to kick your assumptions to the curb... but both deserve respect and acknowledgement.

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• RY

  @RyanMiddleton-y9h · 6 months ago

  I think this small change to Zootopia is a great change to the movie overall

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• KE

  @Keyaku1 · 8 years ago (edited)

  I love your surgeries. The fact that you put your heart into these videos trumps everything (and the good quality fan-fiction is a bonus).<br><br>That being said, I had a different take in mind when it came to the idea of “Bellwether being another foil character:<br><br>Instead of her feeling distress, I’d rather stay with the discomfort; when stuff would escalate as it did, she’d feel something hit, but the fully processed thought wouldn’t be quite set yet.<br>Only during her confrontation in the museum, where Nick and Judy try to talk their way out, would she start to express some doubt over her actions, that maybe what she thought was necessary to protect prey like her had gone completely out of hand (like you suggest it yourself); the different twist here was that she’d realize that the damage was done, that this has gone so far that there was no room for a redemption anymore, and so she feels the need to carry on with her plans despite her character having grown in the complete opposite direction.<br><br>In the end, instead of showing her as a “bad guy shaking fist at good guys”, you would notice self-doubt, reminiscent of her younger self, proving that we can move on from past grievances while striving for a better future, learn from our mistakes, and yet still have to deal with the consequences with a straight face (without an Ex Machina “pardon character’s mistakes just because they’re the good guy now”).<br><br>Just my own take. Still enjoyed your input!

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• WA

  @WaywardAce420 · 5 years ago (edited)

  I like this movie too and definitely agree with you that a villain was not necessary. So, the great Disney villains that typically come to mind for me are Maleficent, Frollo, even Chernabog. Yeah, he is in a film that has no flowing narrative, and he has no lines, but his design makes it so he does not /need/ any lines, the music and atmosphere of that segment in Fantasia fills the viewer with ominous dread even before Chernabog reveals himself, and /that/ is my biggest issue with the twist villains Disney has been pushing out since... Monster&apos;s Inc? (though to be fair, that twist wasn&apos;t... the worst.) But my point being, the audience does not get the feeling of dread upon seeing these new twist villains, because they do not reveal themselves as such until well into the third act. Lady Tremaine (another great Disney villain) also had a creepy introduction, she is sitting in the shadows, and then her glare at the camera upon realizing it was Cinderella whom the prince fell in love with, that still sends shivers down people&apos;s spine! We do not get anything like that with Bellweather, even her &quot;bye-bye, Bunny&quot; line, it... she was the villain for barely five minutes, she had not /earned/ a line like that. I love your idea of her being a foil rather than a villain, and having a backstory that is similar to Nick and Judy&apos;s would have been great! I subscribed to your channel, cannot wait to watch more of what you have already released and see what else will come!

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• 26

  @26th_Primarch · 3 years ago

  Night Howlers cause their own problems with the film.<br><br>Because if it&apos;s a plant that&apos;s well known enough to be used in agriculture and clearly has commonly known side effects that match the symptoms the various predators in the story were showing you&apos;d have think that the doctors who were searching for a cause wouldn&apos;t have checked out Night Howler exposure pretty early in seeking a cause for the rash of unexplained cases.<br><br>It literally makes the doctors in Zootopia look stunningly incompetent especially in a movie that clearly takes place in a era like our modern world with available internet access.

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• TI

  @TidalVex · 4 years ago

  So glad I found this video! Zootopia is one of my favorite Disney movies, and I&apos;m glad that this &quot;rewrite&quot; really just fixes the messy ending (which considering that Zootopia as a whole went through so many different iterations is &nbsp;sorta understandable). It&apos;s a movie that&apos;s topical but still accessible, and this new ending would have made it better.

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• LA

  @laudj_art · 4 years ago

  Why this doesn&apos;t have 1M views yet

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• AL

  @Alpha-Strike916 · 3 years ago

  Being specifically evil is not always the best way to handle a villain, sympathetic villains also work it also helps if they relate to the protagonist in some way.

• SA

  @sambarham8887 · 8 years ago

  I hope more people find your channel

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• PO

  @poky4669 · 4 years ago

  You said name a good villain, and my mind spat out Dr. Doofensmirtz. If that was a psych examination, I PASSED.

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• DB

  @DBArtsCreators · 4 years ago (edited)

  The only issue I have with your change in the encounter with Bellweather in the museum is that you made her act FAR weaker and more pathetic than she was in the film. <br>The film might not have needed a villain, but I don&apos;t think it&apos;s right to make her seem so weak and unsure as a person.<br>Were she to stick to anger and frustration, rather than getting sad &amp; upset (at least at first) would avoid that, I think. The centerpiece of the conflict should not break so easily (unless emotional breakdowns are part of their personality).

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