BACKGROUND
First things first, consider this your spoiler warning. I like to go into detail with plot points, so you might want to ensure you’ve watched Zootopia 2 first before reading anymore.
Picture this. It’s 2025 and the Disney Studios hasn’t announced, produced, or released a movie sequel or a live-action remake for a whole year. Yeah. Keep dreaming.
After a brilliant 2024, in terms of financial results from its movies, The Walt Disney Company was riding high, wanting to repeat that success. Pixar had made over a $1 billion with their film Inside Out 2; Disney Animation also hit this marker with Moana 2. From their live-action remake slate, they released Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel of a live-action remake – mind-blowing – which didn’t make as much money but still added to the profits.
Why stop there? Why not keeping going? If the people want sequels, let’s give them sequels! So, 2025 was not going to turn the tide. Earlier in the year, after claiming that they would not be making any more live-action remakes after the box-office bomb that was Snow White, which had been hit by numerous waves of criticism, Disney got the turnout they needed from the public for their remake of Lilo & Stitch. This film made over $1 billion too.
What a shock result. How could this possibly be topped? Well, obviously with another sequel. And that sequel was Zootopia 2, coming nine years after the original Zootopia made a splash on its release in 2016, becoming a spring hit for the company.
I have made no secret of my love-hate response to movie sequels. Sometimes I actually quite like them, even more than the originals. Some examples are Disney Animation’s Frozen II (2019) and Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999) – I’ll throw in Toy Story 3 (2010) as well for good measure. But I thought that Moana 2 was a huge letdown, and simply rehashed the original film’s story, and Toy Story 4 (2019) was nightmare fuel for me. And don’t forget: Pixar has already told us to expect Incredibles 3, Coco 2, and Monsters, Inc. 3, alongside Toy Story 5 (2026), over the next few years. Oh goodie.
Shockingly, I actually didn’t hate the idea of Zootopia 2 when it was first announced. The trailer didn’t look bad at all, and Zootopia was the optimal source to create new storylines from. So, now I’ve watched it, do I still agree with this statement? Yes, actually I do. Zootopia 2 was good. It took a while to get going, I thought, but once I’d figured out who all the new characters were, it was a good story, the ending in particular was great. Perhaps Zootopia 2 is not as funny as the original film, but it is just as heartwarming.
PLOT
Zootopia 2 begins with a brief recap of the ending of Zootopia, with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde exposing Mayor Bellwether as being behind the attacks on the prey in the city. Bellwether is arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to prison, whilst Nick is recruited into the Zootopia Police Department and partnered up with Judy. The two become the first bunny-fox team in the history of Zootopia and set about trying to prove themselves.
One week later, Chief Bogo is assigning his officers to their duties in order to solve a case against a dodgy customs inspector, who is said to be smuggling illegal overseas cargo into the city. However, at this meeting, as Bogo is about to tell Judy and Nick that, as a new partnership they will only be observing, he sees that the two are not there. Bogo is told by Officer Clawhauser that Judy and Nick are already at the shipyard – with their baby. What?
At the shipyard, we see that Judy and Nick are in disguise as a mother and father with their “baby”, who is actually Finnick, Nick’s former associate from the first film. They use their cover to speak to the customs inspector, an anteater, who tells the “family” they need to leave the area right away. Nick distracts the inspector by talking about his “son’s” birthday, so Judy can check out the cargo boxes nearby. The box opens up and all its contents fall out, alerting the inspector to the fact the police are on to him. The inspector jumps into a van and drives away. Judy and Nick commandeer a pig’s car, his “hog rod” and pursue the criminal. However, the chase causes chaos across Zootopia, as they mess up a sheep barber shop, drive right into a parade, and even leave a dik-dik stuck in a tuba! At one point, Judy jumps into the inspector’s van, as he is knocked out by a sign, but instead of coming to a gentle stop, she drives off the bridge and crashes near to a conference with the new Mayor of Zootopia, Mayor Winddancer. Other ZPD officers arrest the suspect.
Chief Bogo is furious with Nick and Judy for disobeying orders; however, Judy is distracted by her find of snake skin and details about the Zootennial Gala in the inspector’s van. She looks up the history of reptiles in Zootopia, coming across a podcaster, who seems to dabble in conspiracy theories. Bogo warns Judy that her “overdoing” her job is reflecting badly on the ZPD and their partnership. He sends Judy and Nick to a workshop together.
At the workshop, for “Partners in Crisis”, led by therapist Dr. Fuzzby, Judy discovers that Bogo believes her and Nick are mismatched partners. She looks around and doesn’t see how they can be worse than an elephant scared of its mouse partner, or a honey badger and a deer that just can’t get on! Dr. Fuzzby diagnoses Judy as being in denial, and Nick as emotionally insecure, but says with time, maybe a year or two, they can get through this. Judy assigns Nick homework to try and get their partnership under control, so they can complete the workshop as quickly as possible.
At their respective homes, Judy gets a call from her parents, who saw the coverage of the disastrous police chase today, and want to check she’s alright. As they start to analyse what doesn’t work with her and Nick, she ends the call, and turns on the TV, settling down to books about partnership. She sees a report about the Zootennial Gala, and how the Lynxley Journal will be on show there, which is related to a historical incident with a snake. Judy also realises that the inspector’s van is the same as the catering company working the gala. Judy goes back to her podcaster, Nibbles Maplestick, who gives her some further backstory into the journal. It is said that 100 years ago, a snake attacked a tortoise, the Lynxley family maid, who was trying to stop the snake from stealing the journal. No snakes were seen in the city after that. With this in mind, Judy goes to Nick and says they have to get to the gala.
At the Zootennial Gala, many celebrities and important guests arrive for a big party. Judy and Nick arrive and start inspecting the catering company’s vans. Judy then sees a back door into the mansion where the gala is being held is open. She gives Nick a suit to wear, and Judy puts on a dress so they can blend in. Inside, Judy sees the journal is in the Reserved Section. To get there, Nick schmoozes the wealthy Bearoness and gets them in. Judy sets about looking for the journal, whilst Nick keeps a lookout, and sees that the cover of the journal is made of metal. She bumps into Pawbert Lynxley, part of the powerful Lynxley family, but he is awkward and nerdy, nothing at all as Judy would’ve expected. It turns out Pawbert is a fan of Judy’s work at the ZPD. She tells him she is trying to protect the journal. Meanwhile, Nick finds a piece of snake skin on the floor.
As Mayor Winddancer delivers his speech to the gala attendees, Nick sees something on the chandelier above. However, as Nick is about to find Judy, he runs into Chief Bogo, who is about to eject him from the gala. Suddenly, the thing falls down from the chandelier and is revealed to be – a snake! The snake takes the journal and Milton Lynxley, and tries to escape. Judy follows, through the kitchens, the hallways, into a room. Judy talks to the snake, who says the Lynxleys are the bad guys, not the snakes, with the journal the only way to prove this. Nick then knocks the snake out with a pan. Milton orders the snake to be killed, and for the journal to be burnt, telling Nick and Judy to file a report saying the snake attacked them. Milton is joined by his other children, Kitty and Cattrick. Judy flicks coals onto the rug, setting the room on fire, and tries to save the snake. However, the snake accidentally bites Chief Bogo, losing a fang. Bogo is sent to hospital. The snake flies out the window and is picked up by someone on a motorbike. Judy takes the journal and jumps out the window with Nick. They turn up beside Mr. Big’s limo, and are put in the trunk.
Later that night, it is revealed that Mayor Winddancer has been ordered by Milton Lynxley to take down the snake, Judy, and Nick, so no details of that night come to light. The mayor is threatened with losing his job should he not do this. Meanwhile, Judy and Nick have returned to being front page news for all the wrong reasons. They are taken to Mr. Big’s new bag factory and warehouse, being run with his daughter Fru Fru. Mr. Big sets Judy and Nick up with new identities and transportation out of Zootopia, in a bid to help them escape the Lynxleys. Mr. Big says they have always been dangerous and without honour, but that their expansion of Tundratown is the most important thing to them, and should Judy and Nick get in the way, the Lynxleys won’t hesitate to kill them. Judy turns down Mr. Big’s offer, wanting to help the snake. Mr. Big says that they’ll need to talk to a reptile expert to find reptiles to speak to then. Fru Fru sends them to none other than Nibbles Maplestick.
