The discourse of feminism in the archetype of the hero's journey: A Case Study of Cinematic Animation Zootopia

Heroes play a pivotal role in animation. Stories and myths have common structures of archetypes and myths; patterns that are repeated with unlimited variety in literary and artistic works. The hero's journey is one of the theories by which the repetitive structures in different stories can be realized and analyzed. Joseph Campbell is one of the most important and influential writers in the field of mythology. The theoretical basis of Campbell's archetype is based on his understanding of Jung's theories.
The purpose of this article is to achieve the application of the archetype of the hero's journey and to retrieve examples of feminism in the narration of Zootopia animation. The theoretical framework of the analysis of this animation is based on the structuralist approach of the hero's journey of Joseph Campbell and the research method is to describe and analyze the visual narrative of this animation. The results indicate that there are many similarities between the story of Zootopia and the archetype of the hero's journey, which is used in the context of current world issues to raise discourses about feminism in the animation media. Based on this discourse, many of the heroic characters of the animation have been reproduced in the last decade. Disney Studios' animations of the last decade focus on female characters and heroes. The company continues its activities for productions centered on female heroes. Zootopia is one of the most successful and influential works of this company, which is trying to show one of its most important products in the field of feminist thought, considering the teachings of the modern world and the transition from modernism to postmodern.
Zootopia, winner of the 2016 Academy Award for Best Animation, is also a film with a heroic theme. Told in the form of an animal story or animal allegory, this work tells the story of a girl rabbit named Judy Hopps. Judy is not a princess, unlike many of Walt Disney Studios' stereotypes. She belongs to the middle class and comes from a farming family. The setting of Zootopia is the modern world. In this modern utopian world, animals have evolved and hunter-gatherer animals live together peacefully. Judy Rabbit is a girl who has dreamed of becoming a policeman since childhood. She wants to make the world a better place to live. Judy's childhood is associated with themes such as activity and participation in social affairs, defense of the oppressed against the oppressor, and hunted versus the hunter. In this regard, the efforts of Judy's parents to dissuade her from her modern goals and aspirations are unsuccessful and thus they choose to support Judy's decisions and stand by her. Judy is sincerely striving to achieve her dreams. In this animation, the protagonist goes beyond the ideals of egalitarianism.  Gender-related issues are represented in a more modern perspective in this work. In addition to gender issues, other underlying themes such as racial and social (species) acceptance as well as contemporary issues such as inclusion of all beliefs, creed and habitats have been incorporated