Recently, it was revealed that a multitude of Disney Animated Films would be getting
major sequels on both the Disney and Pixar fronts.
These of course include Toy Story 5, Frozen 3, Inside Out 2, and the subject for today’s
video…
Zootopia 2.
With the movie so far away, it’s hard to guess exactly what’s going to happen in
everyone’s favorite animal metropolis.
But we can still speculate.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge and these are Zootopia 2 Theories we LOVE and HATE.
So, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting fan theories about Zootopia 2.
We’ll be starting with a theory put forth by reddit user u/DotWarner1993 Lionheart Escapes
Prison.
Mayor Lionheart was a major character in the original film played by legendary actor J.K.
Simmons.
Near the midpoint of the film, Lionheart gets put in prison under false pretenses.
Now, while his arrest is known to be for false reasons, the end of the film shows that he
is still in prison which goes to show how justice is carried out in the world of Zootopia.This
theory puts forth that Lionheart would either Escape prison or be let out as part of the
plot behind the second film, it’s unknown what other purpose he could serve, but at
the very least it would be the correct outcome for what happened to him.
Now, let’s be clear, while he is still in prison at the end of the film, there is a
sequel comic that shows he has been reinstated as mayor, however, the canonicity of this
comic is unknown.
So, yes, we have to mention that this almost feels necessary for the sequel in some shape
or form, so of course we love this theory and hope it happens.
The next theory on our list is that Bellweather Returns.
Dawn Bellweather is the main antagonist of the first Zootopia film where she works specifically
as a twist villain, not being revealed until the end of the film.
Bellwether was intent on drugging predatory animals so that they would act out in a physical
and dangerous way in hopes to stir up racial tension against them.
Without getting too deep into themes and reasons behind this decision, Bellweather is locked
up because of this and as of the end of the movie it’s deserved.
So, logic does dictate that due to her being alive, Bellwether returning is a scenario
we could see in the second film.
We don’t believe she would return as the main villain but perhaps she could take up
a Hannibal Lecter-esque role where she helps Nick and Judy catch the real villain.
However, as much as some people like Bellweather, a vast majority, including us would rather
she not appear, so we have to say we hate this idea.
A theory coming to us from reddit user u/NotAThrowaway1911 it will have A Focus on Nick instead of Judy.
While they don’t go into much detail about what this would entail they mention that the
sequel will focus more on Nick since the original film had more of a focus on Judy.
Now, this is very likely because Nick being one of the main characters only reveals bits
and pieces about his backstory during the first film and focusing more on him may reveal
more about him as a character.
Focusing on Nick shifting from a criminal on the streets to being a cop and how that
changes him as a person could lead to a lot of interesting plots.
Based on the upvotes this post has it seems we’re not alone in loving this idea.
From reddit user u/Taymyth in a reddit post six years ago, we have Nick’s Father.
As we mentioned in the previous entry, focusing more on Nick can lead to learning more about
him and his past.
Part of this is the theory of Nick’s father, we know almost nothing about his parents,
so Taymyth puts forward the idea that Nick and Judy may arrest Nick’s father, who may
or may not have ran away from the family when Nick was young.
Based on Nick’s criminal actions it’s not unlikely that he comes from a bad family
especially after the events we do see of his past where he was attacked for being a fox
and muzzled.
The theory then goes on to put forward that Nick would spiral thanks to finally meeting
his father for the first time in years and the plot of the film would be both Nick and
Judy struggling to figure out just who Nick is and who Nick’s Father really is as a
person.
As far as we can tell this doesn’t clash with anything in the preestablished story
and could very well work on it’s own if it isn’t already tackled somewhere else.
Some say that a lack of backstory makes Nick a more interesting character and while we
disagree, we can see why one may believe that.
Now, does this plot as written need to happen, no, but we do think it could be a very good
plot for the film, and we do love it more than one would think.
The first of two entries based on reddit user u/EvilStevilTheKenevil’s comment is Nick
and Judy Blackmailed.
Now as this is based on a comment, the context for this theory goes as such.
Nick and Judy did a variety of less than above board things during the events of the film
such as using the mafia to rough up a key witness.
This leads to the two being very clearly called dirty cops by the commenter and this brings
forth a very interesting idea with the two being less than good cops but we’ll be talking
more about that in the last entry.
Well, with how cheap and easy security cameras, phones and other such items are obtained and
able to be used, it’s likely Mr. Big has a lot of evidence on the two.
This could lead down a couple of roads but the idea that the commenter put forth is the
idea that the two are subsequently blackmailed, either by the aforementioned Mr. Big or by
someone else who obtains the footage and uses it against them.
So, either the two become dirty cops and help Mr. Big or they have to deal with the ramifications
of that issue, and either way it would lead to a very interesting situation that we don’t
believe has been tackled by anything else disney has done.
So, while this would need to be handled carefully we would love for these matters to be handled
by Zootopia 2.
Based on Ranker.Com’s list of thirteen theories for Zootopia we have Mr. Big’s Mafia runs
the Police.
Now, this sort of plays off the previous entry to a degree, but it comes down to a few different
things that sort of angle us towards believing this one.
