Film REVIEW: Zootropolis 2 (2025) - ★★★★★

Mix Up Theatre (Stewart)
7 hours ago
5 min read

We’ve waited nine long years – but now Zootropolis is back and it’s funnier (and furrier) than ever. From the stars of the voice cast to the wild new zones of the city explored by Hopps and Wilde, check out our guide to Zootropolis 2.

Director: Jared Bush, Byron Howard

Writer: Jared Bush

Stars: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Danny Trejo, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Jenny Slate.

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Themes: Anthropomorphic Animal, Rabbit, Fox

Brave rabbit cop Judy Hopps and her friend, the fox Nick Wilde, team up again to crack a new case, the most perilous and intricate of their careers.

The sequel to Zootropolis (2016).

The film received positive reviews from critics.

MIX UP REVIEWS:

Mix Up Junior (Age 6) - ★★★★★

"I loved it and the snake is the best new character. It's very funny!"

Have you seen it?

Zootropolis 2 buzz - Why is everybody talking about the new Disney movie?

Are you a cop or a robber? A fed or a felon? An agent or an outlaw? Either way, we got you covered. If you’re a safe-blowing, chop-busting heist-meister, apply to The Bad Guys c/o Mr Wolf. But if you’d rather take out the trash in a city of anthropomorphic animals, book a ride-along with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde at the Zootropolis Police Department.

Remember Disney’s original Zootropolis? Sure you do. True, it came out nine long years ago – a pause that even tops Moana. But Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore’s (Encanto) buddy-cop animation was an instant classic, joining the billion-dollar club at the 2016 box office, banking the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and raved over from Rolling Stone (“the most subversive movie of the year”) to The Observer (“proper family fun with genuine cross-generational appeal”).

Hang on - is the new Disney movie called Zootropolis 2 or Zootopia 2?

That depends which country you call home. As per the original movie, this new Disney film will be called Zootropolis 2 in the UK, while in the States it’s billed as Zootopia 2. For the purposes of this blog, let’s keep the British end up – Zootropolis 2 it is.

Zootropolis 2 characters - Who are the heroes of Zootropolis 2?

Back in 2016, cinema audiences lapped up the rat-a-tat banter of mismatched partners Judy Hopps (an optimistic bunny rabbit assigned to the city’s 1st Precinct) and Nick Wilde (a cynical fox con-artist who ultimately joins the ZPD).

Having taken down supervillain sheep Dawn Bellwether in the first movie, the pair’s chemistry zings again in Zootropolis 2. But this time, Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line) (who voices perky Hopps) told CinemaBlend her dynamic with Jason Bateman’s (Dodgeball: A True Underdog's Story) Wilde will evolve: “I would like to see Nick have to be the one to convince Judy that the world is worth fighting for”.

Zootropolis 2 plot - What happens in the new Disney animation?

Disney hasn’t opened the case file just yet – but we’re already connecting the dots of the Zootropolis 2 plot. The official synopsis goes like this: “Judy and Nick find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile” – that’s pit viper Gary De’Snake – “who arrives in Zootropolis and turns the mammal metropolis upside down.”

We’re also told that “to crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town”. And the Zootropolis 2 trailer certainly suggests we’ll be going off-grid, showing flashes of ice, desert and underwater worlds that didn’t feature in the first film.

But is that cheerful-looking blue serpent really the main Zootropolis 2 villain? Unlikely, given the trailer footage of a hooded bad guy with glowing eyes. But as Jason Bateman told Sean O’Connell, this fledgling partnership (Zootropolis 2 is set just weeks after Wilde graduates from the Police Academy) is up for it. “The two of us are kicking butts out there, cleaning up the streets. We're a couple of new cops out there. So, bad guys, be warned…”

Cast of Zootropolis 2 - Who leads the voice cast of the new Disney movie?

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are the heart and funny bone of this new Zootropolis movie, and they leave it all on the vocal booth floor. “I’m super-physically-tired after one of my recording days,” Goodwin told The Hollywood Reporter, “because I realise everything is much bigger. I’m all sweaty because I’ve been jumping around a sound booth all day.”

Idris Elba (Avengers: Infinity War / Age of Ultron) is back as Chief Bogo, the ZPD’s water buffalo boss man. “Honestly, I do it because I’ve got children and they can’t see all the films I’m in,” he explained.

Other returning characters for Zootropolis 2 include Nate Torrence (as cheetah desk sergeant Benjamin Clawhauser) (Get Smart, The Big Year), Shakira (as pop star Gazelle) (The Voice US) and Maurice LaMarche (as Don Corleone-styled mobster shrew, Mr Big) (Frozen). New cast members? We’re intrigued by Fortune Feimster (who plays beaver Nibbles Maplestick) (Soul, The Mindy Project), Quinta Brunson (who voices therapist Dr Fuzzby) (Abbott Elementary, An American Pickle) and Jean Reno (playing Bushron the goat police officer) (Mission: Impossible, The Da Vinci Code) .

But the biggest signing is Ke Huy Quan (Loki) as slithery fugitive Gary De’Snake. “In Zootopia 2, we’re introducing reptiles,” Jared Bush told Variety. “They move and behave differently than mammals. Telling their story required a different approach.”

Zootropolis 2 age rating - Who can watch the new Disney movie?

This is one you can bring the whole family along for.

Zootropolis 2 trivia - What's a fun fact about the new Disney movie?

Before Jared Bush even tapped Ke Huy Quan to play Gary De’Snake, the Temple Of Doom star was being secretly auditioned. “Something I don’t think even Ke knows is, before he was even officially cast, one of the animators loved his voice so much, he actually took a Stephen Colbert interview with Ke and just put that onto Gary the Snake,” the director told IMDb. “And I was like, ‘That’s him!’”

Zootropolis 2 is in cinemas now – and if you think the trailer pops on your laptop or smartphone, this hotly anticipated Disney sequel is a whole different animal with a vision-filling screen and immersive surround sound. As director Jared Bush told the Zootopia News Network: “I can’t wait for you to see the rest of it…”

How do you rate these movies?...