Why Zootopia redux still feels fur-ever fresh

"We are beyond excited to invite everyone back to the expansive animal metropolis of Zootopia to join Judy, Nick, and a whole new cast of characters as they embark on their next thrilling adventure," said Disney Animation chief creative officer Jared Bush at the event, who is also the writer and director of Zootopia 2.

"The growing partnership of this dynamic duo is tested like never before," Bush said. "To share the new chapter with our amazing fans inside an immersive land inspired by our original story is truly an experience of a lifetime."

Bush and Zootopia 2 producer Yvett Merino talked with the media on Nov 19, sharing how they brought back fan-favorite classic characters and introduced lovable newcomers, brand-new landscapes, and surprises into unexpected new parts of the animal metropolis.

One of the fun challenges was the creation of the colorful animal characters, Bush said. Zootopia "somewhat demands a lot of characters early on", he said. "They all have to feel like they are not like the ones around them, and then in this world, they also have to feel like they are true to the animal that they represent."

Collaboration played an important role in achieving the authentic representation of the large number and diverse species in Zootopia 2, he said. There are 700 people who work on any Disney movie, "and everybody has a voice … we are constantly asking for feedback and new ideas".

He talked about the "story jams", which are gatherings of up to 40 people for brainstorming creative ideas. He cited the example of a session about an area in the movie known as Marsh Market. "It's somewhat a weird location because there is no human-world equivalent to a place where you live above and under water, which is uniquely animal.

"So we said, don't worry about the story or what happens there. What might you find there? Just what's the most entertaining or smart idea?

"Thousands of ideas came out of these story jams for me," he said. Visual artists on the movie attended the sessions, drawing beautiful production-ready images, and the animation department also came in for ideas.

"Those departments typically don't get to interact until much later in the process. And the fact that we brought everybody in early meant that a story team could see how an animator was thinking a year before a movie would ever actually get to animation, and it really helped us a lot," he said.

Of all the new animal characters in the new sequel, Gary De'Snake is Merino's favorite. "He's so optimistic, and sees the world in such a beautiful way. I wish we could all be more like Gary. I wish I could be more like Gary," she said.

Gary De'Snake, with his voice performed by Chinese American actor Ke Huy Quan, is a character designed with Chinese audiences in mind from the beginning, Bush said.

Three years ago, when Bush and Merino began to talk about the reptile characters in the movie, "we knew this was going to be the Year of the Snake", Bush said. "It has to be (released in) the Year of the Snake, so that was on purpose … That was very important to me."

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn