The wild sounds of ancient predators¹ echoed through a large barn in Bunnyburrow. A young bunny named Judy Hopps appeared on a makeshift stage, trying to find her way through a papier-mâché and cardboard jungle.

 

Judy's voice rang out loud and clear. "Fear. Treachery. Bloodlust! Thousands of years ago, these were the forces that ruled our world. A world where prey³ were scared of predators. And predators had an uncontrollable desire to maim⁴ and maul and—"

 

Suddenly, a jaguar⁵ leapt on her from the shadows! "Blood, blood, blood!" Judy screamed as she crumpled⁶ under the attack. "And death."

 

After a long and drawn-out moment of terrible silence, Judy sat up, faced the confused audience, and smiled as she continued her monologue⁷. A banner reading CARROT DAYS TALENT SHOW hung over the stunned⁸ crowd.

 

"Back then, the world was divided in two: vicious predator² or meek⁹ prey." Two cardboard boxes dropped down from the ceiling. The first, labeled vicious predator in crayon, landed on top of the jaguar, and the second, labeled meek prey, landed on Judy. The boxes settled on their shoulders so their heads, arms, and legs stuck out. "But over time, we evolved and moved beyond our primitive¹⁰, savage¹¹ ways."

 

A young sheep wearing a white robe and a cardboard rainbow on his head did an improvisational¹² dance across the stage. Judy and the jaguar burst out of their boxes, now wearing white robes, too. "Now predator and prey live in harmony."

 

Judy and the jaguar, revealed as another friendly youngster, shook hands as the sheep sprinkled glitter on them. "And every young mammal has multitudinous opportunities," Judy said.

 

"Yeah. I don't have to cower¹³ in a herd¹⁴ anymore," said the sheep. Then he ripped off his robe, revealing a homemade astronaut costume. "Instead, I can be an astronaut."

 

"I don't have to grow up to be a lonely hunter," said the jaguar, showing a business suit under his robe.

 

"Today I can hunt for tax exemptions¹⁵. I'm gonna be an actuary!"

 

"And no longer do I have to blindly serve the almighty¹⁶ carrot," said Judy. "I can make the world a better place—saving lives, defending the defenseless! I am going to be..." Judy ripped off her robe and stood in a blue uniform. "A police officer!"

 

In the audience, a nasty fox kid named Gideon Grey snickered to his two friends. "Bunny cop. That is the most stupidest thing I ever heard," he said.

 

Back onstage, it was almost as if Judy had heard his remark. "It may seem impossible...to small minds," she said, pointing at him. "I'm looking at you, Gideon Grey." Judy snapped her fingers and a backdrop showing a bright city skyline unrolled behind her. "But just two hundred and eleven miles away stands the great city of...ZOOTOPIA! Where our ancestors first joined together in peace, and declared that ANYONE CAN BE ANYTHING! Thank you and good night!"

 

Judy proudly bowed, as if she had just given the performance of her life. Dutiful applause came from the audience, including her parents, Bonnie and Stu Hopps.

 

Moments later, Judy, still wearing her police costume, excitedly exited the barn with her parents. Outside, the Carrot Days Festival was in full swing as everyone enjoyed booths, games, and rides.

 

"Judy, ever wonder how your mom and me got to be so darn happy?" Stu asked.

 

"Nope," Judy answered.

 

"Well, I'll tell ya how," Stu continued, as if he hadn't heard Judy. "We gave up on our dreams and we settled, right, Bon?"

 

"Oh yes," Bonnie agreed. "That's right, Stu. We settled hard."

 

"See, that's the beauty of complacency, Jude. If you don't try anything new, you'll never fail," Stu said.

 

"I like trying, actually," Judy said.

 

Bonnie looked at their daughter. "What your father means, hon...it's gonna be difficult—impossible, even—for you to become a police officer."

 

"There's never been a bunny cop," Stu said.

 

"I guess I'll have to be the first one!" said Judy as she parkoured against a fence. "Because I'm gonna make the world a better place."

 

"Or...heck, you wanna talk about making the world a better place—no better way to do it than becoming a carrot farmer," said Stu.

 

"Yes! Your dad and me and your two hundred seventy-five brothers and sisters—we're changing the world one carrot at a time," said Bonnie.

 

"Amen to that. Carrot farming is a noble profession," Stu agreed.

 

But Judy stopped paying attention to her parents when she spotted¹⁷ Gideon Grey following some little kids. She was instantly alert, and she went after him.

 

"You get it, honey?" Bonnie asked Judy. "I mean, it's great to have dreams."

 

"Yeah, just as long as you don't believe in them too much," Stu continued as he looked around for his daughter. "Jude? Where the heck did she go?"

