It’s rare to find an animated family movie as honest and profound as Zootopia. In March 2016, audiences around the world were introduced to buddy cops Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps in an allegory for the real world that spoke intelligently to the themes and true issues surrounding prejudice and racism. Nine years later, the world is still as messy as ever, and that means we still need Nick and Judy.
Thankfully, this November, we’ll be returning to the world of Zootopia when Zootopia 2 hits theaters everywhere. Recently, Geeks of Color was invited to get an inside peek at the next chapter of this beloved franchise.
New Footageand Filmmaker Q&A
The day kicked off with our very first glimpse of the new film and the central mystery Nick and Judy will be solving. It also confirmed that we’ll be meeting an entirely new species that we never saw in the first film. While the original Zootopia centred exclusively on mammals, Zootopia 2 will introduce this world to reptiles, introducing us to a new central character: Gary De’Snake, played by Oscar-winning Ke Huy Quan. We were shown a total of seven scenes and learned a few tidbits about the movie.
The footage presentation kicked off with a brief introduction from directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush, and producer Yvett Merino. The trio revealed that approximately 700-800 artists are still working on the film. It showed some adorable photos of actress Ginnifer Goodwin, who voices Judy, wearing bunny ears in the recording booth. They summarized that the second film would take place a week after the first and would focus on Nick and Judy’s efforts to stay together as partners in the long run.
The first scene they showed us sets the movie off with a high-octane chase scene. Nick and Judy go undercover, and their perp flees the scene in a van. They pursue him through a sheep district, with many sight gags along the way. They end up causing a ton of chaos because Judy’s persistence gets the best of them. Still, they ultimately manage to get the drivers out of the van and crash it off a bridge during a statue dedication ceremony with the new Zootopia mayor, Brian Winddancer. Judy discovers a box that contains a snake. It was a fun way to kick off the movie and to showcase the dynamic between Nick and Judy. It also does a good job of setting up the central mystery and establishing the existence of reptiles in this universe.
We were given some information about some of the new characters, including Mayor Winddancer. The character, played by veteran Disney voice actor Patrick Warburton, is a former actor who became an elected official. We were shown a fake trailer for one of his older ’90s action-style movies called The Naysayer 2. It was a parody of silly, low-budget Chuck Norris-type films from the early ’90s.
The second scene they showed revealed the aftermath of Judy and Nick getting in trouble for the chaos they caused with their chase. Chief Bogo orders them to attend a “Partners-In-Crisis” group to learn to be better partners. It’s a hilarious sequence that is teased in the latest trailer for the film. The session is led by Dr. Fuzzby, Quinta Brunson’s mild-mannered quokka, who tries to broker peace between her patients. The scene is hilarious, featuring numerous gags with the side characters attacking each other or exhibiting various dysfunctions. Nick and Judy definitely look tame in comparison.
The third scene dove a bit deeper into the central mystery of the film. The main MacGuffin is a book that contains some rather huge secrets about Zootopia, which the villains of the film apparently committed a murder to keep buried. It’s being displayed at Zootopia’s Centennial Gala, and Judy and Nick get word that Gary may attempt to steal the book. They get gussied up in their most formal outfits and get to the gala. Performing live is, naturally, Shakira’s Gazelle. And we got to hear a sample of her new song, “Zoo,” which was co-written by Ed Sheeran. According to Howard, Bush, and Merino, the book Judy and Nick are chasing down was written by a founding Zootopia family called The Lynxleys, who pioneered both the book and the weather stations that regulate the different environments around Zootopia.
The fourth scene we saw continued the Gala scene. This time, Gary appears and actually steals the book, kidnapping Milton Lynxley from the stage. Judy and Nick once again chase him down. They run through the kitchens, where an amusing Ratatouille gag happens. However, Gary inevitably gets away. We got to learn more about Gary from Howard and Bush. They implied he may not be a true villain, and the book’s secrets may change Zootopia forever. Eventually, Nick and Judy have to go on the run, becoming fugitives to protect Gary.
As fugitives, Judy and Nick have to turn to a friend on the other side of the law, and they come to Mr. Big. In the fifth scene, Mr. Big and Fru Fru are now co-running his “legitimate business.” Fru Fru now has a daughter. As Nick and Judy come to them for help, they connect them with a contact of Big’s at a place called “The Marsh Market.” The contact’s name is Nibbles, played by Fortune Feimster, and she’s an expert on reptiles. Judy and Nick explore The Marsh Market and realize the animals there are semi-aquatic. Nibbles leads them to a cantina filled with different reptiles, where they continue their search for leads on Gary.
