Script Analysis: “Zootopia” — Part 4: Themes

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes.

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question, What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

Time to ponder themes in Zootopia. You may download a PDF of the script — free and legal — here.

Screenplay by Jared Bush & Phil Johnston, story by Byron Howard & Rich Moore & Jared Bush & Jim Reardon & Josie Trinidad & Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee.

IMDb plot summary: In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.

Writing Exercise: Explore the themes in Zootopia. What is its Central Theme? What are some of the related Sub-Themes?

Tomorrow we shift our focus to the script’s dialogue.

Major kudos to Will King for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Major Plot Points, go here.

For Part 3, to read Characters, go here.

I am looking for volunteers to read a script and provide a scene-by-scene breakdown for it to be used as part of our weekly series. What do you get out from it? Beyond your name being noted here, my personal thanks, and some creative juju sent your way, hopefully you will learn something about story structure and develop another skill set which is super helpful in learning and practicing the craft.

The latest volunteers:

A Monster Calls / Andrew Turner
Anthropoid / Marija Nielsen
Bridget Jones’s Baby / Tatiana Bacchus
Captain Fantastic / Despina Karintis
Denial / Gina Gomez
Eye in the Sky / Abhinav Tiwari
Hail, Caesar! / Brianne VanTuyle
Kubo and the Two Strings / Nikki Syreeta
Maggie’s Plan / Monique Mata
Manchester by the Sea / Ashley Lara
Miles Ahead / Alecia Hodges
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 / Niki Leydecker
The Secret Life of Pets / Paul Huffman
Victor Frankenstein / Lisa Gomez
Zootopia / Will King

Thanks, all!

Go here to see the current set of 2016 movie scripts available for download and reading. I expect another 20–30 movie scripts from 2016 to be released to the public over the next 2 months. As you know, I post those download links as soon as the scripts go public. If you see a one of these scripts go online and you’d like to volunteer to do a scene-by-scene breakdown, email me. First come, first serve.

NOTE: Some new 2016 movie scripts have gone public including Arrival, Fences, Jackie, and others.

Even if you do not participate in the analysis, discussion, or write up a scene-by-scene breakdown, I strongly encourage you to read these scripts.

So seize this opportunity and join in the conversation!

I hope to see you in comments about this week’s script: Zootopia.

Onward!