Dramatica Users Group Analysis of Zootopia

Is now online for your viewing pleasure. You can watch all two hours on the Zootopia Dramatica Users Group Narrative Analysis Youtube page. You can also check out the Zootopia storyform on the main Dramatica site.

Looks like the storyform is the same as your analysis you did on Narrative First, Jim. That’s great! When I was still pretty new to Dramatica I used it for a test … without looking at your analysis I watched the film and guessed at the MC Unique Ability to be either Knowledge or Experience. Then I checked your site and saw it was indeed Experience! Then I annoyed my wife to no end, going on about how amazing it was (since it was output from Dramatica in your analysis, not input).

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Hah! That’s great. And yes, it was the same. It was a great night – lots of spirited discussion over the source of conflict in the different Throughlines and what the story was really all about. Definitely one of the most educational nights.

Hi Jim,
I just finished watching the analysis. Great stuff! A couple things I wanted to mention…

First, there was a question about the first OS Signpost being Memory and how that was illustrated. I think there are two great examples:

  • Mrs. Otterton has been complaining that her husband has been missing for days but everyone keeps brushing her off. Basically, Emmitt Otterton is being forgotten.
    She also has a photo (a memory) of Emmit which she gives to Hopps.
  • Next scene, Hopps finds the “last known sighting” photo (memory) of Emmit Otterton, with the popsicle connection to Nick.

I’m pretty sure those are still in OS Act 1 since the OS kind of begins a little late, as Chris (@chuntley) said.


The other thing that stood out in this video was Chris’s openness to accepting different ideas and perspectives. The amount of discussion around the possibility of Hopps being Steadfast was impressive, since it seemed apparent that Chris didn’t agree, but he was very willing to be convinced if the argument was compelling.

I really think such openness is crucial to understanding and effectively using Dramatica … since the whole thing is based on differing perspectives!

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