Have you ever been through a situation where the way someone has been treated changed your whole mindset completely? Well, so has Nicholas Wilde from Zootopia. Throughout most films, characters start with one mindset, personality, or other traits, and gradually change said trait through the plot. This idea is very prominent in Byron Howard and Rich Moore’s ‘Zootopia.’ As we watch the film, we not only watch a funny, family-friendly but we watch the characters change and develop. This is through certain audio and video cues. In this example, we see Nick go from believing that everyone should follow their stereotypes to understanding that it’s okay to break the mould, just by seeing how Judy, someone who is just a “dumb bunny,” is treated.
At the beginning of the film, just after we first meet Nick, we are introduced to Nick’s black and white, almost bigoted, thinking. At this point in the film, it’s obvious that Nick believes everyone has a role to play because of their species, so they should play said role no matter what. One scene where we see this is after Judy helps Nick in the ice cream shop but later finds out what he’s actually doing with the popsicle that she helped him get. The scene is played in a bright lighting, almost distracting from the darker ideas behind the scene. Judy tries to arrest him after he tricks her into looking away so that he can run off. Nick proves that what he was doing was not illegal and proceeds to nickname her ‘carrots’ and assume where she is from just because she’s a bunny. Judy explains that’s she not from where he assumed and he replies with, “Okay, tell me if this story sounds familiar. Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, ‘Hey, look at me, I’m gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kumbaya!’ only to find, whoopsie, we don’t all get along. And that dream of becoming a big city cop? Double whoopsie, she’s a meter maid. And whoopsie number threesies, nobody cares about her or her dreams and soon enough those dreams die, and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor living in a box under a bridge.” Basically crushing her dreams right on the spot. He doesn’t stop there. As Judy continues the conversation, he states, “Everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want, well you can't. You can only be what you are. Sly fox, dumb bunny.” This is the first time we hear “Sly fox, dumb bunny” in this film. In fact, it’s not even the last. Nick's actions can be very easily translated into the real world, with things like discrimination still being a thing in most modern societies. Luckily, with help from Judy, Nick begins to see that living in a mould isn’t how one should live their life.
In Zootopia, more commonly near the middle to end of the film, Nick starts to show that he could believe that anyone could be anything, to an extent. At this point, he may not be truly accepting, but we watch as he becomes more and more open to the idea. In the scene where Judy and Nick visit the car rental place in Tundra Town, we can actually see that, after they actually enter the suspected crime scene and Nick realises the severity of the case, Nick slightly warms up to the idea of Judy being a cop. This is further supported by a later scene in the Rainforest District where Nick stands up for Judy when her badge is being taken by Chief Bogo. In earlier scenes, he is seen saying that Judy could never be a cop but now we see him saying that the police department set Judy up to fail, probably because she’s a bunny, stating, “Not to mention you gave her two days to crack a case you guys haven’t solved in two weeks,” before walking to and getting on the nearby gondola. The scene is dark, impacting the audience by proving it’s a serious scene, switching the shots to play with the emotions of viewers. On said gondola, Nick tells Judy to “Never let them see that they get to you.” and that the discrimination doesn’t get to him anymore. He begins to tell the story of how when he was younger his dreams of wanting to be a junior ranger scout were crushed by discriminatory children. They muzzled him and made fun of him when he reacted badly. He then explains that he told himself that “if the world is only going to see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there’s no point in trying to be anything else.” The director uses this scene as a flashback, letting us see that Nick isn’t heartless, his past affects him to this day, and that he understands that discriminatory actions aren’t good. From here on out, we see Nick slowly coming to terms with this way of thinking again.
When the villain is caught, the end is drawing nearer. By the end of Zootopia, Nick is completely supportive of predator and prey living in harmony. He not only gives up trying to sabotage Judy’s case, seeing that sometimes it’s a good thing to break stereotypes but he actually joins the case and, later on, the police force. One of the first hints of this is in the apology scene. At the beginning of the scene, Judy is excited and pumped up, reflecting in the lighting as it’s ‘high key lighting’ or very bright. As the scene goes on, and Judy is apologising to Nick, they go under the tunnel, bringing the lighting down with the mood. It’s a lot more somber as they talk. There’s a whole scene at the beginning where Nick is telling Judy over and over that she’ll never be a cop but now we see him using her past tricks against her and to get her back on the case, saying, “Don’t worry, Carrots. I’ll let you erase it… In 48 hours.” The fact that he goes from sabotaging the case to automatically picking it back up after Judy apologizes, is a lot of proof in itself. In the scene where Mayor Bellwether almost catches Judy and Nick, Judy and Nick actually use Bellweather’s thinking. Though it’s unknown whose idea it was, you can see how proud of Judy Nick is, the smirk on his face just screaming, ‘Ha, I told you she could do it.’ He doesn’t actually say that, though. You can just tell. There’s a scene at the end where Judy and Nick are assigned the case of a street racer. Nick, jokingly, says, “So are all rabbit’s bad drivers or is it just you?” When Judy harshly stops the squad car, he says “Sly bunny.” And Judy replies with, “Dumb fox.” This brings the “Dumb bunny, sly fox,” quote back in from before. It flips it on the head, a surefire example of stereotypes being broken in Zootopia, and, majorly, in Nick.
Zootopia, though a child's film, shows many themes of stereotyping, change, and acceptance. Nick Wilde, a typically sly, shady, and untrustworthy fox, shows that even the worst of people can have a change of heart. From having an almost bigoted mindset at the beginning to being the first fox cop who is partners with the first bunny cop on Zootopia police force, Nick can be called the definition of character growth and breaking stereotypes.