Nibbles drives them to Marsh Market, where reptiles are said to remain hidden. Nibbles says they are going to her lizard friend Jesús for help. She explains that Marsh Market is an outside area to Zootopia, having been cut off years ago, so reptiles can lie low here. Nibbles speaks to a walrus, who happily takes them to a half-submerged boat to find Jesús. Inside the boat, they discover that all the reptiles live there, having made themselves a large bar. Nibbles introduces Judy and Nick to Jesús, who tells them they must eat first, before they talk. They are offered worms to eat, and Nick and Judy choke down one each, causing Jesús to laugh as this was just a joke he likes to play sometimes! Jesús looks at the journal, revealing that the metal cover means that the secret they are looking for will likely be on the cover, as vipers can see things in metal. This confuses Judy who believes this journal was made by the Lynxleys, so why would they hide a message in it that can only be read by snakes? Jesús doesn’t know, only knowing it must be important. Jesús also states that the Tundratown expansion is going to take over Marsh Market next, pushing the reptiles out once again. Judy can’t let that happen. The ZPD then come to the bar, having followed Nick and Judy there. Jesús leads them out of the boat, wanting them to let the truth be known, before running off. The snake then comes and takes the journal, slithering away on the water. Judy jumps on a boat to follow him, whilst Nick runs across the docks, before joining Judy on the boat. They hop between vessels, tracking the snake. They arrive at the transportation tubes and go down them. These tubes are full of water though, so although Nick and Judy try to keep up, they have to make an early escape as they run out of air.
They come out of the tubes next to a tall mountain. Nick and Judy begin to argue, as Nick doesn’t like how Judy never consults him about anything, having almost killed them both just now, whereas Judy blames Nick for letting the snake and the journal get away. At the exit of the tube, they find a bag, containing a box of old matches with a flower design on the front. Two goats come down the mountain and speak to Judy and Nick. Judy discovers that the flowers that the goats have eaten match the design on the matches. The goats say the flowers are right at the top of the mountain, along with a honeymoon lodge. Nick and Judy are told to climb the rope to get there, so they do just that. The duo continues to fight up the mountain, leading to the carrot recorder that they used for their last case to be destroyed as they drop it, upsetting Judy. At the lodge, Judy finds more information about the reptiles and the infamous snake attack, as well as details of the Tundratown expansion. She learns there once was a whole reptile neighbourhood that was erased by the Lynxleys when Tundratown expanded the first time. Nick tries to get Judy to realise that the ZPD officers are on them again, but she won’t listen. Nick says this case isn’t worth dying for, but she disagrees. She admits maybe they are too different. The lodge falls apart as the ZPD officers try to arrest Nick and Judy. Judy comes face-to-face with Pawbert and the snake, who say they are the good guys, as she tries to escape the lodge. The snake asks Judy to come with them, since Nick has already been captured. They plead with Judy, who seems willing to go with them. Nick wrestles away from the officers, and sees Judy shot with a tranquiliser dart. Pawbert takes Judy with them, leaving Nick alone to be arrested.
Nick is taken to Mayor Winddancer, who asks to know where Judy is. Nick won’t say anything, even when threatened by Milton Lynxley. Milton reveals that the “lesser animals” in Marsh Market are set to be snowed over so his Tundratown expansion can continue. Nick is sent to jail to rot in a dark cell. Milton learns that Pawbert is helping Judy and the snake after seeing some of his fur near the lodge. Meanwhile, Judy finds herself on a motorbike in the desert with the snake and Pawbert, who reveal that Nick was caught. The snake introduces himself as Gary De’Snake, saying everything will be ok and they will save her partner. Gary also reveals that he has an anti-venom pen in case he accidentally bites anyone, showing that he is not evil. Pawbert takes the two to his hideout in the desert. Gary says he sent a letter to the Lynxley family ahead of the gala, saying he wanted to fix things for his family. Pawbert was the first to read the letter, and had Gary smuggled in so he could complete his personal mission. Pawbert says they will stop his family and reveal the truth.
They light a fire and place the journal next to it. As a heat-sensing pit viper, the warmth allows Gary to see the secret on the cover of the journal. Judy discovers that Gary’s great-grandmother was actually the one to create Zootopia, not the Lynxley family, having invented the weather walls so all animals could co-exist. Pawbert’s great-grandfather was her investor, but ended up stealing the plans for himself. To frame Gary’s great-grandmother, he murdered his maid so the snakes would be exiled, and he could wipe out the reptile neighbourhood forever, burying the area under snow, to become part of Tundratown. The original patent was saved though, and Gary’s great-grandmother hid the patent in her home. The journal reveals the path to her home so they can find the patent and reveal the truth. Judy says the light of the clock tower in the area might be able to show them where the neighbourhood was. They just need to get to the control room at the Sahara Square-Tundratown weather wall to turn the lights back on. Unbeknownst to them, the Lynxleys have been tracking Pawbert’s phone and know exactly where they are going.
In jail, Nick is reunited with Nibbles, who is in the cell opposite. Nick knows he needs to get out of there to find Judy. Nibbles uses a broom to whittle a key, opening both their cell doors as Nick says that Judy is his first real friend and doesn’t want to lose her. Nibbles and Nick try to make their way out, however, they see an “Open” button, thinking it will open the door to the outside, but it actually opens up all the cells. The prisoners dogpile on Nibbles and Nick, with the pressure of their weight forcing the door open. Nick then calls Flash, to take them to Judy in his super speedy sports car.
Gary, Judy, and Pawbert head to the control room, with Gary telling Judy to calm down and not let the pressure of the case get to her. He continues to believe they shall succeed. The ZPD are on their tail though. Judy sees they are being followed, and destroys Pawbert’s phone. It is too late for that though, and they all arrive at the weather wall. The Burning Mammal festival is going on at the same time, and Judy and the gang end up in singer Gazelle’s tent, who lets them escape and has her bodyguards slow down the police. Nick, whilst in Flash’s car, begs Clawhauser to distract Paul, a mole in the IT department, so he can track Judy on Paul’s computer. Clawhauser navigates various security measures, but finds Judy’s location. Judy runs for the control room, with Milton telling the ZPD to “put them down”. The ZPD can’t do it, however, an officer’s gun accidentally fires right at Judy. Luckily, Flash’s car arrives just in time and blocks the shot, hitting its side panel.
Judy, Pawbert, and Gary burst into the control room. Nibbles gets inside, but the door closes on Nick. The weather wall starts to heat up, but Nick gets in just in time, with the ZPD left outside. In the control room, the door to Tundratown is left open, making the room very cold, but they turn the switches on, and see the clock tower light in the distance. Judy sees Nick and Nibbles on the cameras. Pawbert then stabs Judy in the neck. Gary lunges at him, but is thrown out into the snow to freeze to death. Pawbert says he has to do this to prove himself to his family and make them proud of him, by destroying the original patent once and for all. Pawbert takes the anti-venom pen from Gary and leaves them both to die. Judy begs Pawbert to reconsider his choices, but he refuses to go back on his decision. Pawbert then goes after Nibbles, jabbing her with venom too, and Nick, who is looking for Judy.
Gary continues to say they will succeed, but Judy isn’t even strong enough to crawl to the door. Gary manages to slither to Judy, making him warm again, saying he will save them all. The ZPD burst in and see Gary wrapped around Judy, believing he is going to eat her. Gary fights past them, still holding Judy, as Nick is about to be stabbed by Pawbert. He kicks him away. Gary calls up to Nick to pass him the anti-venom pen to save Judy. Nick and Pawbert are on a fragile ice shelf, but Nick grabs the pen and throws it to Gary, who revives Judy with it. She races outside as the ice shelf falls away, grabbing Nick’s hand before he can fall. The two have a heart-to-heart, apologising to each other for their behaviour, whilst Gary goes to revive Nibbles. Nick says he cares about Judy, and is emotionally insecure, struggling to communicate how he is feeling. Judy admits she does try too hard, and doesn’t want to look weak. They say they are the best thing to have happened to each other.
Meanwhile, Pawbert has commandeered a ski mobile and heads for the clock tower. Judy, Nick, Gary, and Nibbles follow on another mobile. Pawbert passes through his family’s mansion, where his father accuses him of betraying them. Pawbert reveals he was doing it to help them, and now knows where the patent is. The others arrive soon after. Judy and Nick are told to follow Pawbert, whilst Nibbles and Gary take the Lynxleys. Nibbles tells the mayor, who is standing nearby, to fight the Lynxleys with them, and make the right choice.
Pawbert gets to a hedge maze, which Nick and Judy bulldoze through on a snow plough, but Pawbert then attacks them. Gary arrives with Nibbles and they tie Pawbert up. The others go to the reptile neighbourhood and find Gary’s family home. Inside a trinket box, Gary finds the original patent. But just as everything looks good, Pawbert arrives at the home, trying to burn the patent. The ZPD officers knock him out with a frying pan.
