Ever since seeing the original Zootopia in 2016, I’ve always felt that there was a lot of untapped storytelling potential for its setting. While this has come in the form of comics and children’s books, as well as the short-form Disney+ series Zootopia+, I’ve felt a lot more could be done with a longer story, as the premise seems to lend itself perfectly to an episodic TV series. While this does not appear to be happening, the next best thing came nearly 10 years later with the announcement of the sequel film Zootopia 2, though my expectations were tempered a bit by Disney’s recent sequel track record. It is then fortunate that the film not only surpassed these expectations, but actually managed to improve on the first in some ways.
A week after the events of the first film, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) have trouble following orders and working together as a team due to their contrasting personalities, leading them to attend mandatory group therapy sessions. While on a case, Judy comes across a piece of snake skin, but no one believe her since there hasn’t been a snake sighting in Zootopia for 100 years. Coincidentally, there happens to be an upcoming Zootennial Gala to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Zootopia’s founding, and signs point to the snake making an appearance. When Judy is proven right, she and Nick get wrapped up in a greater conspiracy involving reptiles and the vicious Lynxly family.
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Nick (Jason Bateman, left) and Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin, right) |
The plot feels like a natural progression from the original, exploring how Nick and Judy’s clashing personalities affect their teamwork and showing how there’s still room for them to grow as characters. Certain story elements that were considered half-baked for Disney films at the time the first film came out were also better executed here, owing to it having a lot more time in the oven than the original, which started over from zero with only a year before its initial release. In doing all this while delivering a captivating story, this film excels at worldbuilding, showing new sides of Zootopia in a way that still benefits plot progression.
On that note, Zootopia itself not only remains visually consistent with the first film, every new and expanded environment feels unique and lived-in, with special attention paid to the type of wildlife one might see in said environments. Alongside the plethora of new animals represented, including several lesser-known species, the animation also plays around more with facial and bodily expressions. Reptiles and their living spaces are also given the same amount of attention as mammals, including the rendering of scales, making them feel more like they belong in the setting. Certain aspects of the represented animals are also used for a good amount of visual comedy, though there are times where it still relies on animal stereotypes for said gags.
The returning voice actors do as good a job, if not better, than the original film, particularly Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps) and Jason Bateman (Nick Wilde). While the voice cast is otherwise stacked with actors, with Maurice LaMarche (Mr. Big) being the only professional voice actor among them, many of them seem to be there for the sake of either referencing a past Disney project or having some sort of animal name pun that you wouldn’t get unless you actually watch the credits; I particularly didn’t get why a dik dik stuck in a tuba needed to be voiced by Dwayne Johnson, unless he just had some spare time while filming the unnecessary Moana remake. That said, a few of the new actors actually show some range, including Andy Samberg as Pawbert Lynxley and especially Alan Tudyk (who recently voiced Optimus Prime in the Transformers: EarthSpark animated series) making a cameo as Duke Weaselton and a few other minor roles.
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As much as I appreciate the dik dik representation, was |
Overall, Zootopia 2 was well worth the wait and is a must-see for fans, though the first film is still a prerequisite for newcomers. Though I would like to not have to wait another near-decade for a follow-up to the post-credits scene, the expanded world-building does certainly get one’s imagination running wild with possibilities in the meantime.
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