Disney’s “Zootopia 2” is finally arriving in theaters on Nov. 26, 2026.
The sequel to the 2016 film, which grossed over $1 billion globally and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, is one of the most anticipated movies in the history of the studio. And “Zootopia 2” director Jared Bush, who also happens to be the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, was on hand at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Friday to show off the first footage from the movie.
A minor spoiler warning should probably be issued here, if you want to go in cold (colder than the frozen tundra section of Zootopia, that is).
Bush began his presentation by saying that “Zootopia 2,” which reunites him with original co-director Byron Howard, designer Cory Loftis, composer Michael Giacchino and many others, follows rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and sly fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) immediately after the events of the first film. They might have solved a mystery that was plaguing Zootopia, a sprawling animal-filled metropolis, but they are still cooky cop partners who find themselves at odds – she is more goal-oriented while he is laid back. “If the first movie was the honeymoon,” Bush said, “this movie is moving in together.”
Early in the movie, Nick and Judy are involved in an undercover operation that goes very, very badly. Chief Bogo (a returning Idris Elba) blames the fiasco on Nick and Judy’s different styles and thinks they need help, so he forces them into a group therapy session.
This was the first clip that was screened, with Nick and Judy sitting in front of Dr. Fuzzby, a quokka voiced by Quinta Brunson. All around her are different mismatched animal partners – a mouse and an elephant (the elephant gets scared of his own partner); an armadillo and a bear (the armadillo is searching the bear’s fur for food); and a badger and a dear (the badger gets very violent). The sequence is hilarious, with Dr. Fuzzby brutally assessing Nick and Judy’s personalities while also dealing with the other animals in the room. Nick is bemused, while Judy is deflecting – they just cracked the biggest case in the city, what could be wrong now?
Bush paused briefly to introduce some new characters, including Mayor Winddancer, the new mayor of Zootopia who is a former actor-turned-politician horse, and the Lynxleys, an influential family of lynxes whose ancestors were some of Zootopia’s original designers. (The photo of the Lynxleys that Bush showed was positively “Succession” coded. A voice cast has not been announced yet, but we’ll only think of the scion of the family being voiced by Brian Cox.)
Soon enough, Nick and Judy are put onto a new case – there has been intel that a snake is trying to steal a priceless piece of Zootopia history, an ancient book that features information about how the weather walls work. The weather walls are the walls that separate one ecosystem from another in Zootopia. They get sent to a fancy party where the heist is about to go down and instead of hindering the snake, Judy actually lets him go. Helping the snake, Nick and Judy become fugitives. They take the book and head to the underworld, where they meet an old friend.
The second clip was one of Nick and Judy meeting with Mr. Big, the arctic shrew mob boss from the first movie (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) and his daughter Judith. Together, they are now in the counterfeit bag business, as the scene shows a bunch of phony luxury purses being produced by them, with their polar bear goons working the factory floor. It’s a scream. Mr. Big and Judith set up Nick and Judy with some new clothes and aliases. Their adventure is underway.
The next clip was Nick and Judy traveling to Marsh Market, a new area of Zootopia that we haven’t seen before. It’s there that they meet a new character, Nibbles (voiced by Fortune Feimster), who they think can help them track down the snake. Nibbles, of course, is a self-professed reptile expert. Marsh Market is, like the other areas of Zootopia, rich in detail and humor, with countless gags and jokes. One of our favorites, which about five people will probably understand, is a sign for Marlin West – a seafood place in Marsh Market but also a nod to Marlon West, the legendary effects artist who has worked on everything from “Moana” to the Beastie Boys video for “Shadrach” (how cool is that?)
In Marsh Market, Nibbles, Nick and Judy ask a walrus for help in a hilarious scene where Nibbles and the walrus just call each other “bub” for a few seconds. It’s a much different version of an animation test that was shown off last year at D23, the Disney fan convention. Now, the scene was not only funnier and tighter, but the animation was also much more complete and so, so stunning.
Bush said that the case that Nick and Judy are embarking on is “far more dangerous” than they imagine and there are villains who have “committed a murder,” with noir influences sneaking in. He also said there will be references to sequels, specifically, with the weasel character from the first movie (voiced by Alan Tudyk) making note of the sequels in his sequence.
The final scene that was previewed was an eye-popping chase sequence through Marsh Market, with Nick and Judy chasing the snake, Gary (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) through the water. It’s an incredible sequence, with a ton of dynamic camera movement as Nick and Judy chase Gary and a couple of Zootopia constables chase Nick and Judy. The stakes are higher, the visuals are excellent and there’s a great character moment, too, when Judy wants to chase Gary through a subway system made up of aquatic tubes, while Nick wants to stop the chase. Nibbles tells them that if they take the tube, there won’t be enough air to survive. But you know Judy – she’s dogged to a fault. Both Nick and Judy jump in the tube, trailing Gary, and as the clip ends they are also both struggling for oxygen. Drat!
What made the “Zootopia” footage so compelling was that it clearly serves as an expansion to the world that was introduced in the first movie, but there’s so much of the charm and character that made that original film compelling. And while Bush promised that many of the characters from the first film would return, the stakes seem to be greater and the tone generally a little sharper and more threatening. There’s a decided edge this time, in the way that some sequels to the movies that “Zootopia” is often referencing would become darker and more morally complex with the second installment.
One of the other things that made the first “Zootopia” so powerful was that it was a movie about prejudice and about how that can define us. Bush promised that this movie was about communication and how so many of our differences can be sorted out if we just talked to one another. And it is fascinating how, in the current fraught climate, that Nick and Judy are on the run, ostracized by the larger police structure and forced to do what they know what is right (that just happens to be outside the law). These movies can offer commentary that other Disney films can’t because they are modern and reflective of our culture. And we can’t wait to see how all of this – the incisive social critique, the noir elements, the super-sized action – comes together in the full movie.
“Zootopia 2” hits theaters on Nov. 26, 2026.
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