A news report details the events of Nick and Judy’s case, and reveals the truth about Zootopia and its creation. The Tundratown expansion is cancelled, saving Marsh Market, and the Lynxley family are thrown in prison. Chief Bogo also makes a full recovery. Nick and Judy are called “the dream team”, revealing that how they communicate, and accepting their differences, makes their partnership work. This is shown to be a speech given at the Partners in Crisis workshop. The reptile neighbourhood is later thawed out and reopened, with Gary opening up his home to all his new friends. Gary is reunited with his family, introducing them to his new friend, Judy. Nick gives Judy a new carrot recorder, which she uses to record Nick saying “Love you, partner”. Judy says she’ll give it back once they’ve solved their next case. This next case is revealed to be them tracking down all the prisoners Nick and Nibbles inadvertently released earlier. At the airport, Nick and Judy are seen in disguises as they watch former mayor Bellwether try to get to Outback Island.
The movie ends as the first movie did, with a performance by Gazelle, attended by all the citizens of Zootopia. There is also a post-credits scene, which sees Judy admiring her new carrot recorder in her apartment. One of her neighbours complains about having to hear the recording of Nick all the time, as the other tells him to give her a break. They ask what her next case is and Judy jokes it is about a rabbit who strangles her neighbours. The neighbours argue over who offended her more! We then see a feather float down to the sill.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Zootopia 2 once again follows Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps as they try to figure out another mysterious case. The events of this film take place just a week after the two are officially paired up to work together within the Zootopia Police Department, so naturally, their personalities haven’t changed much. Judy continues to be persistent, determined, and work-obsessed, as well as being quick to make decisions, regardless of Nick’s opinions on the matters, sometimes leading to her putting their lives in danger. Nick is more risk-averse, and just wants to stay alive. He would’ve rather escaped town after the gala than get themselves into trouble by working out the case, but he goes along with it to keep Judy safe. The two struggle to communicate effectively during this film, but after becoming separated during the case, when they are reunited, they each apologise for their actions, and explain their weaknesses to each other. With this in mind, they figure out how to become an effective police pairing, even explaining this secret to other “partners in crisis”. I’m sure there will be another chance to see Judy and Nick put what they learnt in this sequel into action.
Ginnifer Goodwin returned to voice bunny cop Judy Hopps here. After Zootopia, Goodwin continued to star as Snow White / Mary Margaret in the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18) and reprised her role as Judy for other Disney projects. She went on to star as Beth Ann Stanton in Season 1 of the anthology series Why Women Kill (2019-21) and voices Pamster Glamster in the Disney Jr. series SuperKitties (2023-present).
Jason Bateman returned to voice the fox officer Nick Wilde for the sequel as well. After Zootopia, Bateman continued to star as Michael Bluth in the series Arrested Development (2003-19). He went on to star as Marty Byrde in the series Ozark (2017-22), winning three Screen Actors Guild awards for his acting performance, and a Primetime Emmy award for his directing. Recently, Bateman acted alongside Matt Damon in Air (2023), portraying Rob Strasser, and played The Traveler in the Netflix thriller Carry-On (2024). He also starred with Jude Law in the Netflix crime series Black Rabbit (2025) playing Vince Friedkin, and was cast as Clark Forrest in the 2026 miniseries DTF St. Louis.
Helping Judy and Nick, as well as being the reason behind their case, is Gary De’Snake, who is the first snake to be brave enough to return to Zootopia after the infamous snake attack where the Lynxleys’ tortoise maid was killed by one. He has returned to Zootopia to finally reveal the truth about reptiles. He hopes to use the Lynxley Journal to do this. It turns out Gary is being helped by someone; however, it is not revealed until quite a bit later in the film that this accomplice is none other than Pawbert Lynxley, who decided to help after a letter from Gary was sent to his family. Gary is trusting and loyal, believing that he and his friends can achieve the unachievable: setting the story straight about reptiles once and for all, and bringing them back to Zootopia. However, this trusting side allows Gary to be manipulated by Pawbert, and Gary is almost killed by his supposed “friend”. Luckily, with his inner strength and belief that they will succeed against all odds, Gary turns out to be the hero, who saves his real friends, Judy, Nick, and Nibbles, before finding the patent that clears the name of all snakes or reptiles, allowing the reptile neighbourhood to be inhabited once more. Gary De’Snake, with De’Snake being his official surname, is a pit viper.
Gary De’Snake was voiced by Ke Huy Quan. In his early acting days, Ke Huy Quan was cast as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), going on to be cast as Richard “Data” Wang in The Goonies (1985). After this, he struggled to have any further breakout roles, and did not return to acting until around 2021. His casting as Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) gave him the ultimate comeback. For this role, he won numerous awards, including the SAG Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, the Golden Globe, and the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. Since then, Ke Huy Quan has been cast in various roles, including a voice role as Han in Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024); Jamie Yao in Disney+’s American Born Chinese (2023); and Ouroboros “O.B.” in Season 2 of Loki (2021-23), also for Disney+. Ke Huy Quan is set to voice a character in the upcoming animated film Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender (2026).
The other member of this crime-fighting team is Nibbles Maplestick, an excitable, enthusiastic, confident beaver, who works as a podcaster, delving deep into discussions around conspiracy theories. Just one of her episodes, which Judy watches, is about the snake attack in Zootopia one hundred years before, with Nibbles prophesising that a snake would soon return to the area – and it did! Nibbles is happy to take Judy and Nick to a reptile, whilst the policing duo are technically “on the run”, and sticks with them throughout their mission. Well, apart from when she gets arrested in Marsh Market shortly after Judy and Nick follow Gary into the tubes. But this turns out to be very useful as Nibbles manages to cut herself a key out of the wood of a broomstick to release her and Nick from their cells so they can find Judy and figure out what she is doing. Nibbles goes with Nick to the weather wall control room to do this, even getting herself stabbed with venom by Pawbert in the process. Nibbles is fearless and the perfect addition to the team in a case like this, as she fights for what’s right and refuses to give up, no matter what.
Fortune Feimster was cast as Nibbles Maplestick, having previously voiced one of the Jerrys in Pixar’s Soul (2020). Feimster also recently voiced the part of Kitty Fridge in Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie (2025) and is set to voice a character in the upcoming animated movie Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026), based on the children’s series. She also voiced Olive in the Scooby-Doo animated spin-off series Velma (2023-24). Outside of voice work, Feimster is known for her roles as Colette in The Mindy Project (2012-17) and as Roo in the action-comedy series FUBAR (2023-25), which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now to the crime family that are the Lynxleys. The first one we meet is Pawbert, who seems to be quite shy and awkward when he meets Judy at the gala. Pawbert appears to be the outcast in his family, teased by his brother and sister and mostly ignored by his father. This makes it even stranger when Pawbert is revealed to be the one who has helped to smuggle Gary into Zootopia and is trying to help Gary with his mission to clear the name of all snakes and reptiles. However, Pawbert becomes the surprise villain of Zootopia 2, when he is shown to be pretending to want to help Gary and the others. Pawbert suddenly shifts into becoming an incredibly evil character, as he leaves Gary to die out in the snow, jabs Judy and Nibbles with venom, taking away Gary’s anti-venom pen, and then tries to do the same with Nick. Luckily, Gary’s quick-thinking means that all four don’t lose their lives, but just when they think they’ve thwarted Pawbert after he falls off the ice cliff, he jumps back up and heads for the clock tower to burn the patent and allow his family to keep this dirty secret hidden forever. Pawbert is seen as a traitor by his family, so has to explain the fact he was bluffing or double-bluffing, or whatever. They seem to believe him and let him go on, but Judy, Nick, and the others won’t allow that, and together they tie him up and go on to the reptile neighbourhood themselves. Pawbert once again comes back though and tries one last-ditch attempt to stop them, but this time, the ZPD step in and stop him. Pawbert goes to prison with the rest of his family for their crimes. Good riddance.
Pawbert was voiced by Andy Samberg, known for both comedy and voice acting roles. His voice work includes characters like Ham III in Space Chimps (2008); Brent McHale in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and its 2013 sequel; Dale in Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022); Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and potentially the 2027 sequel; and Johnny in the Hotel Transylvania franchise. Samberg is also known for being a cast member and a writer on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975-present) from 2005 until 2012. During this time, he also appeared in comedy films such as I Love You, Man (2009) as Robbie, and Quincy in Friends with Benefits (2011). After that, Samberg became known for his role as Jake Peralta in the police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-21), and in recent years, he starred as Nyles in the film Palm Springs (2020), which he co-produced, and was cast as Barry in The Roses (2025).
