Welcome Back to Zootopia, the Zootopia 2 Presentation at Annecy, in Exhaustive Detail

One week ago, at the Annecy Film Festival in Annecy, France, following the induction of Ron Clements into the Annecy Hall of Fame and an accompanying Q&A with him and Clements, Jared Bush took the stage. I was sitting directly in front of him, notebook in hand, furiously taking notes on everything about Zootopia 2. Recording was not allowed, and this policy was strictly enforced, but I did my very best to get as much detail as possible for you. And now that I have returned from my adventure in France, it is time to reveal what was shared to the audience that day.

I warn you now, there will be spoilers ahead. If you wish to go into Zootopia 2 entirely blind, I will give you a chance to click away.

Also, this is all still subject to change, and may not reflect what actually makes it into the final film. There were many scenes they showed off that were unfinished, to the point of not even having full animation of the character models. Speaking with Jared Bush later that day, he mentioned that they go through so many iterations of a film that even he can’t always remember what makes it into the final released version. So, if something I describe here ends up not being present when we see Zootopia 2 this November, know that it was not for lack of accuracy in this article.

If you are still reading this, I assume you are okay with those caveats. Let’s proceed.

Part 1 – Jared Bush’s History with Disney

Jared began the presentation by describing a bit of his life, and how he got to the point where he is now. “Everyone begins somewhere”, he said as he showed a photo of himself as a 12-year old. That year, 1987, his life changed as his family got their very first video camera “and I decided to make some very stupid home movies”. He asked that since it was an animation festival, why was he showing this, and not some of his art or drawings as a child? Well, he explained this by showing off some of what his current art looks like, with storyboards he drew for Moana 2 and Encanto.

They were… well, there’s no sugarcoating it, they were bad. Hilariously bad. Barely more detailed than stick figures. Which was his point- he made it very clear that he was not an artist, but still pursued the art of storytelling his whole life. The movies he made would often include songs from his favorite Disney movies, ripped straight from the VHS- songs from The Jungle Book, The Rescuers, and The Little Mermaid.

Never in his wildest dreams could he imagine he would be working with the very people who made those movies, let alone leading the studio as its Chief Creative Officer. “The opportunity to lead this remarkable studio is thrilling and inspiring, and unbelievably fun. And with our upcoming films, we have a fantastic balance of completely original stories- in fact, you’re gonna see one of those next year. It’s so important to continue to break ground while at the same time we’re expanding the stories that we always hope to continue, and hang out with the characters that we love.”

He went on to describe what he believes will define their path forward as a studio.

1- Joy and Imagination. “We have an opportunity to bring light to the world, to transport our audiences to wondrous new places with memorable characters.”

2- Deep collaboration. “We are at our very best when we are inspired by one another and building our stories together.”

3- Always swinging for the fences and trying their best. “We’re not trying to make something good, not even something great- when we do it right, we create something that is truly timeless.”

At that point, Gary De’Snake came on screen and he made a joke about how “when the snake appears, that means I’ve been talking too much”, and then proceeded to show off the teaser trailer for those who hadn’t seen it before. It’s worth noting that the whole time, the audience of several hundred people was clapping along with the beat, which was very fun.

Part 2- Byron Howard and the Disney Team

Following the trailer, Jared described how it was “dreamed up and storyboarded by a Disney legend” who actually also wrote the music for the trailer- the one and only Byron Howard. He showed off a picture of the two of them from their first research trip for the original Zootopia, and gave us Byron’s regards. He said he wished he could be there, but was stuck back in Burbank finishing the movie now. Jared then said that before moving on, he wanted to say a few things about Byron, because he’s “literally the reason that I’m here, he hired me on the first Zootopia movie and brought me to Disney and shared all that he had learned- and he had learned a lot”.

Jared explained how Byron had started his career at Disney animation as an in-betweener on Pocahontas, then an animator on Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear, and had just finished directing Bolt and Tangled when he pitched the idea “what if we made a movie about talking animals who wear pants?”. From there Zootopia was born, and, as he described it, “it was one of the most visually rich, complicated, and just plain insane feats that the team had ever pulled off”. Zootopia 2, according to him, “had to reach even higher.” with “Dozens of complex, detailed environments” and “hundreds of different types of animals”.

