Swinton
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Background[]
Development[]
Concept art of Mayor Swinton; Zootopia's highest public official.
In earlier drafts of the movie, Swinton was the mayor ofZootopia and the film's main antagonist. She led the conspiracy involving predators mysteriously disappearing, as she harbored a secret hatred towards that portion of Zootopia's population. She was portrayed as a calculated and highly intelligent leader, while animatics also imply her to be fairly vain.
Having a pig serve as the film's villain was partially inspired by the filmmakers' research; they discovered that pigs are amongst the most intelligent animals, which would make sense for a character leading a villainous operation while simultaneously fooling their people. The mayor was initially conceived as a pig not just to fit her intelligence, but also so that her appearance (a pink and soft animal) could be easily juxtaposed with her murderous, cold-blooded nature.[1]
Eventually, Swinton's role as Zootopia's mayor was scrapped in favor of the generally well-intentionedMayor Lionheart. The switch from Swinton to Lionheart was based on the common conception that lions are the "king of beasts", making it seem logical to cast a lion as the leader of an all-animal city. Bellwether, meanwhile, was given Swinton's role as the main antagonist whose plans stemmed from a hatred of carnivores. Lionheart also became Bellwether's primary target.
Role in thefilm[]
According to directorsByron Howard andRich Moore, Swinton remained in the final version of the movie, but was reworked to appear in a cameo role as a police warden watching over the arrested Bellwether during theGazelle concert end credits.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Swinton animatic(2).jpg (36 KB)")
References[]
- ↑Alexander, Byran (June 5 2016). "'Zootopia' mayor was originally a woman — and a pig" (Article). USA Today. Retrieved on June 5, 2016.
