Zootropolis 2 will be the first entry in the series to include birds, reptiles, amphibians, primates and marine life, moving beyond the original's exclusively mammalian cast.
This marks the first "Zootopia" film to be produced in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio; the original film, by contrast, was produced in 2.35:1.
This is the 64th animated feature film in Disney's animated canon.
Ke Huy Quan's second animated film follows his role in DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024), which was released a year earlier. That film also featured Awkwafina, who is set to appear in the fellow DreamWorks Animation title The Bad Guys 2 (2025), due out three months before Zootopia 2.
This trailer (from the D23 Expo) initially showed a dolphin tattoo on a hippo's bum, but when the film was modernised the tattoo was placed on a penguin's white belly (a Magellanic penguin) rather than on a hippo.
In this sequel, Kim Wing-Un — a turkey vulture voiced by Lisa Ortiz — appears as a villainous vulture, since Gary is portrayed as a friendly, Scottish‑accented snake to Nick and Judy. The Taming Party sequence (a deleted scene from Zootopia) incorporated into Zootopia 2 will include crocodiles, chimpanzees, hyenas (both spotted and striped), falcons, snakes, peacocks, vultures and frogs, together with a grey crowned crane, a rhea (Greater rhea), owls, monkeys, pythons, meerkats, an emu, a coyote and a kangaroo instead of polar bears. That event is hosted by an Australian‑accented ostrich named Maria (voiced by Isla Fisher). While Judy and Nick are searching for Gary, they sneak through an aquarium full of koi that leads into a building and see Tammy the spectacled caiman (voiced by Awkwafina) receiving her first tame collar as part of Dr. Fuzzby's plan.
It will be the first, and to date the only, Disney Animated Canon film to be released in a perfect-square year.
Alongside the reptiles, the film will introduce new mammals — red pandas, quokkas, hyenas and others — together with aviary species (birds, bats and other flying mammals), amphibians (frogs, newts and salamanders), primates (monkeys, apes and lemurs), domesticated animals (dogs, cats, donkeys, geese, ducks, etc.) and marine animals (walruses, seals, sea lions, etc.).
To bring the film up to date and introduce additional species — namely reptiles, birds, amphibians, primates and marine animals (lemurs, penguins, snakes, seals, walruses, chameleons, crocodiles, chimpanzees, hyenas, falcons, ostriches, koi fish, servals, toucans, eagles, hawks, baboons, gorillas, salamanders, peacocks, vultures and frogs) — macaws and New World monkeys are added to the ensemble alongside Australian animals (platypus, kangaroos and wombats) and European species (including lynxes, swans and ibexes). The film will also feature bats among the aviary creatures alongside the birds. In addition, pets (including domesticated dogs and cats) appear in every courtroom scene. Meerkats and warthogs are introduced as new animals occupying roles similar to the hyenas. Komodo dragons, turtles, tortoises, geckos and other lizards are present in each hotel-room scene. Finally, whales, puffins, albatrosses, pelicans, manatees, crabs and dolphins are included in every ocean scene. A new location, Exotopolis, is established where all the reptiles, aviary species, amphibians, primates and marine animals can roam adjacent to Zootopia, which remains populated chiefly by mammals.
This is the only Walt Disney Animation Studios picture scored by James L. Venable, who joins the long line of composers who have regularly worked at the studio, including Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith, Oliver Wallace, Edward H. Plumb, Charles Wolcott, Eliot Daniel, George Bruns, Buddy Baker, Artie Butler, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, J.A.C. Redford, Alan Menken, Bruce Broughton, Hans Zimmer, Jerry Goldsmith, Mark Mancina, James Newton Howard, John Debney, Alan Silvestri, Phil Collins, Danny Elfman, John Powell, Randy Newman, Henry Jackman, Christophe Beck, Michael Giacchino, Germaine Franco and Dave Metzger.
Ke Huy Quan will become the 21st Academy Award winner to lend a voice to a Walt Disney Animation Studios picture. Those who have done so before him include: - George Sanders in Cartea Junglei (1967) - Peter Ustinov in Robin Hood (1973) - Geraldine Page in The Rescuers (1977) - Jack Albertson in Vulpea si câinele (1981) - George C. Scott in The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - Robin Williams in Aladdin (1992) - Jeremy Irons in The Lion King (1994) - Whoopi Goldberg in The Lion King (1994) - Mel Gibson in Pocahontas (1995) - Linda Hunt in Pocahontas (1995) - Christian Bale in Pocahontas (1995) - Kevin Kline in Cocosatul de la Notre Dame (1996) - Charlton Heston in Hercule (1997) - Emma Thompson in Planeta comorilor (2002) - Joaquin Phoenix in Fratele Urs (2003) - Judi Dench in O ferma trasnita (2004) - Cuba Gooding Jr. in O ferma trasnita (2004) - J.K. Simmons in Zootropolis (2016) - Octavia Spencer in Zootropolis (2016) - Ariana DeBose in Wish (2023)
Excluding titles released direct-to-video/DVD by Disneytoon Studios, this is the seventh sequel produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, following The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Fantasia 2000 (1999), Winnie the Pooh (2011), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Frozen II (2019) and Moana 2 (2024).