I will say that, from the clips shown, which I will describe later, they absolutely nailed it. Where the original Zootopia holds up amazingly well visually, Zootopia 2 takes that and cranks it to 11. They showed images of some of the people responsible, including Cory Loftis, Lee May Shay, Meg Park, Ryan Lang, Chad Sellers, and many, many others, like Kira Lethomaki, who supervised all the animation on Judy Hopps in the first movie. Several of them were present at Annecy that day, such as several members of the story team, who were sitting two rows behind me, and Raymond Persi, who not only is an artist and director, but also voiced Flash in Zootopia.

During this segment, tons of pieces of concept art were shown, including Nick and Judy in costumes- Nick as an ice cream cone and Judy as a carton of fries- and a 2D test animation of Gary speaking with Judy while wrapping her up and miming various things, moving in a way that reminded me of Sir Hiss from Disney’s Robin Hood. I wish we could have been recording, but I am certain that a majority of the art on display will appear in The Art of Zootopia 2 when that releases.

Jared went on to describe how Zootopia is “truly [his] happy place”, and how it “speaks to the complexities of human nature”, and then joked how “most important, it has tons of product placement”. On screen, they showed off at least a dozen different Zootopian Ads for various products. Again, I wish I could have been recording, but I am sure we will see these posters and ads as we get closer to the film’s release date.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, while not present at Annecy, were then shown on screen, and Jared admitted that Ginnifer will always show up to record wearing a rabbit-ear headband. He proved this with a frankly adorable picture of her in the booth wearing exactly that.  “Like Ginny, Judy Hopps is hopeful and tenacious, and smart, and funny, and, comment vous dites [french for “How would you say”] a nerd.” From this description, he went on to say that “Judy’s partnership with Nick is what our movie is all about, and this time, they will not be on their adventure alone.”

Part 3 – Gary

At this point, Jared gave the description of the “terrifying snake, Gary”, played by “an equally terrifying actor” – Ke Huy Quan. He said how he happened to see him on the Stephen Colbert Show and was like “oh my god, this guy’s adorable, he really seems like who Gary should be”, referencing a very specific clip, from 1:40 to 2:27.

At this point he showed us the animation test that Adam Green had done of Gary sitting down in the Colbert Show chair, saying what Ke Huy Quan was saying, and miming out certain actions with his snake body, like “running” with two folds like legs and making a heart at “I love you!”. It was hilarious and an amazing example of Gary in action, voice and all. For reference, this is a thing Disney often does when they cast a celebrity to voice a certain character they want, with other examples being The Rock for Maui or Robin Williams for The Genie, which they often show to those celebrities to get them on board to play the character, while also showcasing exactly who the character is and why this celebrity is perfect to play them.

Part 4 – Intro to the Story

EVERYTHING FROM THIS POINT ON IS SPOILER TERRITORY. CLICK AWAY NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY INFORMATION ON THE STORY.

FINAL WARNING.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, if you’re still here, you’re okay with spoilers, so let’s proceed into the story of Zootopia 2.

The movie picks up one week after Nick’s first day on the ZPD, which we saw in the last scene of Zootopia. But, as Jared says, “The question of this movie is whether these two animals who are so different really have what it takes to stay together in the long run. In other words, if the first movie was like their honeymoon, this movie is what moving in feels like. It’s a little wonky, and you discover some interesting things about one another.” – a bold statement that has already sent the WildeHopps shippers into a frenzy.

When the story starts, Nick and Judy are undercover, but the operation does not go well. “It ends in a crazy car chase that goes very badly, there’s dead mice everywhere- there’s not, we don’t kill them” Jared jokes. Chief Bogo is furious, and blames the mess on how Nick and Judy have “very different styles of being cops- Judy is more driven, Nick is more laid back” and they need to get on the same page or they won’t succeed as partners on the force. Nick and Judy don’t agree with this assessment, thinking they’re totally fine and compatible, and after all they worked together so well they saved the city. But Bogo is still worried, and sends them to mandated police partner therapy.

At this point, we were shown the first full scene of the movie.

