Disney’s films, both live-action and animated, have had their ups and downs over the past few years. Their biggest successes have been the various installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and then with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Their animated films usually have strong success, but that’s never a sure bet these days. But fortunately, this year’s Zootopia, a delightful film about a rabbit who strives to become a police officer in the titular city that’s filled with scary animals, has been a major hit.
It started on its opening weekend back in early March with a $73.7 million hume, and it only continued to thrive. And according to Deadline, it has now managed to cross $1 billion worldwide. This is a huge landmark for the film itself and the studio. Although this year has been generally kind to them, having just seen Captain America: Civil War cross the exact same figure mark. Back in April they also had The Jungle Book, which is about $100 million away from hitting $1 billion as well.
But if you take a look at the various films that have hit that figure, whether it be from Disney or other studios, most are sequels, prequels or remakes. Zootopia, on-the-other-hand, is a completely original work. It came out of nowhere and somehow managed to become universally loved. After this success, it’s possible that this could encourage more original pieces to get green-lit. If not, Zootopia is still a wonderful animated film, if not deserving of being considered a new Disney classic.
Zootopia will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7, 2016.