I don't mean to stir anything up but....

Objectively, depicting gorillas as criminals is not racist.

However, people's minds are going to make the link between the racial slur "gorilla" and the negative stereotypes against black people related to gangs and crime. In my opinion it would have been much wiser to just use a different animal.

I agree, foxes would have been a better choice. Maybe they were trying to be original and avoid other animated movies (Zootopia, Robin Hood, Fantastic Mr. Fox) that also featured foxes?

Why would it be racist if the gorillas were criminals?

Everything's racist if you want to see everything as racist. I mean, the plot called for a large powerful animal to be a criminal. Last I checked, gorillas fit that description. I notice your didn't say it was offensive that the criminals were British. I mean, isn't it kind of implying that all Brits are criminals?

No. /topic

"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"

Of the animals in the movie the gorilla made the most sense to be criminals. You need a certain level of brawn and brain to be a good criminal and the gorillas fit the bill.

Factor in that the term gorilla is often applied to a big brute of a criminal and it works.

Sadly, people go out of there way to find fault in any little thing so they can be offended but I think 99% of the people won't even notice but I'm sure someone will point it out...

Stop seeing racism everywhere.

"After coming into contact with a religious man, I always feel I must wash my hands." - F. Nietzsche

Realistic? Since when do foxes have criminal tendencies?

Funny thing related to race (I think) happened to me two weeks ago, My flight from DC to Chicago got in late for a connecting flight to LA. With scores of others, I waited more than two hours in a United service line to get rebooked on another flight. People clustered around the five or six United ticket agents for so long that it was hard to see the agents, but it became apparent that all or most were black. Nobody in the line complained about the service and the slowness; there was an air of sympathy for the agents. With one exception, a black guy a couple people ahead of me, everyone (or almost everyone) else in line were white. I chatted for a long time with a very nice white U.S. military member (I am white too) who was in front of me. When he got to the front of the line, he turned to me and said, "You go first." There was no obvious reason for this graciousness and I asked him if he were sure. "Yes," he said. I looked at the freed-up skinny black guy of an agent waiting to serve him or now me. I thought, "implicit racial bias," but said nothing, merely noting that maybe the skinny black agent -- in the eyes of some -- might look less capable than the more substantial (in girth) black United agents. I expected to wait for 10-15 minutes for the skinny black agent to rebook me, since that seemed to be the speed at which rebookings were made. But, shortly after I stepped forward and produced my now OBE plane ticket to LA, he punched in some info into his computer, made a phone call, and told me he'd (1) booked me on the next flight out and (2) as a back-up, had also booked me on a later flight as insurance. The whole time for him to do this was likely 2-3 minutes.