Part 5- Partner Therapy with Dr. Fuzzby

As we learned from CinemaCon, there was a scene with a Quokka therapist named Dr. Fuzzby, played by comedian Quinta Brunson. She starts by welcoming Nick and Judy to “Partners in Crisis”, and explaining that they are there because “mismatched partners need a little more work to make them work.” There are many different pairs there- Marlon Grizzby, a grizzly bear, and Greg, an armadillo, are there because Greg keeps doing weird things that make Marlon uncomfortable (he was making the same face seen in the teaser trailer).

Francine, the elephant whose birthday was acknowledged by Chief Bogo in the first movie, then freaks out for some reason. It’s revealed that her partner, Clark, is a mouse. Clark makes a very indignant gesture, as if to say “what the heck Francine, I’m right here” or more simply “bruh”- though he doesn’t actually say either of those, he just squeaks. (I apologize, I am doing my best to describe it in text format.)

Then Dr. Fuzzby comes to Nick and Judy, and asks them how long they’ve been struggling, and why they are there. Judy explains that they’ve been partners for one week, and are not actually dysfunctional, they’re better than fine, and they did kind of save the city so she doesn’t understand why they’re there at all. Fuzzby counters by pointing out how she answered first, not allowing Nick to speak since she’s expressing discomfort. Nick laughs, and she points out how his response is disconnected and how he is obviously emotionally insecure- but they’ll get to that in week seven. Nick and Judy look shocked and a bit horrified at the idea of being here for seven weeks.

Dr. Fuzzby moves on to teammate greetings, with Karen, a badger, and Joel, a deer. Joel smiles at Karen, who then proceeds to attack him and thrash about wildly. Fuzzby admonishes Karen, explaining that she saw the smile as a sign of aggression, and tells her to “put your hackles down” and spritzes her with a water bottle. This doesn’t work, as Karen keeps strangling Joel, and Fuzzby asks someone to grab a hose.

The clip ends there, and Jared proceeded to show off a short video of how they got the noises for that final bit between Karen and Joel- with Byron and Jared acting it out, Jared stage-strangling Byron while he flailed about making choking noises, similar to Homer strangling Bart in the Simpsons. “That’s every day for Byron and I.”

Part 6 – At The Gala

Nick and Judy clearly want to get away from there and start working on a real case. Lucky for them, “Judy discovers evidence that someone, maybe even a snake, may be planning to steal a priceless piece of Zootopia history.”

He then describes the MacGuffin of the story- a book that contains the original sketches of Zootopia’s weather wall. Judy doesn’t know why a snake would want to steal it, but it’s going to be displayed at the biggest and fanciest party in town. If she and Nick can prevent it from being stolen, surely Bogo will see that they are great partners, totally in sync, and not needing to be in partner therapy.

The two of them infiltrate the party, which is held in what can best be described as an ice palace. Imagine the Paris Opera House combined with Le Grand Palais, but covered in snow and ice, with ornamental icicles and such. Nick and Judy are in their fanciest of attire, with Judy in a yellow ballgown and Nick in a tuxedo.

There has been some speculation as to what Judy and Nick’s outfits were like, so I’ll attempt to show you with my admittedly terrible drawings (Though I don’t feel nearly as bad about them after seeing Jared’s official storyboards.)

…Can you tell that I am not a fashion designer? It should give you an idea though- Judy’s outfit was reminiscent of Belle’s dress from Beauty and the Beast, though far simpler and less extravagant, with one large strap rather than two puffy sleeves. Nick was in a classic tux, though if I remember correctly he went with a red bowtie rather than the traditional black. I might be misremembering that, though- I was more focused on Judy’s dress than Nick’s attire, and the concept art of them at the gala was only shown briefly.

There are several other high-profile characters at the party, including Mayor Winddancer, an incredibly handsome former actor turned politician.  According to Jared, “He’s never been a mayor before, but he has played one on TV”.

The party itself is being hosted by the Lynxley family, the most influential family in Zootopia who were instrumental in the construction of the weather wall, hence why they have the book. Their great grandfather was the one who invented the technology that allowed the wall to function, and by extension, all of Zootopia to function as a place where animals of all kinds can come together and live in peace. One of the Lynxleys was seen in the teaser trailer as well, though there were three shown at the gala.