For the rest of the Lynxleys, there is Milton, the patriarch, and his other children, Cattrick and Kitty. With his family’s wealth, Milton has sought to build a corrupt Zootopia, thanks to his ancestors, continuing to keep the secret of the fact the weather walls were created by a snake and not their family, as well as expanding their area of Tundratown, and getting involved in the political runnings of the city, by funding the campaign of Mayor Winddancer. Everyone is too scared to go up against Milton so they allow him to do whatever he wants. His next task is to expand Tundratown for a second time, by burying Marsh Market in snow. Milton has no morals; he just likes power and abuses it constantly.
Milton was voiced by David Straithairn. Straithairn has appeared in a variety of roles, including as Ira Lowenstein in A League of Their Own (1992); as Pierce Morehouse Patchett in L.A. Confidential (1997); as Noah Vosen in the Bourne film franchise; and as Admiral William Stenz in Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). He was also nominated at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes in the Best Actor category for his role as Edward R. Murrow in the George Clooney-directed film Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). In more recent years, Straithairn starred as Dave in Nomadland (2020), with Frances McDormand, and portrayed Bill Carruthers in The Luckiest Man in America (2024). He also appeared as Dr. Benjamin Cole in Season 2 of the Netflix comedy series A Man on the Inside (2024-present).
In Zootopia 2, we don’t see all that much from Cattrick and Kitty, Milton’s children and Pawbert’s siblings, other than they seem to be on their father’s side and not on the side of justice. They are by Milton’s side as he seeks the capture of Judy, Nick, and the snake. We also see these two tormenting their brother, Pawbert, at the gala, seemingly not caring at all about him, because he is “weaker” than they are. But although they don’t do anything specific, the two are still complicit in the crimes of their father and brother and end up going to prison alongside them by the end of the film. Cattrick and Kitty were voiced by Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song respectively, who are a real-life couple.
Culkin is best-known for his childhood acting roles, like playing Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990), for which he won a Young Artist award, and reprised the role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Culkin also played Miles Russell in Uncle Buck (1989), which starred John Candy; Thomas J. Sennett in My Girl (1991); and was cast as the title character in Richie Rich (1994). More recently, Culkin was cast as Mickey in Season 10 of the anthology series American Horror Story (2011-present) and as Lacerta Legate in Season 2 of the Prime Video series Fallout (2024-present), based on the video game of the same name. Brenda Song is known for her roles on Disney Channel. Song had been cast in five separate Disney Channel Original Movies: The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000) as Samantha; Get a Clue (2002) as Jennifer; Stuck in the Suburbs (2004) as Natasha; Wendy Wu in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), and as London Tipton in The Suite Life Movie (2011), reprising her role from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08) and The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11). Song managed to break out of Disney with her casting as Christy in The Social Network (2010). In recent years, Song has been the voice of Princess Akemi in Blue Eye Samurai (2023-present) and was cast as Mary-Anne in The Last Showgirl (2024). In 2025, Song was also cast as Ali Lee in the Netflix series Running Point (2025-present).
There are also a variety of supporting characters that appear in this sequel. Mayor Winddancer is the new mayor of Zootopia, after two previous mayors were arrested during the events of the original film. Mayor Winddancer is a former action movie actor, and a Clydesdale horse. Winddancer seems to love attention from the public, as can be seen by his exuberant appearances during speeches, and his entrance into the Zootennial Gala. However, after the snake incident at the gala, it soon becomes clear that Winddancer has only got into the mayoral position thanks to backing from the Lynxleys, with Milton Lynxley telling Winddancer that he will take Winddancer’s job away from him if Nick and Judy are not caught. This puts Winddancer in a difficult position – and on the wrong side of the law. Thanks to Nibbles, in the climatic ending sequence, Winddancer comes to his senses and puts a stop to the Lynxley family’s actions – by fighting them, something he is perfect for thanks to his action film background! This leads to their arrest soon after.
Disney fan favourite Patrick Warburton was chosen to voice Mayor Winddancer. For Disney, he has had a variety of voice acting roles, such as voicing Buzz Lightyear in the television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-01), Steve Barkin in Kim Possible (2002-07), Patrick in Home on the Range (2004), Alien Cop in Chicken Little (2005), and of course, Kronk in the underrated The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), reprising his role for its sequel Kronk’s New Groove (2005) and the spin-off series The Emperor’s New School (2006-08). Any Disney Parks fans will also know Warburton from his role giving the iconic “pre-flight” video before the attraction Soarin’ at Disney’s California Adventure, and Epcot at Walt Disney World. On screen, Warburton is also known for roles such as the character Jeff Bingham in Rules of Engagement (2007-13), which also starred fellow The Emperor’s New Groove voice actor David Spade; Lemony Snicket in the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-19) based on the book series; and Guy in Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015).
Dr. Fuzzby is the therapist who runs the Partners in Crisis workshop for police officer teams who are not working well together, for whatever reason. Although Dr. Fuzzby clearly takes her work seriously, wanting those attending the workshop to go through the course at a slow and steady pace, she is just a little bit quick with her diagnoses, making her seem just a tad judgemental for a therapist – or should that be “therapy animal”? Dr. Fuzzby initially seems like any other therapist, kind, gentle, but when Judy starts making suggestions that her and Nick don’t belong there, Fuzzby quickly points out Judy’s denial at the situation she is in, and that she jumps in without considering Nick’s feelings. Nick, meanwhile, is assessed as being emotionally distant and insecure. All of these things turn out to be very accurate, but I think Dr. Fuzzby needs to work on her delivery when giving her clients such brutal assessments of their inner thoughts and feelings! Dr. Fuzzby is a quokka, a small marsupial.
Quinta Brunson was cast as the voice of Dr. Fuzzby. Brunson is well-known for her roles as the creator, writer, and producer of the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary (2021-present), also starring in the show as Janine Teagues. Abbott Elementary and Brunson have won numerous awards in the years since its debut, including at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the Emmys, and the NAACP Image Awards. Outside of that, Brunson has appeared in other comedy projects, such as being cast as Trig in Season 3 of the anthology comedy series Miracle Workers (2019-23), alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi, and portraying Oprah Winfrey in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). Brunson is set to voice Sherri in the upcoming animated adaptation The Cat in the Hat (2026).
Jesús is the reptile that Nick and Judy speak to, thanks to Nibbles, to get an idea of what a snake would want with the Lynxley Journal. Along with the other reptiles that were forced out of Zootopia, Jesús resides in a submerged boat on the edge of Marsh Market, making a sort of bar area for them to hide away in. Jesús is straight-talking and serious, for the most part – the only time he seems to like joking around is when he tricks visitors into eating worms. Jesús also helps Nick, Judy, and Nibbles escape the boat after the ZPD officers storm the area looking for them, wishing them luck in their mission and hoping they can finally let the truth about reptiles be known – before running across the water and far away from them! Jesús is a plumed basilisk lizard.
Jesús was voiced by Danny Trejo, perhaps best known amongst a certain demographic for his role as Isador “Machete” Cortez in the Spy Kids franchise, and the more violent sort-of-spin-off films Machete (2010) and Machete Kills (2013). Prior to this, Trejo had appeared as Navajas in the Western action film Desperado (1995) and as “El Cucuy” in its sequel Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). He later was cast as Romero Parada in Seasons 4 and 5 of the FX series Sons of Anarchy (2008-14). Trejo also has a long history of voice acting. For example, he voices the recurring vole of Vasquez in Disney Channel’s animated series Big City Greens (2018-present); voiced the part of El Moco in The Adventures of Puss in Boots (2015-18), released on Netflix; voiced Skeleton Luis in The Book of Life (2014); and voiced Stronghold in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). For Disney, Trejo made an appearance in Muppets Most Wanted (2014) as an inmate of the Gulag. Trejo even appeared in Season 5 of The Masked Singer (2019-present) as Raccoon.
Although many ZPD officers are pursuing Nick and Judy, for their “role” in the attack on Chief Bogo and the theft of the Lynxley Journal, throughout the events of Zootopia 2, one officer seems more determined than the others to arrest the two. This officer is Captain Fern Hoggbottom, a razorback pig. This determination is most obvious during the sequence in the lodge at the top of the mountain, where Judy searches for more clues about the case. Hoggbottom is quite heavy-handed in her capture of Nick, alongside her partner Truffler, a fellow razorback, who quickly move on to Judy once they have put Nick in his cell. Yet despite the two’s commitment to the law, even Hoggbottom knows that the order given by Milton Lynxley to “end” Judy with a dart that will kill her, is wrong and refuses to pull the trigger. However, another officer bumping into the gun sets it off, but luckily, it does not hit Judy. Fearing they were on the wrong side after all, Hoggbottom and Truffler come to Judy, Nick, and Gary’s rescue at Gary’s great-grandmother’s house to knock out Pawbert before he can attack the group or burn the patent. The two are later seen at Dr. Fuzzby’s Partners in Crisis workshop, along with other ZPD officers, to hear about Nick and Judy’s success.
