I’m just thinking of some Disney analyst somewhere thinking, “Damn, if we’d only called it Crazy Animal City around the world, what would it have done?”
Can you just imagine? They’re just like, “Damn, dang it.“
How many years did you work on this one?
It’s usually four years. I have to say, Jared is like an Energizer bunny because he had just finished “Encanto.” It wasn’t even out yet. And so that was about four years ago. And before we even stopped working on that, he did a little sketch that said “Zootopia 2” and the two was a snake. Almost exactly what you see on the poster. It’s a terrible drawing. He’ll tell you he doesn’t draw well, but the spirit of it was there, and really, he started thinking about it and churning that through his head because back on the first film, that had to be just about mammals because really, the predator-prey premise only really works if you stick with mammals. So that kind of really excluded other animals like reptiles, birds, or amphibians from that first film. But this one, we’d always talked about the fact that there were other species out there, and this is one major city in a world of animals. So we knew the opportunity would be there if the first one had done well, to do maybe another one in the future. And then the idea that we could step into this world of reptiles through this snake character was just great. So, Jared was already knocking that around for probably two years before I jumped onto the film. And then when I jumped on, we had just cast Ke Hu Quan as Gary, and that was a game-changer because Jared had seen Ke on “Colbert” and Ke is a huge fan ofStephen Colbert. And there was an award show where Ke had missed being able to say “Hi” to Steven. And Ke came on, and Steven tried to get a word in edgewise, but Ke was so effusive about, “I’m such a huge fan,” and he was just going on and on, and he’s got that charming way of just overwhelming you with love and appreciation. And Jared had the idea to cast him as the snake. And one of our animators took that “Stephen Colbert” dialogue and actually animated Gary to it, and it was like, “That’s done.” And so we were just hoping that Ke would say “Yes,” and when he did, Gary became this incredible emotional anchor for the mystery. He can have a great, interesting mystery, but if it doesn’t have a heart to it, then Judy especially needs something like that to engage. And man, he was a great answer for us. He’s been awesome.
Well, I think one of the reasons that that storyline affected so many people is its centered on immigrants. No one knew what would be going on in 2025 or in our world today when you began working on the sequel. You’re finishing the film, you’re seeing what’s going on. Were you worried how it would land? Were you pleasantly surprised by how emotional it made people feel?
Honestly, one of the things that was great about going back into the world is that I think we were aware that there was an expectation from the audience that the movie, in a lot of ways, doesn’t pull punches. I think we try to be honest about the problems that are in the world. And the weird thing that happened happened with the first one too, is when the first one came out, people were like, “The film seemed very prescient.” We had some knowledge of what was about to happen in the world. And oddly, it happened again with this one and this idea of displacement and all of this divisiveness that has happened over the last couple of years, and it’s just gotten worse and worse. And I think, unfortunately, the fact is we as humans never get past these issues completely. These things keep coming up. It’s been really tricky in our country, especially, but one of the things that I love about these movies is not only are they’re family friendly, certainly kids can watch these films, but I think there’s a huge sense that adults can watch them and talk about them on different levels. Even with the bias discrimination thing that we looked at, the first one, so strongly, that’s a tough thing to talk to your kids about. It’s a really rough issue. And displacement in this film is a really rough issue. People who take advantage of differences and try to separate you is a rough thing to deal with in the world. And there’s so much information poured on all of us now that sometimes animals, weirdly as stand-ins for us, allows you to kind of just step back for a second and look at the world around you with a little bit of a different mirror and sometimes laugh at it because these are dark comedies.
Sometimes it lets you kind of say, “This is kind of ridiculous. What life and we as human beings put ourselves through and do to each other.” And at the same time, hopefully, when the movie’s at the end of a film, we’re not trying to wrap it up with a pretty bow. We’re trying to be honest about the fact that these are things that are not unsolvable, but really challenging. And unless you really count on each other to get through it, we’re not going to make it. But ultimately, I think the film aims to be hopeful, but present a pretty educated awareness about what’s going on. We spent probably two years in animal research about sociology for animals and how that works. And that led to the plot of the first film. Even this idea of reptiles being othered and kind of separated, and people being afraid of them and being labeled and mislabeled in history that’s been written and rewritten to suit a certain group of animals, it all ties to stuff we deal with every day. And I think we all bring our own angst into the story room, and we want to talk about it. We want to feel better. And so I think they’re really interesting movies. I think they’re just really a product of the time that they’re made.
I feel like my adult friends think that these movies are for them as much as they are for kids because they feel like the jokes are for them as well. Are you all cognizant of, “We should keep this in because the parents or the adults are going to get this joke,” and it will go over the kids’ heads? Is that part of the process, or am I getting too nitty-gritty?
