Zootopia 2

“Zootopia 2,” released last month, is every bit as fast and funny and socially agreed as the last film, which came out – if you can believe it – almost a decade ago. Given that amount of time, one couldn’t be blamed for noticing how both films happen to agree with certain Trumpian moments in history: The first film was released when Trump was the leading Republican candidate in the 2016 Presidential election, and now the sequel has been released near the end of his rowdy first year back in office. James Kendrick said in his review, “As I wrote nine years ago, Zootopia (2016) eerily presaged Trump’s penchant for eschewing facts and nuance in favor of fear-mongering and broad generalizations designed to strike fear in his political base. Nothing has changed, of course, and in fact those tendencies have been super-charged by his return to power and have found even more voice in scapegoating enemies that are more figments of his fevered imagination than actual threats—which is precisely what Zootopia 2 is about.”

The story location in the titular metropolis, which, as you may remember (and, if you don’t, the film gives a helpful recap at the beginning), is a fantasy city where every manner of mammals live together in complete peace. The city is divided into four districts that give ideal environmental conditions for the different types of animals that live there. The districts are separated by giant walls that keep the fighting environments (e.g., Tundratown and the Rainforest District) separate.

We start right were the first movie ended, with Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), the determined, bright-eyed bunny who became the first rabbit police officer, and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a sly con-artist of a fox, working together as a team. Having hugely (but not completely) overcome their differences, they still feel the need to prove themselves in a police force that is not used to rabbits and foxes being counted among their ranks (police officers normally are larger animals like zebras, hippos, and, of course, returning water-buffalo Chief Bogo, voiced by Idris Elba). Kendrick is right when he said, “If the first film was about breaking through stereotypes and the importance of digging beneath assumptions, Zooptopia 2 doubles down on that message by expanding beyond the inherent tensions within the city itself and bringing in a group of animals that has been expelled entirely: reptiles.”

We find out that there are no reptiles in Zootopia because they were forcibly expelled a century ago due to a snake being accused of murder. Kendrick said, “Those accusations happen to come from the wealthy Lynxley family, a dynasty whose paterfamilias was responsible for designing the walls that made Zootopia possible. So, we have a monied, powerful, politically connected family with a vested interest in maintaining its power by pushing a (possible false) narrative that demonizes another group and requires their expulsion.” Sound familiar?

Kendrick admitted, “I won’t dig too deep into the narrative details because part of the film’s pleasure is the way the mystery unfolds; it plays like a good ol’ fashioned police procedural crossed with Hitchcock’s wrongly accused man hijinks, wrapped up in computer-animated mania.” Safe to say that Judy and Nick come upon a deep conspiracy that involves, in one way or another, a trafficked snake named Gary, voiced by Ke Huy Quan. The awkward, black-sheep youngest member of the Lynxley dynasty (Andy Samberg), which is in charge by his gruff father (David Strathairn). The horse movie-star-turned-Zootopia mayor, voiced by Patrick Warburton. Finally, a conspiracy-theory-confused podcaster-beaver named Nibbles Maplestick, voiced by Fortune Feimster.

Kendrick pointed out, “There are a lot of twists and turns and hyper-funny action sequences, but the movie is constantly moored by the heart-and-soul ethos embodied by Judy and Nick’s odd-couple chemistry, which works (as they eventually learn) precisely because they are different. The film embraces diversity not as a bumper-sticker slogan, but as an ethos that creates a better world through understanding and acceptance. If that sounds too mushy, don’t worry—the film isn’t above sending up touchy-feeliness, which we see in the emotional breakthrough moment when Judy, the insecure overachiever, and Nick, the insecure swindler, admit to each other all of their personal and psychological shortcomings, which is both immensely touching and absolutely hilarious (“It’s true! I do need a herd of therapy animals!”).”

Kendrick continued, “Such moments suggest that returning screenwriter Jared Bush, who again co-directed with Byron Howard (they previous collaborated on Encanto), sees his characters as more than plug-n-play figures, and it helps that Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman give Judy and Nick such life. Granted, the film’s emotional contours tend to be drowned out by some of the visual excess, including an unexpectedly spot-on homage to the climax of The Shining (1980), and some of the characters feel like they’re trying too hard to be memorable (I’m looking at you, Nibbles).” However, on the whole, “Zootopia 2” admirably balances visual desire and genuine emotion.

The only complaint I have with this movie is that villain reveal is just like the first one. However, I still find myself loving this movie a lot and I’m glad I saw it. If you haven’t seen this film yet, go to the theaters and see it. I’m glad I finally got a chance to see this in the theaters yesterday, as it was one of the movies that I wanted to see. You will love this movie as it still is funny and does have a good message for kids to learn about. Shakira is back singing and does have a little bit of dialogue. Actually, the cast in this movie is phenomenal. Wait until the end credits to know and stay for a post-credits scene. I wasn’t surprised that they came out with a sequel and I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out with a third movie because I can see this franchise going somewhere, if they continue to teach kids about not judging people and the cons of prejudice, which is what they need to know. I think the first movie is a little better, but this is one of the better sequels Disney has come out with. Don’t miss your chance to go to the theaters to see this film.

With that, we have come to the end of “Disney Month 2025.” I hope everyone enjoyed this month, and hopefully I made some good recommendations for everyone, as this is the year that I did the least amount of reviews. Who knows if next year will be the same or not? We’ll just have to wait and see. Have a great end to this depressing year and let’s ring in the new year with the hope that it will be better for everyone. I’m going to take a couple of days off before I start the new year back with my usual Friday reviews. See all of you in the new year.