Zootopia 2 Team Reveals the Unused Ideas From the First Movie They Finally Got to Bring to Life

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I’m so excited! It feels like forever since we last visited Zootopia, but Zootopia 2 is finally coming out! The first movie was amazing – seriously funny, but also really smart and thought-provoking, and it was a huge hit worldwide. Everything I’m hearing suggests this sequel is going to be just as good, if not better, and it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the year. I can’t wait to see Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde back in action, solving another case! What’s really cool is that the filmmakers had a lot of extra time to develop some ideas they weren’t able to use in the first film. I just read an interview with the director and writer, Jared Bush, and producer Yvett Merino, and they shared some of the concepts that are finally making it into the sequel. It sounds like a lot of fans are going to be thrilled!

In the first movie, we had planned to include hippos in a marsh-like environment, but it didn’t fit the story or serve any purpose for the characters. For the sequel, we really wanted to put Nick and Judy in challenging and unfamiliar situations, and showcasing a habitat designed for animals like hippos – one that wouldn’t be comfortable for land mammals – was a perfect way to do that. It was a lot of fun to explore that concept.

You know, as a huge fan of this series, I was really excited to hear that Outback Island – a place they originally wanted to show us in the first movie – is still on the table! The director mentioned they weren’t able to fully explore it in this latest film, but they did manage to drop some hints that it might appear in a future installment. I’m keeping my fingers crossed – an area dedicated to Australian animals sounds amazing!

There Will Be Other Opportunities to Expand the Zootopia Universe

The huge popularity of the first Zootopia movie practically ensured more films would be made. It had a record-breaking opening weekend for a Disney animated movie and went on to become one of the highest-grossing original films of all time. With Zootopia 2 expected to do well, the beloved world of the movie is set to expand, offering plenty of opportunities to explore the animal city in even greater detail.

A great example of this approach is Zootopia+, a collection of animated shorts that debuted on Disney+ in November 2022. Instead of focusing on Nick and Judy, the main characters from the original movie, the series told individual stories about popular supporting characters like Mr. Big, the shrew mafia boss (voiced by Maurice LaMarche), and Flash, the surprisingly emotional sloth (voiced by Raymond S. Persi). This format allowed the creators to explore different genres and character viewpoints in a way that wouldn’t have been possible in a longer film. The success of Zootopia+ showed that the Zootopia world could expand beyond movies. This is good news for ideas like Outback Island, which the creators have considered for multiple projects – it doesn’t need to be scrapped, and could instead become a short, special, or even a new season of the series.

Zootopia 2 is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 26, 2025.

If the world of Zootopia were to be expanded upon in the future, what location or aspect would you be most thrilled to see? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion in the ComicBook Forum!

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2025-11-21 20:13