Apparently this initially comes from a reddit user by the name u/flagnut1 and basically
puts forward that Mr. Big has somehow intercepted and entered the higher ranks of the Zootopia
Police Department and is the reason behind the lack of pint-sized officers.
This is of course beneficial to them since that would mean there was no one small enough
to police the Voles and their mafia.
Now, they also note that this may be changing due to the fact that Judy has befriended Mr.
Big and is of course the smallest officer in the police force, so of course this would
make the whole plan less useful.
However, we dislike this theory because it doesn’t sound like a plot worthy of following
up the first film.
From Bustle.com’s article about potential for Zootopia 2, we have More of Zootopia’s
Zones.
So, for context, Zootopia is a big city with a multitude of different zones that are supposed
to simulate different habitats for the wide array of different animals that exist amongst
the city’s borders.
Throughout the film we visit a handful of locations including Tundra Town, Rainforest
District and of course Downtown, however, the map we see near the beginning of the journey
shows a wide array of new locations we didn’t explore.
Considering the variety of animals we could see in places like Canal District, Sahara
Square and Canyonland it could lead to some interesting situations and different crimes
to tackle.
Whether that be camels and hyenas in Sahara Square dealing with the heat or Coyotes and
Bears in the Canyonland and their interesting possibilities we could probably answer a lot
of the questions we had at the end of the first film.
Considering how big of a city that Zootopia is it’s quite the surprise we see so little
of it in the first film and we would love to see how much more there is.
In a similar vein, based on the same Bustle.com article, we have Outside of Zootopia.
In the same section of the article, the writer mentions that while the other areas of Zootopia
are interesting, what may be more interesting is what lies outside of the city.
Now, we are aware of at least one place outside of Zootopia, the place where Judy comes from
seems to be on the outskirts of the city.
Now, if Zootopia is just one city it stands to reason that the rest of the world is just
as interesting even if Zootopia is the bustling metropolis that everyone seems to flock to.
At the very least, if not explored in this movie, a disney plus show exploring outside
of the titular zootopia would be a good idea and we would absolutely love to see it.
The next section is still based on that Bustle.com article, being about Fish and Fowl.
Now, this article isn’t the only one to bring this up, but something to note is that
while there is a wide array of animals across the city of Zootopia, all of them seem to
be mammals, and there is a surprising lack of Fish or other aquatic creatures as well
as fowl.
Now, this is in vast difference to the world of Sing which has all of these and more, including
Whales and Lizards.
Now, there’s a few reasons for this, it could be because these creatures could live
in different cities, but if this is the case it raises a lot of questions about Zootopia
as a city, maybe they are deeply xenophobic towards these creatures and as such they aren’t
allowed in the city.
However, as there is no reference to any of these creatures it means we may see some sort
of reference or even explanation of them in the sequel.
It’s not necessarily super important but we’ll say we’d like for this to at the
very least be referenced in the second film.
The penultimate entry on the list is still based on the Bustle.com article A Genre Shakeup.
The co-director Jim Bush said in an interview with Slashfilm that the original version of
Zootopia’s script was a spy thriller and Bustle.com mentions that this could be an
intriguing way to take the sequel.
Considering the more spy/mystery aspect of the first film combined almost expertly with
the buddy comedy style of many police films it would make sense to try a different style
for the second film.
Now, what would work is a different question, a frenetic action film could be fun and that
hasn’t particularly been tackled by Disney in a while.
Going into a different style of political spy thriller could be a very good idea for
this series but considering how dark that can get it may not happen.
The other ideas put forward by Bustle aren’t particularly great but maybe seeing the history
of Zootopia with a Western theme could be very very interesting.
However, considering the striking balance the first movie pulled we think something
tonally similar would be better, so we have to say we hate this idea, at least for this
sequel.
The final entry on our list is merges a few fan theories discussed in blogs and reddit..
Which is Societal Commentary of the 2020s.
So, as people have noted, Zootopia was a relatively well-written critique and showcasing of society
as it existed circa 2016 as that’s when the movie came out, so with this movie coming
out in 2024, it makes sense that the second film would also tackle this general central
idea.
Basically, this wouldn’t be a shock, given these themes were present in the first movie.
Considering the wide array of news and events that have occurred in the last few years…
. Things like massive viruses that YouTube still doesn’t love us talking about… wars
and even refugee crisis’… and discussions surrounding police brutality or various social
issues, how the studio chooses to handle these themes will be interesting.
Whether they hit people over the head with these themes, tiptoe around them or just go
the route of avoiding it all.
However you want to look at it, movies and animation have found themselves at the forefront
of these cultural conversations… and there is a pretty big divide.
Without over simplifying it too much, one side typically believes these perspectives
are very important and should be discussed, even in Disney movies made for kids…
In fact, some argue it’s very important for kids to learn these perspectives as early
as possible.
While others might disagree with some of the premises put forth, call some of it “too
woke” or just would prefer these topics not be put in children’s content.
The truth is, it can be tough to please everyone nowadays.
And Disney’s kind of found itself in the middle of navigating that.
So… where do we fall on this one?
Well, we’re gonna take the easy way out and say we have severe mixed feelings on this
one.
We’ll leave it up to you all to hash it out in the comment section.
But tell us what you hope to see in Zootopia 2.
And tell us what we should cover next.
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But most importantly, stay wicked.