Zootopia 2

Judy and Nick must go undercover, becoming fugitives in the process, as they chase clues across the face of Zootopia, following a mystery that involves the city’s dark history, and centers around a snake named Gary De'Snake.

Do you like your copaganda with sexy bunny cops? Is there nothing you like more in the world than a plethora of animal puns? Well then, you and the people behind Zootopia 2 have a whole bunch of shit in common!

And you aren't alone either!

The first Zootopia opened to record-breaking box office returns in several countries, and grossed over $1 billion, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2016. Among a surprising number of other accolades, Zootopia ended up being named as one of the top-ten films of 2016 by the American Film Institute, and it also won Best Animated Feature at the 89th Academy Awards. In short... the people loved it.

I was... so-so on it.

Despite that, a franchise was born. And in November of 2025, nearly a decade later, the prophecy was fullfilled and Zootopia 2 was released. As of the end of March, 2026, Zootopia 2 has now grossed $428 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.439 billion globally, for a worldwide total of $1.867 billion. This means that is has nearly doubled the take of the first film. It also reached the first billion mark within 17 days. Good fucking lord. This makes it the second-highest-grossing film of 2025, as well as the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, in both cases, finding itself behind the 2025 Chinese animated fantasy adventure film, Ne Zha 2.

What does this tell you?

People love animal puns. They love copaganda. And most of all, they fucking love the possibility of not only getting to see a moderately attractive fox make-out with a sexy bunny, but maybe even seeing the pair engage in a little heavy... petting… eh? Eh? See what I did there?

Boy, animal puns really are fun!

Now, just in case you saw the first Zootopia, but you don’t exactly recall any of the ins and outs of the plot, don't worry, because neither do I.

All I remember is that herbivores and carnivores live and work together, and everyone wears pants, and mostly walk on their back legs. Also, I know that it all starts with an eager but determined bunny cop rookie–the first herbivore animal to become a cop–being paired with a sarcastic slacker fox cop, and then they solve some kind of crime where the otherwise innocent-appearing sheep lady is actually the villain. And if you're like: "Hey! Spoiler!" at that, well, too bad, so sad, as the first zootopia is nearly a decade old, so shut up, and also Zootopia 2 starts with a recap that reminds us of all of this, which is how I even recall most of it in the first place, so that I can put up this little recap for you. Also, again... shut up.

Calling spoilers on a decade old film... you must be crazy...

I also recall that, if you looked a little too closely at the film's central metaphor about the harm caused by prejudice in the face of xenophobic political rhetoric, it very quickly got a little problematically muddled. This was mostly due to the way the story was basically an allegory for racial profiling, but at the same time, it was also presenting those same stereotypes as all being true, at least to an extent, with the most notable one being that carnivores eat herbivores because it's their nature, which when you couple it with the way the social metaphor lays across the society of Zootopia... like I said, it gets a little problematic. In the end, while this didn't quite break the film, it did hobble it somewhat. But what're you gonna do?

It was cute. The people loved it. And so the band plays on.

So...

Just one week after the events of the first film...

Unlikely Zootopia Police Department (ZPD) partners, Judy Hopps (the bunny) and Nick Wilde (the fox) are having issues working together due to their clashing personalities. Chief Bogo (a cape buffalo) threatens to reassign them if they are unable to resolve their differences. So they go to Couple Counseling hosted by a shrew, or a mole maybe, whose name I missed, but I'm going to assume it was probably a pun related to whatever kind of animal they were.

Later, while busting a smuggling ring, Judy finds a piece of shedded snake skin, but her worries are dismissed because snakes have not been seen in Zootopia for years. Undeterred, Judy unearths evidence that a snake may be at the Zootennial Gala, which is an event celebrating the city's centennial anniversary. It is hosted by Milton Lynxley (a Lynx), the grandson of Zootopia's founder Ebenezer Lynxley (also a lynx). The Lynxleys (all lynxs) are the richest family in the whole city, and the true power behind Zootopia. 

While infiltrating the Gala with Nick, their sexual tension so thick that you could cut it with a knife, Judy meets Pawbert (a Lynx), who is the youngest son and black sheep (not literally) of the Lynxley family. Meanwhile, a hooded creature infiltrates the gala and turns out to be a pit viper named Gary De'Snake (a snake). Gary then kidnaps Milton (still a Lynx), and uses him to steal an old journal that documents the creation of Zootopia's famous weather walls.

Y'see, Zootopia city is basically four zones: Tundra, Desert, Plains, Jungle, and the weather for each section is confined to that section by these massive walls that are basically giant air conditioners and/or heaters. These weather-regulating walls are the key to the entire Zootopian civilization. They are also why the Lynxleys are so rich, because they built these walls.

Or did they...?

Judy and Nick arrive on the scene, and during the resulting kerfuffle, Gary accidentally bites Bogo, which ZPD Captain Hoggbottom (a warthog) witnesses. The Lynxleys frame Judy and Nick for the crime, forcing them to escape with the journal, while Gary is saved by an unknown motorcyclist. Milton orders Mayor Brian Winddancer (a very handsome horse) to kill Gary, Judy, and Nick.

