What could you possibly learn from a children’s animated movie starring cute animals? Actually, loads.

A spoiler-free summary of the movie

Zootopia is an animated movie by Disney released in 2016 and set in a metropolis of mammals (and animals do not prey here). The movie revolves around a cute bunny, Judy Hopps, who is the first rabbit to enter and wanting to enter the police force.

“Gasp! But rabbits can’t be a part of the police force! They’re too delicate— and timid! That’s not what they’re made for!” say the people animals around Judy Hopps. Even the Police Chief Bogo underestimates Judy’s potential and so gives her the parking duty.

Despite the prejudices and stereotypical views of the rest of the world, Judy is determined to become the first bunny police officer, which she does eventually after hours of investigation and encounters with savage beasts. Judy finally solves a case that no one else could with the help of Nick, a fox (and the struggle is real).

What I learnt— and you can too

1. Don’t run away from adversities

This is the very nature of our ‘lizard brain’; running away from adverse conditions or situations that make us uncomfortable or ones that the brain perceives as a problem. This is actually a defence mechanism to protect you from problematic events. Unfortunately, that’s not where growth happens. Growth happens outside the comfort zone. You have to learn to get comfortable with adversities— that’s how you can control occurrences and not let the occurrences control you.

I think this is the most important lesson I learnt from Judy Hopps. She is stubborn when it comes to her goals. She does not let a mere adversity take her down. Judy takes it as a challenge and faces it.

“We are so accustomed to the comforts of “I cannot”, “I do not want to” and “it is too difficult” that we forget to realize when we stop doing things for ourselves and expect others to dance around us, we are not achieving greatness. We have made ourselves weak.”

-Pandora Poikilos, Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out

2. Hard work is essential

Judy had to work extremely hard and struggle a lot to achieve her dream of becoming a police officer.

You have to take action and actively make an effort towards achieving your goals. Progress cannot be made without putting in efforts.

“Our culture has become hooked on the quick-fix, the life hack, efficiency. Everyone is on hunt for that simple action algorithm that nets maximum profit with the least amount of effort. There’s no denying that this attitude may get you some of the trappings of success, if you’re lucky, but it will not lead to a calloused mind or self-mastery. If you want to master the mind and remove your governor, you’ll have to become addicted to hard work. Because passion & obsession, even talent, are only useful tools if you have the work ethic to back them up.”

-David Goggins, Can’t hurt me

3. You have to believe in yourself

Ask yourself: ‘Why would others believe in me if I don’t believe in myself? Can I expect them to believe in me if I don’t myself?’

(We naturally trust people with self-confidence because we don’t like uncertainty.)

Thinking you can’t do something (because of your abilities or condition) is having a fixed mindset. The opposite is a growth mindset, which supports growth, learning and positive self-beliefs.

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

–E.E. Cummings

4. You can’t do something because you think you can’t do it

I learnt from personal experiences, too, that your self-limiting beliefs are what stop you (just like Shakespeare said ‘Thyself thy foe’).

“He can do, she can do, why not me!”

-Tae Yun Kim, Seven Steps to Inner Power

Who ever said cute rabbits can’t join the police force?

Final thoughts

I think Zootopia was a very entertaining movie to watch, but most importantly, it taught me these four lessons. I highly recommend you watch this movie if you haven’t watched it yet. And if you learnt something that I have not mentioned, then please feel free to comment and enlighten us all.