One week after Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde become official partners at the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD),[c] their clashing personalities complicate their work; their supervisor Chief Bogo threatens to separate them if they cannot resolve their differences. During a raid on a smuggling ring, Judy discovers a piece of shedded snake skin; when she shares her discovery, no one believes her because snakes have not been in Zootopia for years. Further clues suggest the snake might be at the Zootenial Gala, celebrating the city's centennial anniversary, hosted by a family of lynxes who are descendants of Zootopia's founder Ebenezer Lynxley.
At the Gala, Judy befriends Pawbert Lynxley, the shy youngest son of the Lynxley family, while Nick notices a hooded figure, who reveals to be a pit viper named Gary De’Snake. As chaos erupts, Gary kidnaps Milton, the patriarch of the Lynxley family, and uses him to steal an old journal that documents the creation of the weather walls that regulate Zootopia's climate zones. Judy corners Gary, who persuades her that snakes are not bad animals and that the journal contains evidence to help his family. To protect Lynxley's reputation, Milton accuses Judy and Nick of aiding the viper to have them arrested. Gary accidentally bites Bogo, causing witnesses to believe Judy and Nick are responsible. They escape with the journal, while an unknown motorcyclist takes Gary.
Now fugitives, Judy and Nick receive help from crime boss Mr. Big and his daughter Fru Fru. They are guided to Nibbles Maplestick, a conspiracy theorist beaver knowledgeable about reptiles. Nibbles leads them to Marsh Market, a secluded area of Zootopia where reptiles hide. There, they meet a basilisk named Jesús, who explains that the reptiles' original district was buried during the construction of Tundratown, the arctic district of Zootopia.
Gary retrieves the journal from Judy and escapes through a water tunnel; she and Nick then ascend a mountain to reach an abandoned lodge. Their argument results in their shared recorder pen breaking, upsetting Judy. At the lodge, Judy uncovers evidence showing that reptiles once lived peacefully in Zootopia. The ZPD officers chasing them catch up and arrest Nick, but Gary and the motorcyclist, who is revealed as Pawbert, rescue Judy. They learn that Gary's great-grandmother, Agnes, authored the journal and was Zootopia's true founder. It is revealed that Ebenezer stole her credit and framed her for murdering his tortoise maid, who had tried to prevent him from destroying the weather walls' original patent. Since then, snakes have been viewed as dangerous creatures and all reptiles have been banned from Zootopia.
Nick, along with numerous other criminals, escapes prison with Nibbles' help. Nick and Nibbles locate Judy at the weather walls. There, she, Gary, and Pawbert activate an old clock tower to find a buried reptile district, deducing that the original patent is hidden in Agnes' house. However, Pawbert betrays Judy and Gary, revealing he intends to earn his family's respect by burning the patent. He injects Judy with snake venom, throws Gary into the snow, and steals the antivenom pen that could cure Judy. Arriving at the weather walls, Nick fights Pawbert for the pen and throws it to Gary, who cures Judy. Nick and Pawbert fall off the wall, but Judy saves Nick, and they mend their friendship by opening up about their emotional insecurities. Having survived the fall, Pawbert reaches the Lynxley manor and reveals his plan to his family, but the group catches up and defeats the Lynxleys with help from Mayor Winddancer.
Reaching Agnes' home, Judy, Nick, and Nibbles help Gary find her patent. Pawbert attempts to destroy it, but is knocked out in the process. With their crimes exposed, the Lynxleys are arrested, and Judy and Nick are cleared of all charges. Bogo recovers from the venom, while reptiles reintegrate into the city. Gary is reunited with his family, and Agnes is credited as the true founder of Zootopia. Nick gives the newly fixed recorder pen to Judy before they go on to recapture criminals, including Bellwether. Sometime later, Judy replays a recording of Nick saying he loves her before her neighbors interrupt. After she leaves, a shadow flies overhead and leaves a feather on her windowsill.
