Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde may have a trip beyond their city limits ahead of them in ZOOTOPIA 3.
“I think this may be the first time that we travel outside the bounds of Zootopia City itself,” Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jared Bush told Collider recently of the third installment,
The city’s rabbit-and-fox detective duo will remain at the center of the adventure, he said, even as the world around them grows.
One addition is much less mysterious: birds are coming. In its September report on the D23 announcement, Disney’s official fan site confirmed that ZOOTOPIA 3 was in early development and that birds would play a major role. Bush screened an extended sequence for the D23 audience after the second movie teased the newcomers with a feather floating onto Judy’s windowsill.
“I was looking at the faces of my children who were in the front row, seeing everything through their eyes, and their excitement is next level,” actress Ginnifer Goodwin, who voices Judy, told D23 about the announcement.
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Goodwin had a pretty relatable challenge of her own: trying not to cry onstage. She also said she had been texting the creative team ideas, drawing on things she was discovering about her own relationship with birds. The new animals have already given her something personal to bring to Judy’s next adventure.
For Bush, expanding the animal kingdom goes back much further than the latest sequel announcement. He told Collider that he and director Byron Howard began talking about telling more stories in this world while working on the original ZOOTOPIA. Conversations about eventually introducing reptiles or birds, he said, dated back 15 years.
Families hoping to circle an opening weekend will need to wait, though. Collider reported that ZOOTOPIA 3 has no announced release date, and Bush described a studio schedule with room to move rather than a fixed countdown.
“That could be in a few different years, depending on how that movie is doing, how the movies around it are doing, how our world is doing,” Bush explained while discussing where the third adventure might fit.
He said Disney Animation works with a roughly 10-year outlook, with the first five years clearer than the next five. Since the studio’s animated movies take four to six years to make, he explained, artists need a sense of which projects lie ahead so they can plan what they want to work on.
The franchise already gives families more to talk about than its inventive animal neighborhoods. Movieguide®’s review of the original ZOOTOPIA highlighted its redemptive themes, forgiveness and positive references to prayer, while cautioning parents about scary action and some jokes. Nick’s growth from con man to hero helped give that first mystery its heart.
Movieguide®’s review of ZOOTOPIA 2 likewise praised its emphasis on sacrifice, working together, truth and justice, and overcoming differences through love. It advised caution for younger children because of light profanities, implied adult jokes and frightening peril, suggesting ages six and older.
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