Naturally, Gazelle and her tigers were there too. Shakira has apparently just finished recording the new song, which according to Jared is “unbelievable”. Her outfit was sparkly and silvery, with a large puffy parka draped over her shoulders as an accessory. I will not attempt a sketch of this one because it was far more complicated and we did not get much time to see it. I’m sure it’ll be revealed in promotional materials though.

Jared didn’t go into much detail about the gala itself, or the events immediately following it, but he did reveal that in Gary’s attempt to steal the book, Nick and Judy discover that he’s not actually the villain at all- “The book that he seeks holds a secret that could change how the entire world sees snakes.” So, Judy makes a snap decision to trust him, defies her orders, and helps him escape, but in doing so, she has made both Nick and herself fugitives, putting “a little strain on their relationship”. In his escape, however, Gary left the book behind, so it’s up to Nick and Judy to figure out what it means and how to proceed. So, they turn to a friend of theirs in the underworld, and Jared shows us another scene- this one unfinished, with some work-in-progress shots and rough animation, lighting, and temp music.

Part 7- The Big Family

The scene starts with Nick and Judy in a tight space, hiding (presumably) in the trunk of a car leaving the gala. Nick starts explaining how to survive being on the run- by immediately smashing her phone. “First thing they’ll track”, as he says. The door opens and they are grabbed by two familiar polar bears- Raymond and Kevin. The scene cuts to a very different environment than their previous encounter with Mr. Big- a warehouse, where dozens of polar bears in track suits (now bright pink) are sewing pieces of clothing, bags, and other fashion items.

The two are dropped in front of a desk where both Mr. Big and Fru Fru are standing. Fru Fru takes the opportunity compliment Judy’s dress, and Mr. Big explains that Fru Fru is now his equal partner in the family business. She brings new ideas for crime and fashion, and he has time to be grandpapa to little Judith- who we get to see. She acts like a 4 or 5 year old (don’t ask me how it works, this raises so many questions about how Zootopians age and develop, but the joke is worth it). She has a large ring pop on her finger and says to “kiss the ring”, but when Nick and Judy aww, Mr. Big and Fru Fru both get super aggressive and demand that they “KISS IT!”. They do, and the Bigs calm down just as quickly. The Bigs offer to help Nick and Judy, as they like them and are part of the family, so Fru Fru gives them new clothes, new identities, and transport out of the city to wherever they need to go.

The clip ended there, and Jared explained that they are able to give Nick and Judy an important lead- they know of a reptile who may be able to help them uncover the mystery of the book, and figure out why Gary wants it, but they don’t know where this lizard is. They’ll need to find someone who’s an expert on reptiles.

Part 8 – Nibbles and Marsh Market

This expert is Nibbles Maplestick, who we saw in the D23 clip, played by Fortune Feimster. Jared showed off a little test animation where Nibbles introduces herself as being from “News of the Weird and the Wood” which specializes in “Conspiracies and Wood Facts”. She’s a bit of a weirdo and a conspiracy theorist, but is also one of the most knowledgeable mammals with regard to reptiles.

Nick and Judy at this point have different ideas about how to move forward, and according to Jared, “this is a big part of the story, the fact the Judy and Nick keep finding themselves at odds about how to move forward”. She knows a lizard who can help them named Jesús, shown here:

It should be noted that Jesús is a Plumed Basilisk, a type of lizard known for having special frills on their feet that allow them to escape predators by literally running on the surface of the water, earning them the nickname of the “Jesus Christ Lizard”. So the name is very fitting.

We were then treated to a version of the Marsh Market scene that was actually quite different from what we saw at D23- it was longer, with unfinished bits and more aquatic and semiaquatic mammals on display.

Nibbles starts by explaining how, when Zootopia was founded, Marsh Market got cut off from the rest of the town, so they’re kind of on their own our here, which is why reptiles like it- they can just do their thing and “it’s the only place in town you can get away with wearing a shirt and no pants”.  Nick makes a sarcastic remark and Judy insists that they need nibbles, to which Nick says “oh yeah, like a hole in the head”… as he is passing a shop ran by a dolphin, who gives him an angry glare.