Hoggbottom was voiced by Scottish actress Michelle Gomez. In the UK, Gomez was cast in sitcoms, like Green Wing (2004-07), as Sue White, starring alongside other well-known actors such as Tamsin Greig, Olivia Colman, and Stephen Mangan; and in the original iteration of Bad Education (2012-24) as Isobel Pickwell. Gomez is also known for playing Missy, the female incarnation of the Master in Series 8 of Doctor Who (2005-present), making special guest appearances after that. Since then, Gomez has been cast in a variety of other series, including as Miranda Croft in HBO’s The Flight Attendant (2020-22); Lilith / Madam Satan in Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-20); and Laura De Mille / Madame Rouge in Seasons 3 and 4 of Doom Patrol (2019-23).
Truffler was voiced by David Fane, who had previously voiced Kele in Disney Animation’s Moana 2 (2024). As well as this, Fane appeared as Ace in the sports comedy film Next Goal Wins (2023), directed by fellow New Zealander Taika Waititi. He also appeared as Kevin/Fang in the comedy series Our Flag Means Death (2022-23).
There are also a number of celebrity cameo voice roles in this sequel, with many being voice actors from previous Disney movies. Two of these are Stephanie Beatriz and Wilmer Valderrama, who voiced the hippo cops Bloats and Higgins here; they voiced Mirabel and Agustín, Mirabel’s father, in Encanto (2021). Another Encanto cast member is John Leguizamo who voiced the anteater customs inspector here. From the world of Moana (2016), Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Moana, voiced the Anti-Venom Pen, whilst Maui’s voice actor, Dwayne Johnson, supposedly voiced the dik-dik stuck in the tuba! From The Princess and the Frog (2009), Anika Noni Rose, voice of Tiana, appears in the Squeal of Fortune clip that Judy watches on television. Michael J. Fox, most known for his role as Marty McFly in the Back to the Future franchise, but also voiced Milo Thatch in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) for Disney, voiced a fox prisoner, Michael J. There are so many more I can’t even mention them all, so just quickly, a few more include: Mario Lopez, of Saved by the Bell fame, as Denny Gowlett, a wolf news reporter; Robert Irwin, son of Steve Irwin, as the koala airport clerk; Josh Gad, who voices Olaf in the Frozen franchise, as Paul the mole in the ZPD IT department; and Yvette Nicole Brown as the Bearoness at the gala. WWE wrestlers Roman Reigns and CM Punk voiced the “Zebros”.
Many other cast members returned to reprise their roles from Zootopia. These include Nate Torrence as Benjamin Clawhauser; Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake as Judy’s parents; Alan Tudyk as Duke Weasleton; Maurice LaMarche as Mr. Big; Leah Latham as Fru Fru, his daughter; Raymond S. Persi as Flash; Jenny Slate as Bellwether; and of course, back for another turn as the firm-but-fair Chief Bogo was Idris Elba.
PRODUCTION
The original Zootopia was first released in March 2016, and was an original story idea from Disney. It was first pitched as an idea to John Lasseter in the early 2010s, by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, who were the directors of Tangled (2010). They pitched six different ideas for new film plots, with many of them involving anthropomorphic animals, i.e., animals that act like humans. John Lasseter liked the sound of Disney making another animal movie, as Robin Hood (1973) was one of the last ones.
After doing research into animals and how they interact with each other, the team working on Zootopia learnt during a visit to Africa that, although natural enemies, the lions drank next to the zebras with no issues; they just drank their water and left. This gave the team evidence of cooperation and understanding in the animal world despite obvious differences, so that became the central core of Zootopia, where animals co-exist together[1].
The first Zootopia film had been directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, with Jared Bush co-writing the screenplay with Phil Johnston. Johnston and Moore teamed up soon after to direct Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Disney’s sequel to Wreck-It Ralph (2012), before Johnston left the company, and went to work with Netflix, where he recently directed and co-wrote the screenplay for The Twits (2025), based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name. Moore left Disney to work with Sony Pictures Animation, producing their animated musical film Vivo (2021), before moving across to Skydance Animation.
This left Bush and Howard to take the lead in creating their sequel to Zootopia. Yvett Merino produced Encanto with the duo, who directed the film; Bush also co-wrote the screenplay. Merino then produced Zootopia 2, having also produced Moana 2 just before that. These three were the people in charge of making Zootopia 2. Bush was credited with writing the screenplay here. Bush has been involved with Disney Animation since the mid-2010s, and also wrote the screenplay for Moana, as well as co-writing the sequel and the live-action remake with Dana Ledoux Miller. He became the Chief Creative Officer at Disney Animation in September 2024 after Jennifer Lee stepped down to focus on the upcoming Frozen III and Frozen IV films. Howard has been an animator at Disney Animation since the mid-1990s, working on movies such as Mulan (1998), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Brother Bear (2003). Howard had also co-directed Bolt (2008) with Chris Williams.
With the popularity of Zootopia considered, a sequel was quite likely. And yet it wasn’t until seven years later that Zootopia 2 was announced. During the Q1 earnings call with Disney CEO Bob Iger in February 2023, Iger confirmed a few sequels were in the works, including Toy Story 5, Frozen III, and Zootopia 2[2].
Later, at the D23 Expo in August 2024, it was announced that actor Ke Huy Quan, would be voicing the snake character Gary in Zootopia 2. In the months that followed leading up to the November 2025 release date, including at the Destination D23 event as late as August 2025, other big names and Disney affiliated-actors, such as Yvette Nicole Brown, Macaulay Culkin, Brenda Song, Patrick Warburton, and Quinta Brunson, were revealed. Returning names, such as Nate Torrence and Idris Elba to voice Clawhauser and Chief Bogo respectively, along with Shakira coming back to voice pop star Gazelle, were also confirmed. The final trailer for Zootopia 2 was released on 29th September 2025[3].
However, animated movies take well over two years to make, so Zootopia 2 had likely already been in story discussions since around 2021, or 2022 at the latest. The initial spark of an idea for this sequel may have come about even earlier than that. Apparently, right after Zootopia had wrapped, Jared Bush and Byron Howard moved over to work on Encanto. A small sketch was drawn by Bush which was simply Zootopia 2 written down, but with the “2” drawn as a snake. This was the catalyst for the sequel’s story, that the movie would explore why reptiles were not included in the first Zootopia movie[4].
It normally takes a couple of years of discussions and brainstorming to get the story in place for a Disney animated movie. This requires many story changes and rewrites before getting the story perfect. This is even harder with a sequel, where the audience know what to expect from this world and the characters that have already been built. But due to the size and complexity of Zootopia as a city, this meant there were numerous avenues and new characters that could be explored during this process. Zootopia lends itself well to being able to create a sequel that doesn’t feel too similar or like a direct copy of the original.
In this case, Zootopia 2 was going to deal with the omission of reptiles from the first Zootopia film, because there is no habitat within the city to house them, despite many other animals being catered for. This omission was allegedly due to practical reasons, I’m assuming because of how difficult it can be to animate animals like snakes. But by giving the reptiles a place in Zootopia 2, this opened up a whole new story that could comment on societal issues that we as humans experience, such as prejudice, segregation, and displacement[5]. This followed in the footsteps of its predecessor which talked about topics like stereotyping, discrimination, and racism, once again reflecting our real-world problems.
Some specific story changes relate to the opening sequence. In Zootopia 2, we see Nick and Judy immediately thrown into a case about a customs officer seemingly smuggling a snake into Zootopia. This takes place at the docks, before taking to the streets for an intense police chase. However, there were two alternative sequences that would’ve dealt with the same sort of case. Originally, there was an opening sequence that took place on a boat with smugglers being paid to bring a snake into Zootopia. The captain of the ship confirms that all the money is there, proceeding to drop a cargo container off the ship. The box is retrieved by someone and opened to reveal a snake, who is taken in the sidecar of a motorbike to the gala. This instantly reveals the appearance of a reptile in the sequel, which perhaps didn’t allow much of a mystery to take place. The scene of Nick and Judy trying to bust a smuggler was also rewritten in an airport, where they discover that an officer has lots of counterfeit goods on him, and proceeds to drop them in front of Nick and Judy. Something seems to go wrong, as Nick and Judy are pulled into Chief Bogo’s office to be reprimanded.
