Cut to the chase: A sequel to 2016’s “Zootopia,” which was a commercial success and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, “Zootopia 2” is just as charming and arguably funnier than its predecessor. Fluffed with humor that will appeal to kids and adults alike, this sequel broadens the franchise’s universe and creates a rip-roaring adventure that will have viewers rooting for the under-bunny and -fox protagonists as they journey to incredible new lands and meet a host of new critter companions.
(© 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc)
Synopsis
Rabbit police officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her fox partner Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are fresh off their first film’s crime-busting case, which put the scorned sheep Bellwether (Jenny Slate) behind bars for good. Despite their success, no one in Zootopia wants to take a bunny-vulpine duo seriously. Their boss Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) has no faith in their competency, and other members of the force, which consists predominantly of beefier animals like bro-minded zebras and blood-thirsty razorbacks, write them off.
Snakes are exiled creatures, so when a mysterious slithering newcomer begins sneaking around Zootopia, Judy’s ears perk. Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan) is after the Lynxley journal, a relic of the city’s creation lore that has a hidden message proving the innocence of vipers everywhere.
Gary De’Snake, voiced by Ke Huy Quan. (© 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc)
Judy and Nick are on its tracks – or whatever trail snakes leave – to uncover the truth. The path to enlightenment is filled with colorful characters, like Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster), a conspiracy theorist beaver podcaster with connections to reptiles, a class of animal displaced into segregated communities.
Gary seeks the definitive proof that his grandmother was the actual creator of the city’s weather walls, a high-tech system that splits Zootopia into quadrants and creates various climates to accommodate all animals. Pawbert Lynxley (Andy Samburg) is the grandson of Ebenezer Lynxley, the man who took the credit decades ago. The race to find the smoking gun intensifies as Judy and Nick get closer to uncovering who is right and who is doing so very wrong. With ZPD, Mayor Winddancer (Patrick Warburton) and the weight of powerful political families on their tail, the partners must learn how to work together on a mission worth fighting for.
(© 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc)
Bear-y Funny and Otterly Bold
Writer-director Jared Bush worked on the first film, and he brings his best ideas for the sequel. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are two of the more endearing leads we’ve seen in an animated feature in recent memory, characters who appeal to the child’s dichotomous sense of mischief and morals, while also filling the script with enough humor for adult chaperones to enjoy.
What sets a Disney film apart from other animation studios is their attention to detail, small inclusions that make the world-building so much more palpable. There aren’t brand crossovers or product placements; instead, “YouTube” is changed to “EweTube”, and “Google” becomes “Zoogle.” Trivial details create a true sense of reality, and these characters are brought to greater life in vivid color because of these choices.
(© 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
Most importantly, the values promoted in this film make it a recommendable watch for viewers of all ages. Judy Hopps represents tenacity, morality, and overcoming adversity; Nick Wilde encourages teamwork, rationality, and integrity. Their mission seeks to promote equity and inclusion, rather than stereotyping one species long written off by Zootopia society. The moral of the story is commendable, without beating viewers over the head with its overt messages.
- MPAA Rating: PG for action/violence and rude humor
- Recommended Age: 7+
- Runtime: 108 minutes
- Where to Watch: Regal Meridian (Seattle), Pacific Place (Seattle), Admiral (West Seattle), Lincoln Square (Bellevue), Factoria (Bellevue), and more theaters.
- Nightmare Inducers: Though the Lynxley family members are the clear-cut villains, they are not overly scary, going only so far as to reveal their sharp claws and mutter threatening words, but little else. The storyline, as a whole, moves quickly and sometimes aggressively from location to location, with lots of action along the way. They crash cars, fall off cliffs, and keep a steady pace as they race from antagonistic beasts.
- Parental Note: There are weapons employed, mainly dart guns. Pawbert does use his final villain sequence to stab the good guys with bottled snake venom, though the antidote saves the day. There isn’t explicit death depicted, though many characters are injured, frightened, and abducted. A fire is set to smoke out witnesses in a few moments of peril. There are some light innuendos that parents will understand, but go completely over the heads of young viewers. (Maplestick has a punchy catch phrase that goes something like, “It takes two to tango, but a threesome to be something.”) And while there are a handful of euphemisms (“what the pork”) and mild-language insults (“dirtbag”, “butthead”, “dumb”), dialogue is generally good-humored.
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