Nibbles insists on handling the locals, as “water folks tend to be a bit standoffish around landys”. Nick quips back that he’s been hustling since he was 12, and can handle a juggling seal. But it was a sea lion, who is insulted. Nibbles tries to smooth it over, and Nick offers a coin to the street performer as compensation. Nibbles corrects him again, since change is a choking hazard, and they prefer payment in fish. Nick tries to shake the sea lion’s flipper in apology, and it sets the sea lion off even further, prompting Nibbles to physically step in between the two and pull Nick away.

They reach the end of a pier and Nibbles rings a bell, causing a walrus to emerge. They do the “hey bub” “hey bub” scene we saw at D23, though this time instead of ending with “seen a snake”, Nibbles ends with “seen Jesús?”, implying that Jesús is well-known in the area. The answer is still nope, and the walrus sinks back below the surface again.

Part 9- The Chase

After this scene, Jared returns and explains that after a few scenes that wouldn’t be shown, they learn that the case is far more dangerous than first expected- “The secret of that book is so important that the villains of our story have committed a murder to keep it hidden”. Upon learning this, Nick wants to get out of town while they still can, but Judy insists on continuing to follow this case. Gary makes his return at this point, steals the book once again, and races away, now with the ZPD in pursuit. This was the final scene that was shown off, and it’ll be the most difficult to describe as I am going mostly off memory, as so much happened that it was hard to keep notes on everything.

It begins with Gary, book in… hand? coils? However he holds it- going on the ledge of a building and telling Nick and Judy that he’s sorry but “I have to help my family”, before jumping off and slithering away on the surface of the water. Judy jumps onto a nearby fishing boat and commandeers it, with Nick running along the pier to catch up. She turns the boat’s crane and Nick grabs the hook at the end. We see the T.U.S.K. boar catch up on the roof of a building, and he sends two hippopotamus officers to jump in and pursue, which they do. The hippos catch up to the boat, and Judy rings a nearby bell, and a bunch of walruses emerge in a line, each one going “hey bub”. Judy and Nick jump from one to the next, managing to barely stay ahead of the hippos. At one point Mr. and Mrs. Otterton are seen in the background on a canoe. Nibbles catches up to them and warns that “If [gary] goes for the red line, DO NOT FOLLOW! You WILL run out of air!”. The chase continues a bit more, with Gary going up onto the boardwalk and a hippo bursting through the end of a pier, before Gary jumps into a swirling vortex connected to a water transit pipe. Of course, it’s the red line, and while Judy is rushing forward, Nick shouts that they’re going to run out of air and starts calling “Pineapple, PINEAPPLE!” as Judy jumps into the tube, Nick right behind her. They then are sucked into the tube, headed straight down and off to who knows where, and that is where the clip ends.

Presumably “pineapple” is a safe word that they had previously established between them, either in therapy or at a different time, but Judy just blows right past it in this moment, which is very concerning- you don’t disrespect the safe word. Jared reinforces this by saying “Will Nick and Judy make it? If they do, will their relationship make it?”

Part 10: Conclusion

The final thing they show off is two more of the ZPD that will be chasing Nick, Judy, and Gary- two french goats named Chèvre and Boucheron (which are both types of goat cheese). Bouchon will be played by legendary French actor Jean Reno.

After all this, the presentation ends on these words from Jared Bush: “Ultimately our mismatched pair of a bunny and fox shows us that even in a polarized world where our differences so often push us apart, that sometimes just simply trying to understand each other and talk to each other can be the thing that allows us to mend our broken world back together.”

Zootopia 2 comes out in November, but I hope that this gives you a glimpse into what I was fortunate enough to witness at Annecy last week. So much was revealed, and so much more is yet to be seen. After all of this, I can firmly say that I believe Zootopia 2 will be a fantastic movie, and is in the best of hands. Thank you so much to Jared Bush for giving this presentation, Disney for allowing me to be there, and the incredibly talented people at Walt Disney Animation Studios for making this film a reality. I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us.

And remember, as always…

Try Everything!

-Andy Lagopus