Now fugitives, Judy and Nick are rescued by the local mafia don, Mr. Big and his wife, Fru Fru (who are also maybe shrews, or maybe moles, I don't know. I'm not a zoologist, either in the way that means a scientist who studies animals, or in the way that would imply that I am a superfan of the Zootopia franchise). They offer to sneak Nick and Judy out of the city and give them new lives, but they decline the offer, and instead seek help from Nibbles Maplestick (a beaver), a conspiracy theory podcaster who likes to talk about what happened to the reptiles. Nibbles leads Nick and Judy to Marsh Market, a secluded bayou area of Zootopia where the reptiles hide. There, they meet Jesús (a basilisk).

And I know what you're thinking... it's weird that there's no obvious animal pun here, but au contraire, mon frère, because do you know what basilisks do? That's right... they walk on water. Get it? Just like Jesus did... y'know... from the Bible? Do you see? Do you understand? See what we're doing here? That's right... this is hell, a hell of puns. And we can't leave.

Anyway, Jesus explains that the reptiles' original district in Zootopia city was buried during the construction of Zootopia's arctic district, Tundratown, and that the same fate is planned for Marsh Market too. That's when the cops (mostly pigs, obviously, but also some hippos too, probably because hippos are responsible for killing an estimated 500 Africans a year, but I digress...). So yeah, the cops find them. So does Gary, who steals the journal, and there's a big wacky chase. It ends at an old mountain lodge, which is the perfect place to include mountain goats in lederhosen, so at least we can check that off the list now.

While there, Judy finds Gary and Pawbert are actually in cahoots, and are also possibly lovers, but that was unclear. She also uncovers evidence that reptiles once lived peacefully in Zootopia. Not only that, but Gary's great-grandmother, Agnes (a snake), was not only the author of the journal, she was the founder of Zootopia, as well as the engineer behind the creation of the weather walls, and that Ebenezer Lynxley was just a greedy investor who, much like Elon Musk (a piece of shit), stole all the credit. To do so, he had Agnes framed for murdering his unnamed tortoise maid (I'm gonna guess it was Shelly Slocumb), who tried to stop him from burning the original patent for the weather walls. Sally's death was then used to make the general populace of Zootopia see snakes and other reptiles as dangerous, which eventually led to them being exiled from Zootopia.

Oh, the generational trauma!

It's at this point that the cops show up to break shit and make things worse, because that's their nature, and multiple kinds of animal shit hits the fan. Nick is arrested, but Gary and Pawbert help Judy escape. Nick is put in jail, but with the help of Nibbles, who was also arrested, he escapes, accidentally releasing all of the other prisoners in the process. He discovers that Judy is at the Desert-Tundratown weather wall, and gets Flash Slothmore (a sloth), the one from the DMV in the first film, to give him and Nibbles a ride. Get ready for this shit, you guys... Flash? The Sloth? He drives really fast! HA!

Meanwhile, Judy, Gary, and Pawbert do some Raiders of the Lost Ark shit to find the original patent, which was hidden in Agnes' old house, deep beneath the snow of Tundratown.

And then it's time for the climax!

Betrayals, fisticuffs, last minute saves, puns, feelings, declarations of love, and comeuppances abound! Then the calavary arrives in the thunderous cacophony of golden-maned hooves! In the end, everyone is happy, except for the bad guys, and a new day dawns upon the city of Zootopia. Nick and Judy mend their relationship, and while it's never clearly stated in the film, to me at least, it's obvious that they had a lot of sex. That's what the carrot symbolizes. And I assume it was mostly doggy style too. Eh? Eh?

Oh, animal puns... how droll.

The two of them then set off to catch the lamb lady bad guy from the first film, as she had escaped with the other convicts when Nick was also escaping prison. This whole prison break will likely be used as a set-up for future storylines in much the same way Marvel Comics used the Brian Michael Bendis era Avengers' storyline "Break Out"–when the Spider-man villain Electro was hired to crack open the supervillain prison off of Riker's Island in NYC called The Raft–as a way to bring a lot of classic villains back as part of a line-wide relaunch moment, a new era at Marvel Comics, which included a new team of Avengers too–Spider-woman, Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Spider-man, and eventually Wolverine, in a relaunch of the Avengers under the title the New Avengers, which is the reason why the Thunderbolts are also called the New Avengers in their recent movie.

But again... I digress

In a post-credits scene, Judy basks in presumably post-coital bliss, replaying a recording on her carrot pen of Nick saying he loves her. After she turns away from the window, a shadow flies past, leaving a bird feather on her windowsill, signaling that birds will be the next species to be brought into the city of Zootopia. And I will bet that the birds live in a floating city high above Zootopia, where they look down from their great height, believing they are better than all the other animals, and so the story will center on privilege and wealth inequality or something like that.

We shall see, probably in another 10 years...

Zootopia 2 is a film about the beauty of friendship and community, the harm of generational trauma and the continuing fight for justice, and the benefit of being open-minded, all told with no small amount of Copaganda for kids, but most of all, it's all about those animal puns.