Another interesting location used in a deleted scene for Zootopia 2 was the Natural History Museum, no doubt as a nod to the previous film where Bellwether was revealed to be the villain. In this case, Judy, Gary, and Pawbert are searching for a key in an exhibit, but the museum is packed with tours, with the police also tracking them. Judy uses Gary to scare off a group of bunny tourists, who turn into an avalanche, allowing Judy and the others to escape. Nick is trying to get back to her, with help from Nibbles. An animal hospital was another location that was not used, with this being where Gary is revealed for the first time, being guarded by police officers. Going in to Gary’s room in disguise, Judy tries to get some answers from Gary, and ends up helping him leave the hospital. In all the chaos, Bogo is bitten by Gary – as he is in the actual sequel – and Gary is taken away from the area by his accomplice. Judy and Nick are blamed for Gary’s escape and the officers are told to arrest them. Judy and Nick get away in a van.
This shows that in many cases, the general plot points for Zootopia 2 were already in place with few changes made to the overall storyline. A few other examples of this include Flash being the one whose computer Officer Clawhauser breaks into to track Judy’s location for Nick; Nibbles meeting Nick and Judy at a truck stop; and Judy and Nick having their initial argument about their communication styles as they approach the Burning Mammal festival in the desert, instead of by the tubes outside Marsh Market. Burning Mammal, a take on Burning Man, was moved to later in the film, taking place by the weather wall control tower[6].
Although much of the initial infrastructure for Zootopia 2 was already in place after the original film was created, other areas and new characters were added to give the city an added dimension and an expanded world to fit the sequel. Even though the weather walls had been introduced in the first film, separating Zootopia as a city into four distinct locations, each suited to different species, these were given a backstory for the sequel and became more of a plot point than they had in the original film. Marsh Market was a completely new area, being inspired by Asian water markets and the ports of the Southern US. This allowed for marine-based animals to make an appearance in the sequel, such as walruses, sea lions, and dolphins. The tube system was created to show how these animals travel around.
New character Nibbles, a beaver, resides in Marsh Market, with many reptiles living in a boat nearby. Since the reptiles were made to be the focus of Zootopia 2, the villains were made to be the complete opposite, so these cold-blooded animals, who thrive in the sun, were going up against a warm-blooded family of lynx, who live in Tundratown, the coldest part of Zootopia. It was also not lost on the directors that the primary food source of the lynx is the rabbit…
A new mayor was also needed to run Zootopia, since the initial mayor, Mayor Lionheart, and the interim mayor, Mayor Bellwether, were both arrested. It was a challenge to decide just what animal the new mayor should be, since we’d already had a lion and a sheep, two very different animals. Initially, the mayor was going to be a gruff elephant, then perhaps a buff kangaroo, with the idea of a giraffe mayor also being considered because its height would be a visual gag. One of the animators then sketched the mayor as a horse, and came up with the backstory of him being an actor-turned-politician. This elevated the slightly mundane idea of including a horse in a main role, and so Mayor Winddancer came to be.
The biggest animation challenge by far though was animating Gary De’Snake. Gary is said to be a pit viper, but was based on a hybrid of a variety of snakes to make him unique. The Disney animators said that Gary was basically a rope with a face, with ropes being hard to animate in CGI, because of how difficult it is to control this type of structure in the software. This required many different tests and mechanisms to get Gary to move realistically through the film. A new toolset was also designed, called Scute, to give Gary proper scales that looked authentic. To give Gary more expression, since snakes don’t have eyelids, ridges were added to his eyes to do the same thing[7]. Real-life animals were brought in to be studied as reference material to help the animators.
As with many Disney Animation and Pixar movies, there are a variety of Easter eggs to spot in Zootopia 2. Referencing other Disney movies, you’ll notice that frying pans were used as a method of defence by the Zootopia Police Department, which is a direct reference to Tangled. Also, during the gala, as Judy chases Gary through the kitchens, you can see a lion chef is being controlled by a rat, referencing Pixar’s Ratatouille (2007). For The Princess and the Frog, firefly Ray can be seen in the reptile bar sign above the pool table and Tiana’s gumbo pot makes an appearance in the gala kitchen. Mayor Winddancer also arrives to the gala in Shank’s car from Ralph Breaks the Internet. Following on from Zootopia, you can also see Duke Weaselton flogging more bootleg DVDs, with titles like “Wrangled”, the live-action version, and “Floatzen 12”. Mickey also makes an appearance, like as a bookmark on Judy’s laptop browser. Zootopia 2 also references other Disney property including “Huluzoo”, a streaming service that Nick is seen perusing.
There are some additional voice cameos in Zootopia 2 relating to Disney staff as well. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who left the company in March 2026, even got an opportunity to voice a character, Bob Tiger, the weatherman, who is doing a report as Judy flips through the TV channels. Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard return to voice Judy’s neighbours, Pronk Oryx-Antlerson and Bucky Antlerson, and they both voice the goats that Judy and Nick meet by the mountain. The goats’ names are Jürgen Ziegenkäse and Berthold Hufschmerz, and their German accents aren’t stereotypical at all…
Also, Disney and Pixar both like to reference their upcoming movies in some way in their movies. For Moana 2, the animated release to proceed Zootopia 2, an image of Gary De’Snake was used at the end of the film’s credits. For Zootopia 2, to reference Disney’s next animated feature, Hexed, the image of a three-eye cat is included in the credits[8].
Finally, I just want to mention the line “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” This is spoken after Captain Hoggbottom knocks out Pawbert as he is about to burn the patent that Judy, Nick, Gary, and Nibbles have just found in Gary’s great-grandmother’s home. This is actually a reference to the film Babe (1995), which Farmer Hoggett says to Babe after competing in the sheep-herding competition. This line was also used in DreamWorks’ Shrek (2001), when Shrek tells Donkey: “That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do.” There are many more Easter eggs to spot in this film besides the ones I’ve mentioned, making re-watches a must for fans.
Like Moana 2, production on Zootopia 2 was split between the official Disney Animation building in Burbank and Disney’s Vancouver facility[9].
MUSIC
Much like Zootopia, Zootopia 2 is not a musical. However, Zootopia and its sequel both feature an in-movie pop star and that pop star is Gazelle, a Thomson’s gazelle, as you might’ve guessed. In Zootopia 2, Gazelle is asked to perform at the Zootennial Gala, and is later seen getting ready to perform at the Burning Mammal festival.
At the gala, we hear Gazelle perform her new song “Zoo”. “Zoo” was written by Shakira, Ed Sheeran, and Blake Slatkin. Colombian singer Shakira is known for hit singles like “Whenever, Wherever”, “Hips Don’t Lie”, and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”. Shakira returned to both voice and sing for Gazelle. Ed Sheeran is known for hit singles like “Sing”, “Shape of You”, “Take Me Back to London”, and “Sapphire”. Blake Slatkin is a producer and songwriter, having collaborated with various artists including Lizzo, winning the Grammy for Record of the Year for “About Damn Time”, Lil Nas X, The Kid Laroi, and Justin Bieber. He also collaborated with Sheeran and John Mayer on the song “Drive” for the film F1 (2025). Both Sheeran and Slatkin have voice cameos in Zootopia 2, as sheep in the barber shop, named Ed Shearin and Baalake Lambkin respectively.
I really like “Zoo”, probably more than the first movie’s song “Try Everything”, which I feel Disney are overusing in their parks lately. A music video was released for “Zoo”, showing Shakira in a Gazelle-inspired outfit performing at the gala, with the characters from the film surrounding her. This is interspersed with clips from the film. “Zoo” was nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best Original Song – Animated Film, and at the Society of Composers & Lyricists for Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media. It lost to “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (2025) in both cases.
Outside of the main song of Zootopia 2, the score was composed by Michael Giacchino, returning as composer after his work on the original Zootopia. Giacchino is best-known for his collaborations with Pixar, having composed numerous scores for their movies, beginning with The Incredibles (2004), and including others like Ratatouille, Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Coco (2017). Outside of Pixar, he has composed music for the most recent Spider-Man films, and the three latest Jurassic World movies.
Within the score, my favourite tracks are the zanier “Hot Pursuit”, used for the initial police chase between Judy, Nick, and the customs officer; and “Zootopening”, and the more emotional “Gary a Twain Shall Meet”, and “World’s Worst Detention”, for when Judy, Gary, and Nick go head-to-head with Pawbert to retrieve the official patent for Zootopia.
The soundtrack was released on 21st November 2025. It hit the No. 3 spot in the US Billboard Kid Albums Chart and No. 15 in the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums. Giacchino, Shakira, Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin were nominated for the Annie Award for Best Music – Feature, but lost to KPop Demon Hunters. Giacchino won the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Film.
RECEPTION
In Disney’s Q1 earnings call in February 2024, Zootopia 2’s release date was confirmed to be in November 2025, hitting cinemas during Thanksgiving and the festive season[10].
