Certificate: PG

Running Time: 108 mins

UK Distributor: Disney

UK Release Date: 28 November 2025

WHO’S IN ZOOTROPOLIS 2?

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Idris Elba, Shakira, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Macauley Culkin, Brenda Song, Maurice LaMarche, Leah Latham, Raymond S. Persi, Mark Rhino Smith, Tommy Chong, Tommy Lister Jr., David Fane, Danny Trejo, John Leguizamo, June Squibb, Jenny Slate, Alan Tudyk, Josh Dallas, Peter Mansbridge, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin, Robert Irwin, Jean Reno, Dwayne Johnson, Josh Gad, Stephanie Beatriz, Wilmer Valderrama, Rachel House, Auli’i Cravalho, Anika Noni Rose

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Jared Bush (director, writer), Byron Howard (director), Yvett Merino (producer), Michael Giacchino (composer), Jeremy Milton (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In the animal-populated city of Zootropolis, Judy Hopps (Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Bateman) take on a new case…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON ZOOTROPOLIS 2?

It’s understandable why the hype surrounding Zootropolis 2 (or Zootopia 2 for our US readers) isn’t as big as its Oscar-winning predecessor, because Disney’s track record with its own animated output in recent years has, quite frankly, been pretty bad. The studio’s original outings Strange World and Wish severely underperformed with both critics and audiences, and while last year’s Moana 2 comfortably entered the billion-dollar club it has otherwise failed to stick around in public consciousness as much as the original (pop quiz: can you name a single song from that movie WITHOUT looking it up? Yeah, that’s what I thought).

But any worries that Zootropolis 2 would end up meeting the same fate as all its animated films post-Encanto (the last time an original Disney animated movie actually left a mark on people) are very quickly put to rest, for while it may not be as thoroughly poignant as the first film, this is easily and by default Disney’s strongest animated film in years as it continues to explore new areas of its own fascinating world in heartwarming and often very funny ways.

Taking place about a week after the events of the first film, we pick right back up on bunny Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) – both now serving on the police force of Zootropolis, the animal-populated city that’s divided into various appropriate climates for its various prey and predator citizens – doing what they do best and busting some of the city’s biggest criminals. They soon catch wind of the illegal import of a snake named Gary (Ke Huy Quan), who belongs to the city’s discarded reptile population, and learn that he’s after a valuable journal belonging to the influential Lynxley dynasty (guess which animals they are), but one thing leads to another and both Judy and Nick find themselves on the run from the authorities, while trying to solve the mystery of the journal and why Gary is so keen on acquiring it.

Like the first film, Zootropolis 2 has an enormous sense of imagination when it comes to showing the viewer how everything operates for each individual animal in every one of these different environments, from the endless water tunnels for aquatic creatures to heat-preserving gates within certain desert landscapes. Co-directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard, the former also on writing duties, utilise many of these creative outlets to expand upon this world in ways that feel natural to the story, with Hopps and Wilde – a pair whose playful rapport and genuinely sweet connection easily forms the heart of the movie as it did in the previous one – taking the viewer along with them to places merely glimpsed at previously, themselves more often than not taking in the stunning imagery that’s brought to life by some excellent animation. If nothing else, Zootropolis is a world where you constantly find new things to marvel over, and both of these movies do extremely well at making them workable but also unique from so many other films where animals occupy city settings, not to mention filling them with fast-paced animal puns and sight gags that earn a good chuckle or two.

But when it comes to the actual plot, as well as the underlying themes that come with it, Zootropolis 2 unfortunately comes up much shorter than its predecessor. That film had a plot that was pretty unpredictable, with reveals and twists that were quite surprising amid quite a few intense moments (including a proper jump-scare), whereas this one is definitely playing it much safer by telegraphing most of its turns and sometimes repeating entire beats from before, all with a sanitised and less adventurous tone this time around. Without spoilers, this is also yet another one of these family movies that throws in the old “surprise villain” chestnut during the last act, and beyond the fact that this particular trope has been seriously overplayed ever since it was put to good use in Frozen, to a point where that film’s reveal has now practically conditioned most viewers to spot the signs as soon as specific characters are introduced, it ends up making no sense for the person it ends up being, for you really question their motivation and why they’d even do what they do for certain other figures who don’t seem like they’d care either way.

As for the other most notable aspect of the first Zootropolis movie, namely its accessible allegory for recognising and calling out prejudice for what it is, there’s much less of that here but, in a sense, that’s probably for the better. The original message came at a time when politics were only beginning to become as feverishly right-wing and xenophobic as they are today, and while it remains an important thing to depart unto younger viewers and maybe even some of the older ones too, yet another reminder of how racism is still a rampant problem in society would have been a bit redundant, especially after more than ten years of real-world events have proven that to be true over and over again. The topic is still present here, and even recontextualised to mirror the ousting of indigenous inhabitants by greedy capitalists (making Zootropolis 2 a surprisingly more accurate Disney depiction of the Native experience than its own classic Pocahontas), but it is considerably dialled down in favour of a more straightforward, yet still entertaining, family cop movie.

It’s certainly not perfect, especially in the narrative department, and like most sequels (especially Disney ones) it isn’t exactly on par with the original. But when compared to the quality of Disney’s more recent animated output, Zootropolis 2 might as well be a Disney Renaissance-era masterpiece. For the most part, though, it can settle for being a fun and inventive return to a world that’s always worth revisiting.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Zootropolis 2 is a bright and funny follow-up that might not be as narratively or thematically tight as the original film but still offers plenty of inventive wonder and lovable characters to make this a fun enough adventure for audiences.

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