Zootopia 2 (2025)
Directed by: Jared Bush and Byron Howard
Premise: A sequel to the 2016 film. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde (voices of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman) have their partnership tested while investigating a case that reveals the truth about the origins of Zootopia.
What Works: Viewers who enjoyed 2016’s Zootopia ought to be entertained by the sequel. The original film immersed audiences in a vibrant and colorful world in which animals live together. The sequel continues that style and it is an impressive piece of animated craftsmanship. The locations and characters have terrific detail and visual texture. While it’s a cartoonish idea, both Zootopia films find the right pitch to make the story world credible. The characters have physical weight and move through the world in a way that creates a sense of stakes and danger rather than the rubbery quality of many cartoons. Zootopia 2 is fast and funny. It runs nearly two hours but doesn’t feel that length with its brisk storytelling and kinetic filmmaking style. The jokes come steadily with a mix of physical gags and one-liners including obvious comedy that will play to children and double entendres that will amuse adults. The principal characters return with rabbit Judy Hopps and fox Nick Wilde now partners in law enforcement. Judy is the overachiever and Nick is laid back and together they make a fun odd couple. The vocal performances by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman bring these characters to life and the relationship between them gives Zootopia 2 an emotional center. The film includes some fun new characters, namely Gary De’Snake voiced by Ke Huy Quan and Mayor Winddancer voiced by Patrick Warburton.
What Doesn’t: The Zootopia films are social allegories. The first movie was about prejudice and criminal justice and it epitomized a mainstream, institutionally-friendly conception of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The story world had a lot of clever details that satirized various aspects of society. Zootopia 2 is not nearly as successful. The first film may have been lightening in a bottle; it was the right elements at the right pitch and impossible to duplicate. But Zootopia 2 doesn’t even try to do anything as interesting as the first film. The story is a standard buddy comedy. The case to be solved is straightforward and doesn’t have interesting or relevant social implications. The story world of Zootopia 2 has some visual puns but nothing as clever as the first picture. Instead, the filmmakers go the way of Shrek 2 and other animated films of twenty years ago, working in homages and intertextual references that are amusing but don’t serve the story.
Bottom Line: Zootopia 2 is a safe and unambitious sequel. It doesn’t do anything as interesting as the first film and it’s mostly more of the same. But Zootopia 2 is competently done and will appeal to its core audience.
Episode: #1076 (November 30, 2025)