The first teaser trailer for Zootopia is strange. It spends much of its running time explaining what the word “anthropomorphic” means, while using one of the films co-leads, a fox named Nick Wilde, to represent the narrator’s specific examples. Its oddness can be viewed through the various comments that have propped up underneath it: many of them expressed certain degrees of frustration that the trailer would spend so much time defining a word that everyone is fairly familiar with, what with the preponderance of talking animal movies out there. What did Disney think it was really doing besides telling everyone what they pretty much already knew? All of this was just a broad lesson in a generic literary term. At least the animated characters were cool-looking, right?

That’s the thing, though – this is something that Disney has always done well: play skillfully along the line between irony and sincerity. Zootopia’s teaser trailer is both ironic in its overt explanation (having visual and verbal fun with its belabored explanation) while also expressing sincerely their very specific approach to its anthropomorphic characters and its anthropomorphic world. Disney wants its viewers to know that, yes, they know you know, but also that they are doing a very specific type of anthropomorphism that, surprisingly, has not been that as often as we think. The usual approaches to talking animals consisted of: 1) only being talking “feral” animals (in that they’re designed and shaped as regular animals, but just happen to talk, like The Lion King and Bolt); 2) see 1), but with more physical human characteristics (the uses of their front paws as hands, for example) within a world of humans that “dominate” the landscape, like Rescuers or An American Tail; or 3) specifically loony, wacky characters who are constructed around a mascot or icon that’s more representative of a brand or comic world (think Looney Tunes, Madegascar, or Sonic the Hedgehog). The idea of perfect-blended human/animal characters and characteristics–the specific way that Disney is defining anthropomorphism for this film–is truly rare. (There is a fourth – a blend of human/animal characters, similar to Bojack Horseman or Cats Don’t Dance, but the former isn’t that keen on the animal nature of its characters outside of verbal or visual puns – they don’t even have tails – while the later is part of the silly, loony category.)

Think about it. Of all the pieces of entertainment that exist, nothing quite embraces that level of anthropomorphism quite like Zootopia. Kung Fu Panda only tangentially references its cast of characters as animals; same goes with Talespin and Swat Kats, and even the film’s obvious spiritual predecessor, Robin Hood. Most talking animal movies involve humans in some way (Over the Hedge) or is content with its animal characters walking on all fours (Alpha and Omega). The truth is, Zootopia is the rare movie out there that one hundred percent embraces anthropomorphism to its fullest; the closest movie to it might be Chicken Little, but – besides that movie being an inspired mess – it leans more on the loony side of things.

This was the crucial message that Disney needed to convey with its teaser; it’s arguably why the first “official” trailer involved a familiar locale – the DMV – and the type of animals – sloth – that defined the DMV’s stereotypical inefficiency to run it. Disney knew full well of the genre’s stigma, of the kind of media-based social stigma that anthropomorphic entertainment had. Yet instead of beating around the bush – using the concept as a metaphor or allegory to another well-know story, or making it particularly wacky and absurd like it’s Dreamworks’ Zoo-based citizens, Disney’s marketing team went all in, head on. It presented Zootopia as a movie about anthropomorphic animals, full stop; then it began doling out bits and pieces to encourage skeptics to get on board; a rich cast of voice artists; examples of its clean, sharp animation; strong, comic-driven trailers and a timely theme about diversity and stereotypes.

The truth is that Disney has had a tight handle on its online marketing since Wreck-It Ralph, another film that had its skeptics. That film had to push past the reputation of being “another video game movie,” a sub-genre of films that were universally disliked. Disney showcased its commitment to the concept though; they acquired the rights to a number of copyrighted video game characters, produced remarkable sharp trailers, and even made a fake-real game to accompany the film. Wreck-It Ralph is an important film to keep in mind when thinking about Zootopia; it, too, overcame a tough reputation and produced an entertaining movie that also dealt with some some heady, deep topics, including (but not limited to) overcoming one’s reputation and staking recognition in a landscape all too willing to pigeonhole people.

Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia also both do something that something that Disney hasn’t really, truly done in a while: directly appeal to both boys and girls. As you may know by now, the company has had a number of issues regarding proper representation in its merchandising side of things, with Star Wars downplaying the role of Rey in its toys, and Marvel doing the same thing with Black Widow. It’s a complicated ordeal (The Mary Sue gets into it here, but it mostly involves Disney mostly letting toy creators buy licenses with no oversight), but the general gist of this was mainly because Disney had such success in its Princess line for girls with Tangled and, most importantly, Frozen, that it never really had the need, or desire, to be cross-gender compliant.

Yet in a way, that’s what Wreck-It Ralph, and, more definitively, Zootopia are doing. The latter in particular, with its renewed focus on Judy as the main protagonist, forced to deal with a world systematically defined by stereotypes and certain characters assigned to particular roles, is clearly opening up its appeal bracket to young women. This, subtly, also fits into how Disney has defined their “Princess” roles – strong, personality-driven women who are not defined by their status as “princesses” but are defined by who they are and their plunk, determination, and successes (not to say that Judy is a Disney Princess, but, you never know). The “talking animal” concept is inherently open to appeal to both boys and girls, at least at the social level (although it’s usually boys that merchandising companies try to appeal to, since the unfortunate truth is that even talking animal films are headed by more male characters than female ones, and Zootopia is looking to be no exception – and its looking to be the very point the film is trying to make), and Disney is carefully crafting its marketing message to make that point as clear as possible.