Gnu Jersey, Burning Mammal, Futurllama, Ham-ilton, Die Herd, The Pandalorian. It goes on like that quite a bit. And there wasn't just a vertible cornicopia of regular animal puns either, there were a surprising amount of Star Wars animal puns too. I get it, it's Disney, but still, damn. I will say, calling a moose-run catering company A-Moose Bouche was pretty good. Big hat tip to whoever thought that one up.

Overall, in a cheap and easy nutshell, this is an undeniably fun film.

The action is good, it's bright and colorful and looks amazing. It's packed with so much detail, and so much going on in the background, that I'm sure everyone who wants to rewatch will be rewarded with new gags and details each time. Plus, the general theme of diversity-as-strength works really well for both the greater story, as well as for the relationship between our two main characters. Finally, it all takes place in an undeniably anti-colonialist story that is basically about the history of eminent domain, especially the redlining of black neighborhoods to facilitate the white suburbs that sprouted up like toadstools due to white flight, which is bold.

Even if it is a bunch of shameless copaganda.

Much like the film One Battle After Another, the first film's examination of racial profiling and populism made it an accidental anti-Trump allegory. But that was mostly because anything remotely pro-Trump is by its very nature ridiculously racist, including his voting base, and the people who make excuses for them, all of whom are irredeemable bigots. So as a result, any media that's even vaguely anti-racist almost automatically seems like it's targeting Trump and his white christian supporters, because as much as the Good Germans of white America want to deny it, unlike gender, this shit is binary... you either believe that everyone is equal and should be allowed to exist and be happy, or you're an evil Trumper Nazi.

And since with the whole story of Zootopia 2 hinges on the idea that those in power used lies and propaganda in order to convince people that a demographic is dangerous, all so they can steal land and ideas for their own enrichment–basically a logline for American history, especially as it was released on Thanksgiving–I'm sure people will easily latch onto this film in much the same way.

Or they'll ignore it, because of a mix of privilege and stupidity.

But that having been said, much like the first film, while it's definitely impressive that they would even address these topics at all, especially in a kids film, and most especially one from Disney, who is no one's ally but the dollar's, the metaphor is a bit muddy and shallow. There's certainly no questioning of the system that allowed the Lynxleys to commit this litany of crimes, possibly including genocide–which is what would happen if you freeze the homes of a cold-blooded species–and to then stay in power all this time. It doesn't even indict the very handsome and majestic former horse actor turned horse mayor. It definitely doesn't question the role ZPD played in maintaining this system either, most likely from the very start, and up to and including Nick and Judy themselves for a large portion of this story.

But shallow or not, racism, prejudice, generational trauma, and a clear anti-colonialist sentiment are an undeniable part of this movie, as are such social issues as corruption, systemic prejudice, cultural erasure, racist rewritings of history, and even the unfair pressure that trailblazer's can feel to be perfect at all times, for fear of potentially ruining the opportunities for those who follow. Maybe it's a wide net, okay fine, but here's the thing, how do you talk about of any of these topics without including the others? The problem here is rooted in the intersectionality. As we've seen with Trump, it's not just him, it's not just the people who enable him, it's not just the people who voted for him either, it’s all of them, and it's the people who enabled all of them too.

It's The System, man!

I know. I know. But also, I'm right.

Anyway, maybe it's for the best that Zootopia 2 just skims the surface on these topics. It is a children's film, after all, and really, the basics the film very obviously does cover perhaps provides a nice jumping off point for potential discussions with children on the long litany of white supremacist-rooted crimes committed by white Americans thoughout the long history of this country, beginning from the very first moment European boots splashed down in the surf of the American continents.

That is, if those parents have the guts to be honest, of course...

And even if the film does get surprisingly dark at times as it touches on these subjects, it's still relentlessly hopeful and positive, and consistently pushes the idea that good will overcome evil, and the reason good overcomes evil is specifically due to our differences, it is specifically because we accept others for who they are, it is specifically because we deny the lies and confront the horrors of the past, embrace diversity, and work for a better future. And if I'm being honest here, the very act of injecting this kind of obvious social commentary into the kind of film that you can reasonably expect will be attended by the absolute worst fucking people in this shit ass country, and their children, is pretty subversive, and I fucking love it. I mean, the messages in this film, and the film itself, are the kind of things that could infect the next generation with empathy and compassion and a sense of fairness, the very things that shapes someone into an actually good person, so that they might grow into a force of good themselves, and go on to help to make the world a better place, regardless of how their awful racist pig-people scumbag fuckhole parents and community tried to raise them.

I mean... Fingers crossed, right?

That said, while the people absolutely and undeniably love this franchise, I just bounce off of it. There’s nothing inherently bad about this film, the animation is pretty incredible, it's fun, it's "funny" and has a good message, but... I don't know, it’s just not my thing. And maybe that’s because, with its glut of celebrity voices, and its broad comedy, it just reminds me too much of films like the Cannonball Run series, or the Ocean’s 11 series, or the Fast and the Furious films. It just has that basic-bitch tone for me. What celebrity voice will we hear next, folks? What animal will they be? Tee-hee. How will we make a pun out of it?

Ugh. No thanks.

But whatever. Who cares what I think? The kids will love it.