Zootopia 2 had its official premiere at the Disney-owned El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on 13th November 2025, attended by the all-star cast and crew. On 26th November 2025, Zootopia 2 was then released in the US, being released to the majority of other countries across the globe either on this day, or a day or two later. Following on from the first film, Zootopia 2 was released under the title Zootropolis 2 in many parts of Europe, due to a trademark on the word “Zootopia” that relates to a zoo in Denmark.
During its opening weekend, Zootopia 2 had the fourth-highest-grossing first weekends worldwide of all time, and was the best of 2025, raking in around $560 million, beating out The Fate of the Furious (2017) that made just under $542 million almost a decade earlier. The highest-grossing first weekend of all time goes to Avengers: Endgame (2019) with $1.2 billion. Avengers: Infinity War (2018), with $640.5 million, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) with $600 million sit in the second and third spots[11].
Following on from that brilliant start, Zootopia 2 had made $1 billion at the worldwide box-office just 17 days after its release. It was the second Disney movie of 2025, after Lilo & Stitch, to hit this milestone, which had previously been met by Moana 2, Frozen (2013), Frozen II, and Zootopia (2016). Zootopia 2 broke even more records in China, where it became the country’s highest animated opening of all time for a non-local title, at $272 million, and the highest grossing non-local animated film of all time. It was also the second-highest-grossing Hollywood film in China, behind Avengers: Endgame.
This sort of publicity, of the sequel breaking this many box-office records still only in December, before the Christmas break in many countries, could only help the movie continue in its upward trajectory. It also led to boosted streaming figures for the original film, and its spin-off series Zootopia+ globally on Disney+[12].
In January 2026, Zootopia 2 had earnt $1.7 billion, leading to it overtaking Inside Out 2 (2024) from Pixar as Hollywood’s highest-grossing animated film in history. However, please note the word “Hollywood” in this sentence. Zootopia 2 has not become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. That accolade goes to China’s Ne Zha 2 (2025), which has made over $2.2 billion at the box-office[13]. Zootopia 2 is currently the ninth-highest-grossing movie of all time, with eighth position going to Spider-Man: No Way Home with $1.92 billion, a figure Zootopia 2 could potentially surpass if it continues playing in theatres. All the movies in the Top 7 grossed over $2 billion, with Avatar (2009) top with $2.92 billion[14].
For comparison, Zootopia, the original film, ended its run on $1.025 billion. Currently, Zootopia 2 has earnt $1.87 billion at the box-office, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2025 at the worldwide box-office, after Ne Zha 2. In third place was Avatar: Fire and Ash with $1.485 billion, with the final two spots in this top five going to Disney’s live-action remake Lilo & Stitch with $1.038 billion, and A Minecraft Movie with $961 million. Zootopia 2’s financial figures were seemingly boosted by amazing international sales, since A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, Superman, and Jurassic World: Rebirth were all ahead of Zootopia 2 at the US domestic box-office for 2025.
Zootopia 2 was later released digitally on 27th January 2026 and on DVD and Blu-Ray on 3rd March 2026, before coming to Disney+ on 11th March 2026. In its first seven days on the streaming platform, Zootopia 2 got 32 million views globally, becoming the No. 1 film on Disney+ in its premiere week[15].
With these financial figures, you’d assume that Zootopia 2 had some pretty good audience reviews to match. And on this occasion, you’d be right. Although the critics’ score for Zootopia 2 is slightly less than Zootopia on certain websites, such as Rotten Tomatoes, the audience scores between the two are relatively similar. This isn’t always the case with sequels. Using Moana 2 as an example, both the critics and audience scores for the sequel were quite significantly harsher on the sequel than on its predecessor.
On the positive side, many felt Zootopia 2 was still just as colourful and energetic as the first, and appreciated the continued humour focused on puns and Easter eggs that reside within the film. The voice acting was seen to be brilliant once again and the sequel is generally considered to be as good, if not better, than the original. The reason for this could be that the buddy-cop format of the Zootopia franchise works better when creating sequels than other adventure films that feel quite standalone once the journey has been completed. The story of this sequel was considered to be slightly more mature, with messaging about segregation and land grabbing, to the point it starts to veer into discussions around colonialism. It also covers exploitation of power and corruption in local government. This is seen to be a positive attribute of the sequel, with there still being plenty to make this film enjoyable for both children and adults alike.
There will always be negative comments though and a couple of them I do agree with. One is that the film felt quite busy, with a lot of Easter eggs and puns being visible in the background of the film, not in the forefront where all the action was taking place, so if you were trying to concentrate on the new story, and figuring out where you were and who the new characters were, then this meant some of the humour was passing by without being noticed. This brings me to the second point and that is how fast-paced Zootopia 2 is. There is a lot going on and you really need to be fully focused on the film to understand exactly what is going on and why. I actually attempted to watch Zootopia 2 a week or so earlier, but after five or ten minutes, I could already feel that I would need to be in the right mood to be able to concentrate on the movie and had to come back to it a few days later. Others say that there are too many coincidences and things that happened by chance that helped the story progress, but perhaps didn’t feel particularly realistic. Another comment I kind of agree with is that Judy lacks character development, as she is quite obviously ignoring her partner Nick and his feelings throughout the film, and yet Nick is forced to apologise to Judy on numerous occasions, with Judy seeming to come out of all of this as the victim. The two do have a heart-to-heart towards the end of the film, where they both admit to their insecurities and reasonings for poor communication with each other, but really, you do start to feel quite sorry for Nick as the movie plays out! Finally, some simply say Zootopia is better, and that is just a matter of opinion. I actually think I slightly preferred Zootopia 2 to be honest.
Back in 2017, Zootopia went on to win numerous awards, including in the Best Animated Feature category at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, Annie Awards, and the Academy Awards. It did not win the BAFTA in this same category, though, losing to Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). Zootopia also won other awards, including many at the Annie Awards in Character Design, Directing, Storyboarding and Writing. Would this stellar award season for the original film be equalled by the one for its sequel? Well, no, not really.
The 2026 award season in the Best Animated Film category wasn’t exactly a difficult one to call, and that is because Netflix’s’ KPop Demon Hunters swept this category in many cases. Zootopia 2 was still nominated in this category at the Academy Awards, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Golden Globes though, and was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, but this award went to the much-acclaimed Sinners. Zootopia 2 was also nominated for Annie Awards, in areas like Best Feature; Animated Effects; Character Animation; Production Design; Writing; and Storyboarding, although KPop Demon Hunters won the first five categories with The Bad Guys 2 (2025) winning the other one.
But all hope was not lost for Zootopia 2 as it picked up many other nominations, as well as some wins. For example, Zootopia 2 won the BAFTA award for Best Animated Film – although to be fair, KPop Demon Hunters was not eligible at this award ceremony, due to the fact it was originally released on Netflix and not in cinemas. Zootopia 2 also won the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Animated Motion Picture, and Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture for Quinta Brunson. It also won the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, despite being up against KPop Demon Hunters. Zootopia 2 was also up for Best Motion Picture – Animated or Mixed Media at the Satellite Awards, with Pixar’s Elio (2025) being a surprise win here.
LEGACY
After the release of Zootopia, the Walt Disney Company knew to capitalise on its success.
They released a new series on Disney+ in November 2022 titled Zootopia+ which consisted of six short episodes following the lives of some of the lesser-seen Zootopia characters. At the Disney Parks, Judy and Nick had been added in as character meet-and-greet opportunities or in parades. There was even a completely unique Zootopia-themed attraction at Shanghai Disneyland, where a whole new land opened on 20th December 2023.
Of course, Zootopia 2 would continue to increase the popularity of the franchise in 2025, so with that in mind, new experiences at the Disney Parks would have to be created.
At the Destination D23 event in September 2023, it was announced that the long-running 4D attraction It’s Tough to Be a Bug! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, based on Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998) and housed within a theatre under the park’s icon The Tree of Life, would be closing to make way for a new Zootopia-themed show. Zootopia is about animals, so at least it made some sort of sense, and It’s Tough to Be a Bug! had been known to be scary for both children and adults with a fear of insects – myself included. Still, some were sad to bid farewell to an opening day attraction.
At the D23 Expo in 2024, it was obvious that work was commencing on bringing this new Zootopia show to life, as the title of the show was confirmed to be Zootopia: Better Zoogether! and would open on 7th November 2025. It’s Tough to Be a Bug! permanently closed on 16th March 2025, so construction could begin on the new show.
