Development
On June 16,2025,Michael Giacchino was confirmed to be returning to compose the score. [1] Giacchino said that he wanted to be involved in the sequel because of his experience on working in Zootopia being memorable and loved the work. Although he was committed to score The Fantastic Four:First Steps ,Giacchino was able to commit to Zootopia 2 as well,as neither project overlapped the other. Having liked the script and the directors' work,he began writing the music immediately after his work on Fantastic Four was finished,and said "it was not a tortured process." [2]
On scoring the sequel,Giacchino said that he had no rules on writing the score and had full freedom to express his musical ideas. Hence,the music has different styles,which Giacchino described it as "the most insane score" he had written,saying it was "more cartoony and dumber." [3] The musical styles change as the film progresses,ranging from Spanish to heavy metal. Giacchino recalled that he liked the Warner Bros. cartoons and how Carl W. Stalling's fun-filled compositions provided an energy to them,which balanced the emotions with the insanity happening on screen. Following a similar approach with the instrumentation,Giacchino went to a rental house and used a variety of percussions such as flapamba,as well as other instruments. According to Giacchino,he made the music "dumber" by experimenting with sounds and instruments,describing it as an eighth grade approach,but also kept the emotional core intact. [2] [3]
Giacchino was influenced by John Williams' approach for The Empire Strikes Back (1980),where he developed new themes for the film,expanding the scope and environment. Hence,he wanted to create new themes to weave into the fabric of Zootopia,as the film featured new characters and environments,which was fun-filled and different. Giacchino's favorite material was the score for the sneaky Lynxes,which were more fun. The theme was an elegant and old-fashioned waltz which felt very refined as well as a demented hero theme,while the theme for Gary the snake was rooted in history. [2] [3]
Giacchino began conducting the music even before the premiere of The Fantastic Four:First Steps. He collaborated with the musicians who he had worked with for around two decades,describing it as an emotional bond between the two. Furthermore,the score was recorded together in a single room at the Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage;Giacchino felt having every musician working together in an orchestra brought the soul and energy that was missing from when it was done separately,as it had been during the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] [3]
Shakira announced that she wrote a new song for the film alongside Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin, [4] [5] as well as returning as the voice of Gazelle. The song's title was later revealed to be "Zoo". [6]
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