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Is Disney Marketing New Movie ‘Zootopia’ To Furries?

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 05:56 PST, Mar 3, 2016

Is Disney seeming to market it’s newest film, Zootopia, to furries marketing genius, or just a bit odd? Furries have always loved a good Disney animal film, but Disney has not always loved them back. The core Disney audience has been children and their parents, but now Disney is reaching out to the furry community. According to Wikipedia, “a Furry is a subculture interested in fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics.” This group really loves cartoon animals, and Disney is taking notice.

According to Vanity Fair, the upcoming Disney film, Zootopia, is about a land where humans never existed, and animals are in charge. Disney has hired a publicity team to court furries, and appeal to the furry community. A letter has been published that was sent to the “Furlife” community.

“Hello Furlife,

“My name is [name redacted] and I am representing Walt Disney Studios. Our next film being released is ZOOTOPIA and it is about a world inhabited by animals all living in peace together. The pictures of the members of your group all looking like animals are incredible and align perfectly with the film. All of you could live peacefully in Zootopia. It would be great for you all to share these photos on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. You can take new photos of each other and share these new photos online using the hashtags #Zootopia and #ZooU. You can be representing ZOOTOPIA and the participants can receive film based items such as the poster and rabbit or fox crowns. This can be a lot of fun and your group seems perfect to participate. If you are interested start posting the photos today and email me at xxxxxx@alliedim.com. Thanks!”

But this doesn’t seem to be an out of the blue connection between Disney and the furries, as many of the characters in the movie seem a bit sexier than your average Disney creature. One of the animals, voiced by Shakira, was obviously drawn and selected by Disney to exude sex appeal.

Buzzfeed is reporting that they have proof that Zootopia was created by Disney, and is being marketed by Disney, to appeal to furries. And it sounds like the furry community is loving Disney, and Zootopia, right back. Furries believe that Zootopia was custom-made for them by Disney, and they might not be too far off. This would not be the first Disney film with multiple levels of comprehension, one for kids, and another for their parents and other adults, and that has been what has made Disney’s seemingly kid-friendly movies almost palatable to parents. Think Finding Nemo and Toy Story, with a parallel story line that appealed to adults as well as children.

With members of the furry community being asked to take photos in costume, and tag them with Disney’s Zootopia hashtags, Disney seems to be embracing their new group of fans. The connection between Zootopia, a world where animals are living seemingly human lives, and the furry community seems like a pretty natural pairing. In fact, one of the most popular Disney character in the furry community, the fox from Robin Hood, was nearly duplicated for Zootopia. According to Buzzfeed, this is because the fox “is someone they can relate to, and want to yiff with (have sex with).”

Disney animator Danny Gonzales has put out a message on Twitter asking furries to please take selfies if dressed up while watching the movie, and #Zootopia.

The Interrobang says that it is important to Disney that furries like their new movie, Zootopia. They say that Disney is “going hard to get the word out that they want furries to come out and see their movie, and let Disney know what they think. Disney has even offered the Furries Disney and Zootopia serious swag if they will take to social media and hashtag away. Something is saying that we are really not in Kansas, anymore (wait, that’s not Disney).”

“Mickey and Minnie can’t be happy about this new direction the company is going in but they better learn to shake their money makers if they want to keep their jobs!”

The Guardian is saying that Disney fans will find it hard to avoid learning a whole new vocabulary associated with the furry life. Let’s just say that predators and prey mean very different things than in the traditional sense. Tommy Chong, Idris Elba, and Ginnifer Goodwin are just some of the main voices that will lure in adults, as well as the theme of not being judged by your species, and the Mammal Inclusion Program, that helps the bunny Judy (Goodwin) become the first bunny to become a cop, and a sexy, sassy cop at that, who is actively being checked out by all of those around her.

Adults other than parents and furries might now be getting in line to see the new Disney film Zootopia, if just to learn a little something about what is really going on.

Are you familiar with furries, and will you see the new Disney film Zootopia?

[Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images]

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