The next scene they showed had Nick and Judy meeting another contact: a lizard named Jesus. To obtain some answers from Jesus, however, they must accept the food Jesus offers them. They are presented with a bucket of worms. Judy pulls out a small one, while Nick pulls out a huge one. They eat them in disgust. However, it turns out the whole thing was a prank, and neither Jesus nor anyone at the cantina actually ate worms.
In the final scene we were shown, shortly after the cantina scene, Gary shows up, and once more Nick and Judy must chase him down. To make matters worse, the ZPD arrives and chases Judy and Nick. Nibbles warns them not to pursue Gary into “the red line,” as it is a long series of aquatic tunnels that they’d inevitably drown in. Nick tries to communicate this to Judy, but she impulsively follows Gary into “the red line,” and she and Nick are unfortunately thrust into the pipe system, and down an endless water-filled pipe, leaving us with a cliffhanger about what happens next!
Following the screening of the footage, Bush, Howard, and Merino stayed for a lively Q&A, in which we learned a lot of entertaining facts about the making of the film:
-During a hilarious scene where a sea lion contact is chatting with Nibbles, the two creatures are exchanging the word “bub” along with a bunch of nonsense at a rapid pace. The scene took many takes, and there was even a version where Jason Bateman performed the scene as Nick Wilde, which was sadly unused.
-The Marsh Market, featured in the film, was a location the storytellers had wanted to pursue for over a year and a half. Though they had a script to work from, the challenge of animation, according to Howard, Bush, and Merino, is that the script is never finished. It evolves during the entire process. The script was only locked as recently as this month.
-While the movie explores the differences between reptiles and mammals, and the truth about what happened to the reptile community in Zootopia, it is ultimately about the relationship between Nick and Judy as they get to know each other.
-Many ideas for Zootopia 2 began during the creation of the first film. However, not every idea made it into the original.
-The filmmakers envisioned the city as a giant melting pot. At any given point, there can be approximately 40,000 animals on screen simultaneously. So the “Crowds” team did a great deal of work to bring the bustling landscape of the film to life.
-Because the first film was such a hit, expectations are high. So far, Zootopia 2 has been screened at least 5-6 times for approximately 1,300 internal employees and their families.
-During reviews of the dailies, the crew kept coming up with gags for the film. Bob Iger himself pitched the idea to include a Hungry Hungry Hippos gag in the movie.
-The synergy between the Zootopia films and the theme park attractions complements each other. Shanghai Disney’s Zootopia land inspired some of the businesses audiences will see in Zootopia2. However, the filmmakers collaborated to bring the Zootopia: Better Zoo-gether attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom to life.
Overall, it was an incredibly informative and fascinating session. However, it was truly just the beginning of an incredible day!
The Music of Zootopia with Michael Giacchino
Part of the charming sounds we got from the big city of Zootopia in the first film came from the mind of one of the best composers working today, Michael Giacchino! In 2016, Giacchino worked on three high-profile releases for Disney – Doctor Strange, Rogue One, and Zootopia. Once more, nine years later, the master composer finds himself crafting and composing scores for some of this year’s biggest films: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and of course, Zootopia 2.
Giacchino spoke a bit about how incredible his orchestra was. “After all of the years doing this, it’s like watching a magic show, how good they are. I’m able to just pull in these guys and say, ‘rhythm section…I need this to sound more flamenco.’ Boom! They just do it…And also I can sit with the other players. It’s a little harder to be improv with a full violin section. But I can say, ‘Hey, instead of playing these notes, play these ones instead.’ I can just dictate to them. And within a couple of minutes, I can change the entire feel of the queue from what it was when I brought it to them. Because you just don’t know sometimes until you hear it. You may think it’s right what you’re writing. But when you hear it, you’re like ‘Ah! Now I know what it means…’ And there’s a lot of that going on during the sessions.”