 

在一个叫兔窝镇的地方，古老的食肉动物那野性的吼声在一间宽敞的谷仓里回荡着。一只叫朱迪·霍普斯的年轻兔子出现在一个临时搭建的舞台上，正想方设法寻找一条道路，要穿过由混凝纸浆和硬纸板做的丛林。

 

朱迪那响亮而清晰的声音突然响起：“恐惧。背叛。血腥屠杀!几千年之前，这些暴力行为统治着我们这个世界——一个猎物害怕食肉动物的世界，而食肉动物有着不可控制的欲望去残害、殴打和——”

 

突然，一头美洲豹从阴影处向她扑了过来!“谋杀，谋杀，谋杀!”朱迪受到攻击瘫倒在地后大叫道，“和屠杀。”

 

可怕的沉默持续了很长一段时间，然后朱迪坐起来，面对着困惑不解的观众，微笑着继续她的独白。在目瞪口呆的观众上方，悬挂着一条写着“胡萝卜节达人秀”的横幅。

 

“当时，整个世界被一分为二：凶残的食肉动物和温顺的猎物。”两个纸板箱从天花板上落了下来。一个用蜡笔写着“凶残的食肉动物”的纸板箱降落在美洲豹的上方，而另一个写着“温顺的猎物”的纸板箱则落在了朱迪的头顶。这两个箱子最终停留在他们的肩头，所以他们的头、胳膊和腿都伸了出来。“但是久而久之，我们进化了，摆脱了之前原始、野蛮的方式。”

 

一只年轻的小绵羊，身穿白袍子，头戴用纸板做成的彩虹，在舞台上即兴跳了一段舞蹈。朱迪和美洲豹突然从箱子里冲出来，此刻他们也都穿着白袍子。“现在，食肉动物和猎物和睦相处了。”

 

朱迪和这头作为另一位友好青年出现的美洲豹握手言欢，这时小绵羊向他们挥洒着闪光纸屑。“每个年轻的动物都有各种各样的机会。”朱迪说道。

 

“对。我再也不用战战兢兢地躲在羊群里了。”小绵羊说道。说完，他撕破身上的袍子，露出了自制的宇航服：“相反，我可以做宇航员。”

 

“我长大也不用当一名孤独的猎兽了。”美洲豹说完，展示出了袍子里面的西装。

 

“如今我可以寻求税收减免。我要当精算师!”

 

“我再也不用盲目地服务于万能的胡萝卜。”朱迪说道，“我要让世界变得更美好——拯救生命，保护弱者!我要当……”她一把扯掉袍子，身着蓝色制服站在那里，继续说道：“一名警官!”

 

人群中，一只不那么友善的小狐狸吉丁·格雷对着他的两位朋友暗自窃笑。“兔子警察。这是我听过的最傻的事情。”他说道。

 

舞台上，朱迪好像听到了他的评价。“这也许不太可能……对于思想狭隘的人来说，”朱迪说完，指着他，“我看着你呢，吉丁·格雷。”朱迪打了个响指，舞台背景上，一幅璀璨的城市景象展现在她身后。“位于211英里之外的地方，有一座美好的城市……动物城!我们的祖先就是在那里第一次和睦地团结在一起，并且宣布我们无所不能!感谢聆听，祝大家晚安!”

 

朱迪自豪地鞠了一躬，就像是刚刚完成了生命中最精彩的演出。人群报以礼节性的鼓掌，包括她的父母——邦妮和斯图·霍普斯。

 

片刻之后，依然一身警察装扮的朱迪跟随父母兴奋地出了谷仓。外面，大家享受美食，畅玩游戏，乘坐游乐设施，胡萝卜节庆典进行得如火如荼。

 

“朱迪，有没有想过你妈妈和我怎么过得这么快乐?”斯图问道。

 

“没有。”朱迪回答道。

 

“那我告诉你，”斯图继续说道，就像没有听到朱迪的回答一样，“我们放弃了梦想，然后安定下来了，对吗，邦?”

 

“哦，对，”邦妮赞同地说道，“没错，斯图。我们好不容易安定了下来。”

 

“明白了吧，这就是见好就收的好处，朱迪。不尝试新事物，就永远不会失败。”斯图说道。

 

“实际上，我想试试。”朱迪说道。

 

邦妮看了看他们的女儿：“你父亲的意思是，亲爱……对你而言，要当一名警官，那会很难——甚至是不可能的。”

 

“从来就没有兔子当警察。”斯图说道。

 

“我想我会是第一个!”朱迪说着，疾步翻过篱笆，“因为我要使世界更美好。”

 

“哦……见鬼，你想谈谈使世界变得更美好——最好的方式就是当一名种胡萝卜的菜农。”斯图说道。

 

“对!你爸爸和我，还有你那275个兄弟姐妹——我们通过每次一根胡萝卜的方式改变世界。”邦妮说道。

 

“同意。种植胡萝卜是个高尚的职业。”斯图赞同地说道。

 

但是当朱迪发现吉丁·格雷正在尾随着几个小动物而行时，她就不再留心父母说什么了。她立刻警觉起来，从后面追赶过去。

 

“明白了吗，亲爱的?”邦妮问朱迪道，“我是说，有梦想，很棒。”

 

“对，只要别把它太当回事儿，”斯图边四下寻找他的女儿边继续说着，“朱迪?她到底去哪儿了?”

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