Zootopia 2 Review: High Stakes and Snakes

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return in Disney’s Zootopia 2, a vibrant, twisty buddy cop sequel with heart, humor, and serious style.

The film picks up immediately after the original: Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin, Big Love) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman, Carry-On) are now full-time partners on the Zootopia police force. After spectacularly botching an undercover operation (involving a getaway catering van that had me snorting with laughter), Chief Bogo (Idris Elba, Heads of State) sends them to partners’ therapy led by Dr. Fuzzby, a scene-stealing quokka voiced by Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary).

When a venomous blue pit viper named Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan, Love Hurts) slithers into town, everything changes. He’s the first reptile Zootopia’s seen in a hundred years, and his arrival sets off a mystery that drags the duo deep into the city’s history. Before long, Judy and Nick are infiltrating black-market parties, crashing high-society galas, and unraveling a city-wide cover-up that puts their friendship (and maybe their jobs) on the line.  It’s all set to one of the most exuberant scores I’ve ever heard from Michael Giacchino (The Batman), keeping the film bright and buoyant and on the move for most of its 107-minute runtime.

Like the first film, Zootopia 2 walks the line between kid-friendly adventure and sneaky-smart social satire. But this time, there’s more bite. The jokes land hard. There’s a visual gag involving a certain Stephen King nod that had me wheezing. And the emotional swings? They feel organic to how these characters have evolved. Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard don’t just revisit old beats and favorite characters; they remix them and find new ways to elicit genuine laughter through smart writing. The tension between predator and prey is still there, but now it’s layered with questions about legacy, partnership, and what happens when trust starts to crack.

The dynamic between Judy and Nick is the key to the film’s breezy tone, and Goodwin and Bateman remain pitch-perfect in bringing their characters to life. Their vocal chemistry remains electric; Judy’s relentless optimism bouncing off Nick’s sardonic delivery creates comedy gold. There is a relatable texture to their arguments and misunderstandings, which gives the film texture. We’ve seen them work together before; now we get to see what evolves when working together isn’t so easy.

The voice cast runs deep. Fortune Feimster (Yes Day) transforms big-toothed beaver podcaster Nibbles Maplestick into your new favorite conspiracy theorist, while Patrick Warburton (Inheritance) plays Mayor Winddancer as a horse who genuinely believes his own campaign slogans. Andy Samberg (The Roses) plays Pawbert Lynxley, the black sheep of Zootopia’s most powerful feline family, while David Strathairn (A Little Prayer) plays the gruff patriarch Milton Lynxley. Married in real life, couple Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone) and Brenda Song  (The Last Showgirl) voice Pawbert’s snarky lynx siblings. Every one of them feels like they were cast with care, and with their own natural voices, not cartoonish affectations. It’s a flex that works. 

And that cast list only gets wilder the deeper you go. Frozen‘s Josh Gad shows up as ZPD’s IT mole. Disney CEO Bob Iger voices a tiger meteorologist. Moana‘s Auli’i Cravalho plays an anti-venom pen. It’s impossible to watch the movie once and pick out all the celebrity voices who drop in for a line or two. The animators clearly had a blast, and it shows. It’s like Disney made an animated Knives Out and filled it with actors who actually get the tone.

But honestly? The real star here is the animation. I’ve seen plenty of beautifully animated films that push the boundaries of the medium, but Zootopia 2 goes even further. The Marsh Market, the Reptile Speakeasy, and the dizzying water-tube chase are all jaw-droppingly detailed without being overwhelming. The numbers are wild. According to the production notes, over 2,000 shots were created. Gary’s character alone has more than 3,000 individually animated scales. Throughout the film, there are 67 different species and 178 unique characters to identify. The party scene near the finale features a whopping 50,000 characters on screen. This isn’t just technical flexing; it’s immersive storytelling.

What also struck me was how much of the film feels collaborative, not just on-screen, but in how it was made. Directors Bush and Howard brought in story artists, animators, even voice actors to pitch directly into the film, and the creative fingerprints of those idea generators are everywhere: tiny jokes, unexpected character beats, background gags that reward multiple viewings. You can tell this wasn’t just a mandate to “make another one.” It feels like a story they’ve been waiting to tell.

And while this is still a Disney film – yes, you’ll probably cry a little; yes, there’s a takeaway about coexistence – it’s refreshingly subtle. The message isn’t spoon-fed or tacked on. It’s about seeing people, or species, for who they are, not who you think they are. It’s about how trust isn’t a one-time thing but something you keep choosing, even when it’s messy. There’s no preachiness here, just a reminder that even the most unlikely partnerships can grow stronger through struggle and how even the so-called villains turn out to be more complicated than expected.

In a year full of safe sequels and hollow reboots, Zootopia 2 stands out because it builds on its predecessor with care. It’s heartfelt without being cloying, funny without trying too hard, and so richly animated you’ll want to see it again at home so you can pause it just to take it all in. I didn’t expect to love this one as much as I did or laugh as frequently, but here we are.

And if this is what taking your time looks like, I hope Disney takes all the time they need for Zootopia 3. Just make it this good again.

Zootopia 2 will be released globally in theaters from November 26, 2025.