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| Hurry up, Snow-Cat by @doraemonbasil Source [1] |
Happy New Year, Zootopia Fans! And welcome to our first Art of the Day collection for 2026!
Ahhh, but for once, we’re leaving a great one behind…2025, when after nine long years, we finally got our sequel! And I don’t know about you folks, but for me, it was definitely worth the wait.
And now here we are in 2026. No one can say for sure what the future holds for Zootopia. but one thing, at least, is certain. Any franchise that can produce two billion-dollar blockbusters in a row isn’t going away any time soon.
So…let’s uncork the champagne, shall we? It’s time to raise our glasses and ring in the New Year, together with Nick, Judy, and the rest of the Zootopia gang. Enjoy…and don’t forget to show the original artists some love by clicking on the source-links.
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We begin with a selection of fanart, celebrating the arrival of the New Year.
For an opener, we have Nick and Judy, celebrating 2026 with some of the old Disney Afternoon gang–and one other bunny, can you spot him?
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| Happy 2026 From Disney by TomArmstrong20 Source [2] |
And here they are with the some of The Bad Guys—and Gary DeSnake
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| Happy New Year 2026 by @xXHana_ChanXx Source [3] |
And with Gary again. Watch your drinks there, guys.
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| Have a Great New Year by @naco_oekaki Source [4] |
New Years, of course, is that OTHER holiday for fireworks. And while it’s a little late for mistletoe, I don’t think we’ll be complaining.
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| Happy New Year Happy 2026 by tarangill Source [5] |
But then…who needs fireworks when ya got each other?
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| Happy 2026 by @Bennink1991 Source [6] |
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| Happy 2026 2 by @mermerto_leah Source [7] |
Yep…he celebrates the New Year, too.
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| Happy New Years To All of You by emerald57 Source [8] |
Moving on, we offer a brief retrospective, featuring some of the highlights of 2025, vis-a-vis Zootopia
By January of last year, we had already gotten our first glimpse of Zootopia 2, courtesy of a clip shown at D23, featuring Nick and Judy’s visit to the Marsh Market. This was the first time we saw them in their new outfits.
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| Z2 Boop by @askalin097 Source [9] |
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| Nick and Judy by GamGyuls Source [10] |
That clip was also where we also got our first look at a certain walrus and beaver, though we only learned the beaver’s name…and even then, only her first name, Nibbles. we didn’t get her full name until much later.
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| The Walrus from Zootopia 2 by kmila101 Source [11] |
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| Beaver and Walrus by @oimotomeru91 Source [12] |
January 2026, brought with it the news that a snake would be appearing as a member of the Zootopia 2 cast, and would be voiced by Key Huy Quan. At the end of that month, the Chinese New Year arrived—for 2025, the Year of the Snake. And with it came a flurry of new fanart dedicated to the reptile who was then known only as Gary.
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| New year, new me 🐰✨✨ by @Wacki_Bux Source [13] |
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| New year, new me 🐰✨✨ by @Wacki_Bux Source [14] |
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| Happy New Year!!! by @zigrock_brony Source [15] |
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| Gary’s First Zootopian by RazzFox Source [16] |
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| Snake in the Grass – With Bunny and Fox by @askalin097 Source [17] |
February gave us our first look at the now-famous image of Nick and Judy facing each other on top of the Climate Wall. It was a pic that spawned a ton of speculation.
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| Our favorite Fox and Bunny by @JonnyDoodles Source [18] |
Every WildeHopps fan, present company included, was hoping that this would be the outcome.
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| THEY BETTER KISS by @skidibly_ Source [19] |
When March arrived, it brought the 9th Anniversary of Zootopia’s release—and a thousand rumors that the release of a teaser trailer was imminent.
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| Happy 9th Anniversary by @Askalin097 Source [20] |
It didn’t happen…and needless to say, the fandom was not thrilled.
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| 22 by AAR0NJAY Source [21] |
As sort of a consolation prize, April gave us our first look at the Quokka Therapist, Dr. Fuzzby.
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| Dr. Fuzzby by @anthonyhanssens.bsky.social Source [22] |
With the advent of May, the rumors of an incoming trailer began to swirl once again. Only this time, Disney confirmed them.
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| Trailer Tomorrow by @jaycobsartzz Source [23] |
And then that month…it finally happened!
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| Thank You For The Zootopia 2 Trailer by @dogear218 Source [24] |
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| He Doesn’t Seem To Like That Sound by @nibkman0304 Source [25] |
And we got our first look at some more new characters–if only for half a second.
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| Z2 Anteater by @ACA_Draw Source [26] |
Little did we imagine how large a role some of them were going to play in Zootopia 2
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| Pretty Chill by @Jaycobsartzz Source [27] |
In June, the Annecy Animation Festival kicked off…including a panel hosted by Jared Bush and Byron Howard.
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| Merci, Annecy by @ByronPHoward Source [28] |
In July, the first full trailer for Zootopia 2 finally dropped…and we got our first glimpse of Nick and Judy in their Gala attire.
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| What I Remember from Annecy by @painperdues Source [29] |
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| How it Started by @XaFoxArt Source [30] |
A month later, in August, the year’s other animated anthropomorphic feature premiered, The Bad Guys 2.
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| Nick Wilde and Mr Wolf by Yaz Hugs Source [31] |
….Much to the annoyance of certain individuals.
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| Waiting for Sequels by AAR0NJAY Source [32] |
Then came September…and the final Zootopia trailer.
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| Foxy Dad by AAR0NJAY Source [33] |
…Wherein we got our first real look at the Lynxleys…
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| Lynxley Succession by @toruloloo Source [34] |
…including one family member in particular, Pawbert Lynxley.
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| Pawbert Lynxley by @racconlynxley Source [35] |
…who became an instant hit with the fans…so much so that we were able to put together an Art of the Day collection dedicated exclusively to him and his family.
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| It’s Okay to be Different From Everyone Else by kawatoo00119 Source [36] |
And then in November…the event we’d all been waiting for at last came to pass.
And the rest is history.
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| No One Matters More Than You by @MaceyBaxter Source [37] |
And Finally…
A Public Service Announcement
When you party on New Years, DON’T be like Judy Hopps!
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| Judy’s New Year by AAR0NJAY Source [38] |
Until Next Year….
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