With only eight months to turn the show around, it was quite clear that this would be a straight like-for-like replacement, so there would still be the same theatre, same number of seats, likely a new animatronic to replace villain Hopper, and a new 3D-style show, with enhanced 4D effects like movements on the seats. Sure enough, this is exactly what happened, as Officer Clawhauser became the new animatronic housed within the theatre, and many of the same 4D effects still exist from It’s Tough to Be a Bug! But without the added scariness of any insects or spiders, these effects no longer terrify people!
Zootopia: Better Zoogether! now follows Judy and Nick as they investigate who is trying to sabotage Zootopia’s “Zoogether Day” celebrations. A new character for the show was added, this being Heidi Howler, the host of the Zoogether Day broadcast. For the 3D elements, guests are encouraged to wear their “Carrot Vision” glasses. This show features many of the new characters and areas of the city introduced in Zootopia 2, making this a perfect avenue to both promote and add to the new film. This new attraction opened just a few weeks before the sequel was released in theatres. The voice cast reprised their roles from the films for this attraction, and yet, Jason Bateman was not aware of Zootopia: Better Zoogether! when he was asked about in an interview. Luckily, Ginnifer Goodwin was with him in this interview and explained what it was, so at least one of them knew about it[16]!
Another Disney Park to elevate their Zootopia-themed attractions was Shanghai Disneyland, who extended the story of their Zootopia land by adding elements from the sequel to it. From November 2025, new signage and revised maps were added to the land to hint at areas we first see in Zootopia 2, such as Marsh Market. New characters were also added to the area, such as Gary De’Snake becoming a part of their daily Disney Zootopia Comes Alive show, with the stories being refreshed to match the new storylines from Zootopia 2. Gary had actually already been introduced to park guests back in March 2025 for Shanghai Disneyland’s celebrations for the Year of the Snake. Other hints to characters from the sequel were also added to the area, such as a therapy room for Dr. Fuzzby and portraits of the new mayor, Mayor Winddancer, in the ZPD. For a limited time, in the attraction Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, the Gazelle animatronic was singing the new song “Zoo” from the sequel at the end of the ride. Judy and Nick in their Zootopia 2 outfits were also on the Mickey’s Storybook Express parade until the end of January 2026, with a Zootopia-themed projection show being shown prior to ILLUMINATE! A Nighttime Celebration until this date too. Adding to these experiences were new themed foods and merchandise[17]. It would seem that Judy and Nick are still meeting guests in Zootopia land, in their police uniforms.
In other Disney Parks, themed merchandise, like plush toys, figurines, and clothing, and snacks were available for a limited time, along with meet-and-greets with Nick and Judy. These also may be for a limited time only, potentially vanishing from these parks altogether, or simply reverting back to their original costumes. It is not yet clear what they will do next.
Back at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Park, Judy and Nick were meeting guests near the Tree of Life, at the Zoogether Day Gathering Spot in their new costumes. This meet-and-greet seems to still be continuing in 2026. New snacks were also available to buy, like Clawhauser’s Big Donut Macaron and Bunny Burrow Brew. At Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Officer Clawhauser made his debut as a meet-and-greet character at Marsh Market in the Hollywood Backlot, with Judy and Nick meeting here in their Zootopia 2 outfits. At the Animation Academy, Gary De’Snake was added to the rotation of drawing classes and a Gary sipper was available to buy.
At Disneyland Paris, Judy and Nick were meeting guests at the Animation Celebration area from November 2025 until January 2026 in their usual costumes. Their drawing workshop also included a class on how to draw Gary. Merchandise was available here too. At Hong Kong Disneyland, specialty snacks, like Zootopia Donuts, Judy’s Waffle, and Bunnyburrow Blueberry Pie, were created for the event. Judy and Nick were also meeting guests at Adventureland in their new costumes, and seem to still be doing so. Tokyo Disneyland brought in Judy and Nick in brand-new festive outfits for their all-new parade Toys Wondrous Christmas! for the festive season[18].
Zootopia 2 was promoted elsewhere too, such as at Orlando International Airport who had Zootopia 2-themed security trays for a while. Air Canada also unveiled a new livery designed to Zootopia 2, which was revealed on one of their Airbus A220 aircraft in November 2025. This plane would be flying to areas like Montreal and Toronto in Canada, and L.A., Denver, and Boston in the US. It was the airline’s third Disney-themed livery. In November 2023, one was designed for Wish (2023) which was placed on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and in February 2022, an A220 was decorated for Pixar’s Turning Red (2022)[19]. A comic book, titled The New Adventures of Zootopia 2, was also published by Disney Comics on 9th December 2025, authored by Joe Caramagna. Judy, Nick, Gary, and Flash were even seen “driving” around L.A. in miniature cars in the days before the movie’s release.
Since the release of Zootopia 2, directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush have confirmed that a Zootopia 3 is in early development, potentially focusing on birds.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Zootopia had exceeded expectations after its release in Spring 2016. It had made over $1 billion at the box office and led to Disney Parks scrambling to include the characters in its parks, to ensure the film’s popularity sustained. Zootopia 2 was perhaps the sequel that nobody had asked for, and some Disney fans were potentially concerned by, especially after the disappointment of Moana 2. It shouldn’t all be about money.
Luckily, Zootopia 2 surprised many of us, with a touching story that spanned new areas of Zootopia, and included some fun new characters, still with its zany, colourful adventures and its two fan-favourite leads of Judy and Nick.
I can only hope, should a third film come to be, that it doesn’t prove to be one too many, potentially tainting the Zootopia legacy forever.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Ed Gross, ‘Zootopia: a final behind the scenes look’, Empire (online), 14th June 2016.
[2] Credit: Anthony D’Alessandro, ‘‘Frozen’, ‘Toy Story’ & ‘Zootopia’ Sequels In The Works, Disney CEO Bob Iger Says’, Deadline.com, 8th February 2023.
[3] Credit: Disney, ‘Latest Trailer for Walt Disney Animation Studios ‘Zootopia 2’ Introduces New Characters and Original Song’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 29th September 2025.
[4] Credit: Tasha Robinson, ‘The 8 keys things we learned about Zootopia 2 on a trip to Disney Studios’, Polygon.com, 30th September 2025.
[5] Credit: Angeline Jane Bernade, ‘‘Zootopia 2’ filmmakers talk Oscar nod, exploring diverse themes through animation’, GoodMorningAmerica.com, 5th March 2026.
[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Zootropolis 2 (2025) UK 2-Movie Collection Blu-Ray (2026).
[7] Credit: Tasha Robinson, ‘The 8 keys things we learned about Zootopia 2 on a trip to Disney Studios’ Polygon.com, 30th September 2025.
[8] Credit: Disney, “Zoo-prising Secrets”, from Zootropolis 2 (2025) UK 2-Movie Collection Blu-Ray (2026).
[9] Credit: John Hazelton, ‘Making ‘Zootopia 2’: How new production methods and technology helped deliver a box office smash’, ScreenDaily.com, 6th February 2026.
[10] Credit: Anthony D’Alessandro, ‘‘Zootopia 2’ Lands 2025 Theatrical Release, ‘Alien’ Movie Gets Title’, Deadline.com, 7th February 2024.
[11] Credit: Mark Hughes, ‘‘Zootopia 2’ 4th-Biggest Box Office Debut In History, Biggest 2025 Weekend’, Forbes.com, 30th November 2025.
[12] Credit: Disney, ‘Walt Disney Animation Studios’ ‘Zootopia 2’ Surpassing $1 Billion at the Global Box Office’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 12th December 2025.
[13] Credit: Rebecca Rubin, ‘‘Zootopia 2’ Surpasses ‘Inside Out 2’ as Hollywood’s Highest-Grossing Animated Film of All Time With $1.7 Billion’, Variety.com, 18th January 2026.
[14] Credit: Steven McIntosh, ‘Zootropolis 2 becomes Hollywood’s biggest animated film ever’, BBC.co.uk, 19th January 2026.
[15] Credit: Shannen Ace, ‘‘Zootopia 2’ is the Number 1 Film on Disney+’, WDWNT.com, 19th March 2026.
[16] Credit: Jamie Rowland, ‘Jason Bateman Didn’t Know He Was in Zootopia: Better Zoogether at Disney’s Animal Kingdom’, WDWNT.com, 30th November 2025.
[17] Credit: Jason, ‘Shanghai Disney Resort Zootopia 2 Celebration Details’, DisneyGeek.com, 4th November 2025.
[18] Credit: Juan Lugo, ‘Try Everything Across Disney Experiences with the Debut of ‘Zootopia 2’’, DisneyParksBlog.com, 26th November 2026.
[19] Credit: Air Canada, ‘There’s A New Livery in Town: Air Canada Reveals Special Livery in Collaboration with Disney’s ‘Zootopia 2’’, AirCanada.com, 6th November 2025.
The Disney Purist 