Here’s What Goes Into ZOOTOPIA 2’s Onscreen ‘Stunts’

Published: March 31, 2026

By India McCarty

This ZOOTOPIA 2 animator took fans behind the scenes with some pretty funny “stunt” videos that show how the animation process works.

“Here is my Ref vs. Final of my first packet on ZOOTOPIA 2,” animator David Badgerow captioned a video posted to Instagram. “I was excited to be animating two of my favorite characters, but clearly was still getting used to how to act them properly.”

In the video, Badgerow shows side-by-side comparisons of himself acting out scenes from the movie and then the finished product. He posted a series of videos showing this process, from acting out a character’s facial movements and body movements as they talk to the way they would run or walk.

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In an interview with Animation Magazine before the movie’s release, director Byron Howard praised ZOOTOPIA 2’s animation team.

“Every week, we’re shocked and amazed at what they can produce,” he said. “The movie is absolutely enormous. It’s the biggest movie we’ve ever done in the history of Disney animation, which is saying something. The first movie was complex and layered and immersive, and this one is even more so. Everyone has just stepped it up. The artistry is mind-boggling.”

Producer Yvett Merino added, “A lot of credit goes to our animation team, who really jumped in and accepted Presto changes,” referring to an animation software system the ZOOTOPIA 2 team switched to during their work on the movie.

“It’s not always easy to change and switch a system they’re all used to,” she continued. “We were able to cast and work on different characters within the same scene because we could go in and out of those sequences. It was really a great help to us.”

The animators’ work paid off: ZOOTOPIA 2 is the highest-grossing animated release of all time ($1.9 billion worldwide), making it the eighth highest-grossing movie ever and the No. 1 domestic release of 2025.

“I think we knew we had something special just because that first movie [ZOOTOPIA] was so beloved and did so well. But I think the way we rolled this movie out all over the world was at a whole different level,” global marketing exec Asad Ayaz told The Hollywood Reporter. “In China, it was the biggest campaign we’ve ever done for a movie. We were there ourselves, and you could see the love the fans have for the property.”

The passion and hard work of the ZOOTOPIA 2 crew definitely contributed to the movie’s massive success around the world.

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