Patrick Warburton as Brian Winddancer, a stallion who is a former action hero actor and the current Mayor of Zootopia who officially succeeds Leodore Lionheart[‡ 3]
Tiny Lister as Finnick, a fennec fox and Nick's former partner in crime who acts undercover as a baby bunny. Lister, who died in 2020, reprises the role posthumously through unused recordings from the first film.[‡ 8]
In June 2016, directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore were in talks about the possibility of a Zootopia sequel.[16][17] On February 8, 2023, during the Q1 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the sequel was in active development.[18] Later that day, screenwriter Jared Bush confirmed that he was working on the film.[‡ 10]Ginnifer Goodwin, who voices Judy Hopps, told CinemaBlend that she would like to see a role reversal between Judy and Nick in the sequel. "I would like to see Nick have to be the one to convince Judy that the world is worth fighting for". Jason Bateman, who voices Nick Wilde, also told CinemaBlend about his idea for the sequel: "The two of us [Nick and Judy], kicking butts out there. Cleaning up the streets. We're a couple of new cops out there. So, bad guys, be warned."[19]
On February 7, 2024, Iger announced the film's release date and that the film would be officially titled Zootopia 2.[20] On April 15, Goodwin confirmed on her Instagram account that she began recording her lines for Judy, revealing that the film was in production.[5] At the D23 Expo on August 9, it was announced that Zootopia 2 would feature reptiles, and Ke Huy Quan was announced to be playing Gary, a snake being pursued by Nick and Judy.[6] Footage was also shown of a sequence in which Nick and Judy search for Gary in Marsh Market.[21] The following day, Bush revealed on his Twitter account that Fortune Feimster joined the cast to voice a beaver named Nibbles.[‡ 11] The same month, Bush was revealed to be the sole writer and director of the sequel, and Yvett Merino was revealed to be the producer.[22] On September 19, Jared Bush became the new chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios following Jennifer Lee's resignation to become director of Frozen 3. The following day, Bush confirmed that Byron Howard, the original creator and director of Zootopia, had returned to become co-director of Zootopia 2.[23] On April 3, at CinemaCon, new footage from the film was shown that revealed the casting of Quinta Brunson as a new character named Dr. Fuzzby.[8] At the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2025, it was announced that Jean Reno would join the cast, and that Maurice LaMarche would reprise his role as Mr. Big.[13]
In August 2025, it was announced that Macaulay Culkin, Brenda Song, Patrick Warburton, and Wilmer Valderrama would join the cast.[24] In September 2025, it was announced that Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, and Danny Trejo had joined the cast.[‡ 1][‡ 4] That same month, it was revealed that unused recordings of Tommy Lister Jr. from the first film would be utilized for Finnick in the sequel. Lister died in 2020, which led to Disney contacting Lister's family for permission.[‡ 12] The film was dedicated in Lister's memory per the credits.[25][bettersourceneeded] Originally, the Silence of the Lambs prison scene reference was four minutes long and taken verbatim from that film but was cut down because children were considered unlikely to understand the reference, and because it slowed the pacing.[26]
After the film's release, Bush admitted that at the start of 2025 story adjustments were still being made, with some elements of the final film yet to be added. This included the honeymoon lodge setting and the breaking of the carrot pen.[27]
On November 8, 2024, at D23 Brazil, Shakira publicly announced that she was returning to voice Gazelle for the sequel, revealing that she was writing a new song for the film alongside Ed Sheeran, and that Gazelle would don a new outfit.[‡ 2][‡ 13] In September 2025, it was announced that the title for Shakira's song for the film, which she wrote with Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin, would be "Zoo". The song was featured in the Zootopia 2 trailer that was released on September 29, 2025, and it was released as a single on October 10, 2025.[28]
On June 16, 2025, Michael Giacchino was confirmed to be returning to compose the score.[29] Giacchino's score was released as part of the film's full soundtrack on November 21, 2025.[30]
Zootopia 2 was released on Digital HD platforms on January 27, 2026, and will be released on Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD on March 3, 2026.[32]
Marketing
