By Michaela Gordoni
ZOOTOPIA 2 director and writer Jared Bush unveiled new ZOOTOPIA 2 footage at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last week.
It’s been nearly 10 years since the first ZOOTOPIA movie came out. The sequel features officer Judy Hopps and her foxy companion Nick Wilde as they investigate a new arrival in town — Gary De’Snake, voiced by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
Bush said he and his team cast Quan, who also starred in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, after he saw him on THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT.
Byron Howard will direct alongside Bush, and Yvett Merino will produce. Ginnifer Goodwin returns to voice Judy, and Jason Bateman returns to voice Nick. Shakira returns as Gazelle and recorded a new song for the movie.
Fortune Feimster will join the cast as Nibbles Maplestick, a beaver who lives in one of Zootopia’s new areas, the Marsh Market, which Bush said is one of the “most immersive” habitats that the team has ever made. Quinta Brunson will voice Dr. Fuzzby, Judy and Nick’s work-assigned therapist. Jean Reno will voice a French goat cop.
In the movie’s teaser trailer, Nick and Judy slide through new, unseen districts in Zootopia. Bush said Nick and Judy will be on the run after getting involved in a conspiracy with Gary De’Snake.
“But 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,” Bush said. “In other words, if the first movie was like their honeymoon, this movie is what moving in feels like.”
The movie will premiere in November 2026.
Related: This Musician Will Return for ZOOTOPIA 2
The Annecy session included a tribute to Ron Clements, the director behind THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN. He was inducted into the Festival’s Walk of Fame. Bush also announced Clements will come out of retirement to mentor Disney’s young writers and animators.
“I’ve actually unretired a very important person here, Ron Clements, who’s coming back to the studio. Ron is one of the reasons that I do what I do…The legacy he helped build is the foundation we walk on,” Bush said.
Clements said, “I really have been enjoying retirement, but I’m excited about just returning to kind of mentor…There aren’t as many old people around as there used to be, and there certainly are so many young people who want to work in animation.”
Movieguide® praised ZOOTOPIA’s “strong moral worldview with strong redemptive elements,” so hopefully the ZOOTOPIA 2 crew will hold to those values for the sequel as well.
Read Next: ZOOTOPIA Video Review
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