When tackling the dynamic nature of how the film evolves during production, Giacchino discussed how he prepares his mind and music for the changes to come as filmmakers approach the final cut. “Say I did see the movie nine months ago, I remember watching it, and they were saying, ‘But this is not what it’s going to be. It’s going to be so much better than this. We’re making a lot of changes.’ So I’ll walk away, and I’ll think about [the score], but also not try not to think about it, because I know that thing is going to change. So, maybe something that I’m connecting with in that early screening may not be there by the time we’ve done this. So I’ll wait until they have a clearer version of what it is they’re doing to really start thinking about it.”
Giacchino had a surprise for us as well. He put on a performance demonstrating the chameleon-like versatility of his band. Members of the film’s orchestra came out to explain how they produced the sounds inspired by the world of Zootopia. They played a sample of the score for us, taken directly from scenes at the Marsh Market. Given that reptilian and aquatic characters populate the setting, they performed a bluegrass number for us, using (of all things) turtleshells for percussion, as well as trumpets, a cello, and other jazz-inspired instruments to create the mood set by a reptile band in a seedy cantina in the middle of the market. Giacchino then demonstrated the versatility of his band by having them take the song they just played and change it to make it “more samba,” giving specific directions to each member about how to take the same song and change it up just a bit. And just like that, we were treated to what sounded like almost an entirely different tune – a punchy, samba-infused number – despite it being the same song. It was impressive to see what Giacchino and his team were able to produce, and to gain a deeper, more immersive insight into his brilliant process.
Drawing Gary with the Zootopia 2 Heads of Story and Animation
We were then escorted into a fun presentation featuring Co-Heads of Story David VanTuyle and Carrie Liao, as well as Head of Animation Chad Sellers. The trio discussed the challenges of bringing Gary De’Snake to life on the screen. Unlike the mammals they animated in the first film, figuring out how Gary moved and operated was going to be dramatically different, since he had no arms or legs. They likened it to creating a living rope.
They discussed how everyone working on Zootopia 2 was allowed to contribute ideas, and that they all performed exercises where they envisioned how a character like Gary would move in various situations. They then challenged us to do the same, and had us draw Gary performing multiple sports. It was a lot of fun seeing what each of us thought the lovable snake would look like playing basketball, billiards, archery, or even going shopping!
Animal Drawing with Story Artist Samantha Vilfort
The artistry continued further. However, this time, with a very cool twist. While the artist roundtable focused on us sketching exaggerated actions for Gary, the next session we participated in, “Animal Drawing,” was all about getting accustomed to drawing real-life animals. To help with this, the Zootopia 2 crew, led by story artist Samantha Vilfort, allowed us to meet two adorable special guests: a live bunny and a live porcupine.
We were invited to greet and observe the two cuties as they sampled treats and casually hung out with us for half an hour, allowing us to sketch them. We were set up with easels and large sheets of fine-toothed paper, along with charcoal pencils. Vilfort and the team provided us with tips on what to focus on when drawing live creatures. In particular, for Zootopia, the artists needed to maintain anatomically accurate details for each character they animated. They were able to do this by taking trips to the LA Zoo and live drawing real animals. They wanted to give us the same experience, allowing us to see that, although animated with potential opportunities to anthropomorphize them, ensuring the characters felt like true animals was crucial.
Evidence RoomGame
The final activity we participated in was a super fun “escape room” game that allowed us to work as members of the Zootopia PD for an afternoon. We were escorted into the ZPD Evidence locker and given a series of clues to try to find a key for a locked drawer containing disguises for an undercover assignment.
We had to decipher a hidden message from a crossword puzzle to find a clue that would allow us to find a combination for an iPad. Once unlocked, we were given further instructions from the iPad to review an evidence board, which allowed us to find another lock combination, and so forth, until we found a key. Once we obtained the key, we were able to open the evidence locker and retrieve some new disguises for our next mission. It was a blast!
Getting to spend the day with Zootopia 2‘s finest artist and storytellers was an absolute dream come true! We got to see the inside of Walt Disney Animation Studios, where we were able to watch some hilarious clips of the anticipated sequel. Much like the teamwork required to win an escape room challenge, we saw how much the team of animators, producers, sound mixers, and storyboard artists truly make an impact on creating animated classics that withstand the test of time. With every sketch, frame, and idea these artists bring to the table, audiences everywhere come a bit closer to trying everything from the world of Zootopia.
Stay tuned to Geeks of Color for more coverage on Zootopia 2, including interviews with the directors, producers, and heads of story and animation, coming soon!