In a Disney-movie-world of fairytales, princesses, and pirates, my daughter would pick a movie about animals over anything else. She has a hard time sitting through some movies, but I had a feeling that Zootopia would keep her attention. I was excited to put together this movie night for our family.
Zootopia tells the story of Judy Hopps, a small bunny who lives in the animal metropolis of Zootopia. Zootopia is a place where animals live in harmony, work together, and where you can really be or try anything. Judy follows her lifelong dream of being a police officer and teams up with a sly, con artist fox named Nick to find a missing otter. Nick and Judy form an unexpected friendship and help solve the “Night Howler” mystery in Zootopia.
Zootopia is divided into different districts: Tundratown, Marshlands, and Little Rodentia, to name a few. There is also the Rainforest District, which made me think of Rainforest Cafe and inspired our meal. Now, a long time ago, Rainforest Cafe served my FAVORITE wrap called the “Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap.” This wrap was a turkey and caesar salad mix, and it was delicious (I was really so sad when they took it off their menu, you can ask my husband, I tell him all the time). I decided to recreate this wrap for our meal, and it was the perfect meal.
A Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap is just a flour tortilla with turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and Caesar dressing. It is savory and delicious and so simple to put together. I included the recipe at the bottom of this post if you want to make your own Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap.
I served our wraps with carrots and blueberries, two foods that Judy Hopps’ parents sell in the movie Zootopia (and they happen to be toddler-friendly, too!).
By the end of the movie, Nick and Judy find out that a blue, toxic flower called the Night Howler can turn civilized mammals into savage beasts. If you have been following my blog and movie nights for a while, you know that I like easy, and I created the EASIEST Zootopia drinks. To start, they are literally just blue Gatorade (you’re probably laughing now), BUT I did put some effort into the garnish. I made my own “Night Howler” flowers out of blue raspberry Sour Strips and cocktail stirrers.
To make the Night Howler garnish, start by cutting each Sour Strip into four equal sections. Fold each section and stab it with the cocktail stirrer, making the shape of a flower. Stick these cute tiny flowers in your blue drink and TA-DA! a fun, Zootopia-themed drink. Hopefully these don’t turn us into savage beasts.
Of course, we had to have dessert, and I felt that the “obvious” choice was red popsicles, just like the ones that Nick makes in the movie. To be honest, I tried to make some popsicles, and they were an EPIC fail (I will spare you the details). Instead, I was inspired by a rather large donut sign in the movie, and I made a donut-shaped cake. To create this, I baked a yellow box cake in my Bundt pan. Once it was baked and cooled, I topped it with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and wrote “The Big Donut” in pink icing. Needless to say, we all loved it.
As it turns out, I was correct; Brooklyn LOVED Zootopia. Throughout the movie, she had the biggest smile on her face, and she really liked her cute Judy Hopps hat that I found for her (on Amazon). It was a hopping good Disney Dinner & A Movie Night.
Sending love and magic.