In November 2025, as a publicity stunt, three remote-controlled cars with animatronic puppets of the film's characters appeared in Los Angeles. They consisted of Nick, Judy, and Gary in a purple car, Finnick in his brown van, and Flash in his sports car. The stunt was reportedly received well by the public.[33] From November 25, 2025 to December 7, 2025, a pop-up store in collaboration with Stray Kids was held in Seoul.[34] Airlines such as China Airlines and Air Canada have also featured Zootopia 2 characters as special airplane liveries on one of their planes (a Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A220-300, respectively).[35][36]
The opening gross was $158.8 million in the United States and Canada over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, and $560.3 million worldwide;[39][40] the worldwide opening gross was the highest for an animated film and the fourth-highest overall.[41] The film performed strongly in China, grossing $271.6 million through its opening weekend and becoming the first Hollywood film to gross over $100 million in a single day on Saturday, November 29.[42][43] The worldwide gross reached $1 billion on December 12, within 17 days of release.[44]
Critical response
Zootopia 2 received positive reviews from critics.[45]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 219 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Cleverly laying a thoughtful message onto another crackerjack caper while solidifying Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as one of the most endearing buddy pairings in ages, Zootopia 2 more than justifies a return trip to the big city."[46]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[47] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 87% overall positive score with 65% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[48][49]
Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gave the film four out of a possible four stars, writing, "Zootopia 2 is pure delight, every bit as exciting and heartwarming and imaginative as the Oscar-winning original and maybe even funnier".[50]Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "more than worth the lengthy wait, knocking it out of the park with its dazzling visuals, sophisticated humor and doses of genuine emotion."[51] Clint Gage of IGN wrote "On the surface, Zootopia 2 is a bunch of cartoon animals solving crime and making jokes and learning to love and appreciate each other, but lurking beyond that silliness is a seedy underbelly of social criticism that deserves to be taken seriously".[52] Ed Potton of The Times gave it a four out of five scoring, stating that "perhaps most delightful, though, are the carefully drawn supporting characters, with welcome returns for Flash the sloth and Maurice LaMarche, the Vito Corleone-esque arctic shrew. Truly an offer you can't refuse".[53] BJ Colangelo of /Film felt it was one of Disney's best movies in years, saying "Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have solidified themselves as an all-time great duo in the animated Disney canon, and I beg that this won't be the last we see of them...Zootopia 2 may be the gateway to teach young viewers to question who sets the rules, and be inspired to break those rules if it means doing what's right.[54] Quinn D'Alessio of The Maine Campus praised Judy and Nick's relationship, the plot's similarities to the original film, and the new characters Gary De'Snake and Nibbles Maplestick, though felt that the film was not as good as the first.[55]
Peter Bradshaw, reviewing for The Guardian, gave the film two stars out of a possible five, describing it as "a soulless film-by-numbers affair filled with corporately approved jokes ... the kind of movie you put on an iPad to keep the children quiet on a long plane or train journey...the heart and soul are lacking."[56] Jake Coyle of the Associated Press gave it a mixed review, saying it "[spent] too much of its time away from its mammalian metropolis...The fun caper spirit of the first movie is alive enough to carry Bush and Howard's film, but you can't help feel like sequel-ization also means domestication."[57] Soren Andersen of The Seattle Times wrote, "Zootopia 2 comes on strong. Too strong. It seeks to bowl the audience over with noise, velocity and an insistent tone that frankly winds up being kind of irritating."[58] Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club praised the worldbuilding but felt that the plot was too similar to that of the first one, feeling Disney was "less invested in Zootopia as an artistic effort, churning out a sequel that feels more like a Disney+ TV show than an animated epic."[59]
Talks of a third Zootopia film began before Zootopia 2 released in theaters, with both directors and actors openly discussing different possibilities. With Zootopia 2 making $1 billion in record time, as well as the post-credits scene hinting at a story focused on birds, it is believed that a sequel is to be approved very soon. On December 21, 2025, directors Howard and Bush confirmed that Bush had already begun making early sketches for a third film.[65]
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