Implicit bias and stereotyping in Disney's Zootopia

In 2016, Disney’s Zootopia began a discussion of implicit biases and stereotypes in a world content with the assumption that a lack of outright racism meant a lack of all racism. Through the tale of a bunny cop and a criminal fox, Zootopia revealed a hidden story of how even the most subconscious of beliefs and actions can cause harm, imploring its audience to self-reflect as it posed a powerful topic in a unique, dynamically objective light. By closely studying the film and noting the patterns and impacts of implicit bias and stereotyping throughout, a better understanding of the film’s deeper meaning and real life implications can be gained, and a template for future films and other projects aiming to accomplish a similar goal is revealed. Through careful categorization and analysis of the instances of implicit bias and stereotypes in Zootopia, I discuss how the simple tale of two animals learning how to break away from the stereotypes surrounding them has become a modern fable for 21st-century society.Honors CollegeUndergraduate senior honors thesisHonors CollegeThesis (B.?