Carrots and Wild, At It Again

Disney has had something of a roll as of late. While many like to fear monger and celebrate over the idea that Disney’s best days are behind and, one day, the giant conglomerate will come crashing apart, it doesn’t take long for Disney to right the ship once again. After the Disney Renaissance, with such hits as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, the studio then saw its animated fortunes dip with a string of underperforming films, such as Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. But the studio eventually brought it back, with movies like Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, and Moana. Hit after hit that showed the studio had life left.

One could argue that the studio was struggling once again in recent years. Raya and the Last Dragon died in theaters (in part due to COVID and in part because it was not great) and that led to an uneven run of films including Encanto (which did well on streaming after a middling run in theaters), Strange World (which bombed), and Wish (which also bombed). Everyone talked about how Disney had lost their magic and this was the end of the animation side of the studio. And yet, then Moana 2 came out and made a Billion at the Box Office. And then Zootopia 2 came along and became Disney’s highest grossing animated theatrical release ever ($1.593 Bil and counting).

So is the studio dead or was that all just empty doom and gloom. On the one hand, it’s hard to ignore those numbers. Two billion dollar films at the Box Office (not counting the resurgence of Pixar in theaters as well) is a line on the balance sheet any bean counter would love. But at the same time, audiences seem to show up only for the sequels, not for original stories. And Disney has a habit of making soulless, cash-grabbing sequels, so could it be that this is just more of the same? Feed the masses warmed-over slop that they’re familiar with to rake in easy cash.

I think in some ways you could read it like that. Certainly in the case of their live-action remakes and some of their sequels that would be accurate. Mufasa: The Lion King was as soulless as they come, while Moana 2 was pretty but weirdly shallow. But sometimes the studio’s magic is still there, and you can see why audiences keep coming back again and again. Zootopia 2 is one of those films that does, indeed, live up to the magic. While it might not be as good as the first Zootopia, it’s still a fun, funny, and entertainingly made film that gives audiences exactly what they liked about the first film all over again. Does that mean Disney is doing great? Maybe not, but at least in this case we can be happy to take what the studio gives us.

Zootopia 2 picks up not long after the events of the first film. Rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are the newest officers working the beat for their city, which is great since it shows that progress on equality is being made. Unfortunately after they get a little too head strong and make a bit of a mess of their first case, they’re put on very strict probation. One more screw up and their boss, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), will be forced to split them up. They really don’t want to work with anyone else, and frankly Nick doesn’t want to work at all, but Judy knows if they can just prove themselves again, this time everyone will take them seriously.

This leads Judy to drag Nick to the gala ball where the founding document of the city, a codex created by the powerful Lynxley family that set down the functions, layout, and rules for the city. Judy even meets one of the Lynxley sons, Pawbert (Andy Samberg), a nice enough guy that just wants to make his family proud. Unfortunately, during the gala, a pit viper, Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan), infiltrates the event and manages to make off with the codex as well as the patriarch of the Lynxley family, Milton (David Strathairn). Judy and Nick foil the snake, in part, but are seemingly framed for the attack on Milton as well as Chief Bogo. The two are forced to go on the run to get answers about the snake, the codex, and how it all ties into the creation of the city they love so much.

Credit where it’s due, Zootopia 2 doesn’t try and tell the same story as the first Zootopia. While, sure, it’s still a police procedural with our two outsider cops working a case no one else sees or believes in, the bones and events that take place are very different. This isn’t a film that feels the need to rehash or revisit events from the first film, instead finding a way, more often than not, to strike out on its own path, create its own characters, and revel in its own jokes, all without retreading too much of the past.

That’s an important thing because, too often, sequels, especially comedy sequels, are all too ready to redo all the scenarios and jokes that made the first film work. “You laughed at this the first time, so surely you’ll laugh at it again when we do it in the sequel verbatim.” I recently watched Zombieland: Double Tap for the first time and I was annoyed at how much of that film was a lazy, blatant, retread of the first movie. Zootopia 2 avoids all that, aside from a couple of very brief cameos of characters from the first film, and its comedy is much stronger for it.

Despite its anthropomorphic characters and animated setup, this is a police comedy through and through. It’s powered by two great leads, Goodwin and Bateman, who absolutely steal the show every time their characters are on screen (which is good, since they’re the leads). It’s the winning dynamic of Judy’s gung-ho spirit and Nick’s dry, sarcastic delivery that really drives the scenes. This is quite the funny movie, with plenty of solid gags, great line readings, and so many jokes that land. Honestly, it’s funnier than plenty of live-action comedies I’ve seen in recent memory, and the fact that it comes in a family-friendly, Disney package is a testament to the creative power of Jared Bush and Byron Howard (who also worked together on the first film).

What I will say, though, is that while the main characters are great, and the film works so well because of them, the side characters aren’t as well developed. Pawbert is a slight character who’s clearly there to motivate the story’s plot. Gary is amusing in places, but he’s clearly the character meant to give you emotional feels (as he’s really the put-upon good guy, as we quickly learn), but I wouldn’t say they’re strong enough on their own otherwise. And then there’s the beaver character, Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster), who is just absolutely obnoxious. They’re a conspiracy theorist functioning as the exposition dump character for the film, but if they were removed the film would be better for it.

And yet, despite this, I can’t really hate the film. I really, really enjoyed my time in the theater with it, watching the film with my wife. Yes plenty of the characters aren’t strongly developed, but that doesn’t take away from the strength of the leads. It makes you appreciate them more, and since they’re in every scene, that’s not really such a bad thing. And the film absolutely sings when their dynamic duo is firing. The story works because the characters work and the characters work because the two lead actors are so good in the roles.

I don’t think Zootopia 2 is as strong as the first film, but it’s still a great movie that gets its job done well. It’s fast and funny and hits all the beats it needs to. Perhaps its formula will wear out eventually (a third film is already in the works) but for now, Disney has a solid sequel they can hold up to show everyone they’re still on top. And for a little while longer that will still be the case…