No, you’re exactly right. I think we do think about those things. We want to be entertained by what we’re doing as well. And I’ll give you an example. There’s a jump scare in the first film with a tiger coming up on the other side of the glass. And we thought, “Is that going to freak kids out and send ’em screaming?” It was a pretty aggressive jump scare. But we were sitting in that preview audience on “Zootopia,” and that jump scare happened, and the kids screamed like hell, but then they laughed like crazy. It was like there was this huge adrenaline hit from that. And in this one, we have jokes from “The Silence of the Lambs” and “The Shining,” which hopefully kids under eight won’t see for a while. But the thing is, in this preview, we had “The Shining” joke in there, and it was playing in storyboards when we did the preview audience, so it wasn’t animated yet or dressed up, so it’s just black and white sketches. But as soon as “The Day of Wrath,” the theme from the 1300s comes on, as soon as those deep trombones come along, the adults cracked up. You could hear it kind of like a wave across the audience. And the kids are looking at their parents, “What are you laughing at?” Because they haven’t seen the film yet, but the parents know what’s coming. And then once we get inside the maze with the nickels and stuff and the wide-angle lenses, then they’re really into it and stuff. But that’s interesting too, because since the first film was made 10 years ago, I’ve seen generations of people watch these films. So those kids who were, gosh, what were they, probably like 12 years old, they’re probably in college or out of college now. Someone may have kids of their own, which is crazy. But to see that people can watch and rewatch these movies and then get new stuff, or they can show their own kids and see if they get them. There’s something really wonderful about that. Because it’s this metropolis, there are just thousands of things in there. There are in-jokes and puns that we have to think about internationally, too. American humor sometimes doesn’t translate. The puns are especially tricky. But honestly, it’s super fun. It’s such a fun world. It’s overwhelming a little bit, but I think as long as we make sure we keep the balance between all of the eye candy and the jokes and the puns, and then doing something really emotional, we really, the movie kept reminding us that it needed to be about Nick and Judy. It needed to be about that relationship and that wonderful scene that Jared wrote, and Ginny and Jason performed so beautifully at the top of the weather wall, which is that emotion dump, where they kind of just come clean. And Nick, who doesn’t say this stuff ever, just spills it. Jason’s performance was so great with that, and Jared wrote that so early. He probably does hundreds of drafts of the script. He’s a great writer because he iterates so much, but that scene is almost word-for-word and existed super early when he put his first drafts together. And he’s very good. He’ll criticize it, and it’s like, “It feels like, is it too long? Is it too long?” And his eyes were like, “No, no,” we all really believed in it. And then we got Jason and Jimmy to record it, and their chemistry was so good there.
I’ve seen a lot of convo online about fans already thinking they know what the next movie’s about. They’ll be like, “Oh, Nick and Judy, yeah. They get together in the third movie.” They’ve already fanfic’d out the third movie. Are you all aware of that?
I got to say I love it. I love it because it’s just like the chemistry is great. If you’re lucky with animated films, it works once in a really good buddy movie. But honestly, just enjoyable character interaction is the bread and butter of really great animated films. We could do all, but it’s hard to compete. Live action can do anything you can imagine can be visualized now.
But you can do anything you can imagine in animation, though, right?
No, true, true. But I mean, as far as competing, I think the thing that really makes Animated shine is that there has to be just luscious, wonderful character stuff that is at the core of it. I think even talking about “The Empire Strikes Back,” going back to that for a second, amazing movie, jaw-dropping, the cinematography, the action, the music score, John Williams, all that stuff. But there’s great character stuff in there. There’s such great character growth and humor between Han and Leia and stuff like that. So I think that’s what I love about the folks who want Judy and Nick to get together. And they’re also folks who feel very strongly that they shouldn’t, and it’s great, and it’s just like, “Oh, these two camps are kind of buttoned up against each other.” And people are very set about their opinions, and we know it’s out there, and we love that they have this sort of soulmate connection, but there are the little nods to it. Like the police sting in the beginning, where they’re a couple, and they have a baby, we’re aware of the fact that there’s a contingent of the world that would love that. Ginny Goodwin says, “If a fox and a bunny got together, they’d have a little funny.” So, we know that’s out there.
Guess, and that leads to my last question, which I know you cannot announce that there is going to be a third Zootopia film. I get that it hasn’t been announced, if I’m correct, unless I’m missing something. But let me tell you, I am sure the new big bosses at Disney would love a third new Zootopia film. And I’m curious, do you feel as though there’s enough understanding that everybody involved needs a break? Or do you feel like there will be pressure to make a new one sooner rather than later?
Honestly, if there’s any pressure, it’s only from enthusiasm, I think it’s a good pressure, I think. But we will make sure that if there is another one, the same rules apply. We want it to be as good or better than the last one. So, honestly, Jared and I say we would play around in this world for the rest of our careers if we could get away with it. It’s so fun. Honestly, and this is true of our cast, too. We have 71 speaking parts in our cast, and our principals, everbody are all great. I know people tell stories about Hollywood, and maybe animation’s different, but man, we’ve gotten so lucky with our cast and our crew and the people we work with. I love Jared and Yvett to death, and they’re just solid people. They’re good souls, and that’s what makes the craziness of what we all do together so much more enjoyable. We just sit back and laugh at it and just go, “Holy s**t, we’re in this crazy situation.” And we kind of all trust each other. It’s great. I love it. It’s like I could not have dreamed that I would do this as a kid. It was just, it’s the craziest job in the world. But man, it’s super fun.
Well, listen, thank you so much for taking so much time. Enjoy the Oscars, and I hope you get a nice big vacation soon. If you have not had one already.
I haven’t, but I will get one.
“Zootopia 2” is still playing nationwide
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Bluesky
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Threads
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Instagram
Sign Up For The Breakdown Newsletter
