The sequel to the Academy Award-winning Disney animated film Zootopia hits theaters this November, nearly a decade after the first film. Given the large gap between Zootopia and Zootopia 2, along with the fact that Walt Disney Animation has so many other beloved classics that feature anthropomorphic characters, we understand that fans may be hoping for a potential crossover between Zootopia and the Disney/Pixar classic A Bug’s Life. Yet Zootopia 2 filmmakers Jared Bush and Byron Howard not only shut down the possibility of any crossover between the properties, they also revealed that the insects from A Bug’s Life would be nothing more than soulless protein sources in Zootopia.
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Zootopia 2 Filmmakers Say Bugs & Fish “Have No Soul”
At a recent early access press day for Zootopia 2, the film’s directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard, delved into the extensive research that goes into crafting an imaginary city of mammals to life. Bush explained that having “very solid rules” about their animal kingdom is what guided the Zootopia 2 team; therefore, when deciding what their carnivorous mammals (and now reptiles in the sequel) would eat, the directors reveal that bugs and fish would definitely be on the chopping block.
“We found that bugs and fish don’t have a soul [in our research],” Bush revealed. A hot take, no doubt, but assigning them as the other characters’ food sources and not deviating from the decision once it was made was “the only way to make a movie like this, and we really stick to those things.”
Sadly, that completely rules out any chance for characters from A Bug’s Life crossing over with their mammalian counterparts in Zootopia, even if only in cameo. Disney and Pixar triumph in making the majority of their animated films feel as if they belong in one shared universe. However, the “solid rules” about bugs and fish being strictly food were one of the “solid rules” Bush and Howard embraced when creating and then expanding the world of Zootopia 2.
Zootopia 2 Introduces Reptiles in Sequel
Even though we’ll never see Flik or Dot from A Bug’s Life in Zootopia 2, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be new characters for audiences to meet and fall in love with. Ke Huy Quan is voicing Gary, a snake, and the first reptile seen in Zootopia proper in years.
Bush and Howard broke down how Gary presented a “massive challenge” for their team of animators and artists. “[He has] no arms, no legs, just all he can do is express himself with his body shapes and even how he moves through the world. And if you watch, he’s actually a beautifully designed character, like every scale and the color and how it all works together is incredible.”
The directors also teased the new world of Marsh Market, where several of the reptiles live alongside animals like seals, walruses, and dolphins. Yet the new environment in Zootopia 2 also presented some uncomfortable contrasts in its world-building.
“Going to Marsh Market for the first time, you have a dolphin, which is, you know, a marine mammal, next to a fish. So how does that work?”
Viewers will have to wait and see how Zootopia 2 is or isn’t able to thread together the different classes of the animal kingdom, all while presenting a new mystery for their lead characters, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) to solve.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
