“They Should Love Each Other for Exactly Who They Are”

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[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Zootopia 2.]

Summary

In ‘Zootopia 2,’ Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde realize a pit viper named Gary De’Snake is on the loose in the animal metropolis that hasn’t seen a snake in a century.
Fun animal puns and gags blend with a sweet, honest friendship story with emotional beats and heartfelt moments.
An end credits tease hints at a possible ‘Zootopia 3,’ which the cast hopes to get to do.

The Walt Disney Animation Studios sequel Zootopia 2 follows rookie cops Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) as they continue to test their partnership and deepen their friendship. When the duo uncovers a snake – Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) to be exact – among them, it sends them on a journey to uncover what he’s doing in Zootopia and solve the mystery of what happened to the reptiles. As Judy and Nick move through the animal metropolis looking for answers, they also realize just what they mean to each other.

During this interview with Collider, Goodwin and Bateman discussed how much Judy and Nick benefit from one another, their hope that the tease at the end means they’ll get to return for a Zootopia 3, the emotional moments that they worked hard to get exactly right, and having Judy’s bravery match her enthusiasm. Bateman also talked about his plan to direct The Partner with Tom Holland.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman Believe ’Zootopia 2’s Judy and Nick Should Love Each Other for Who They Are

“They really can benefit from one another.”

Nick Wilde is a tuxedo on a window ledge with Judy Hopps in a yellow gown at the Zootennial Gala in Zootopia 2

Collider: In the first movie, Judy and Nick became friends. In this movie, they’re working out their partnership, so they’re learning some new things about each other. With everything that they’re learning, what would they want to change about each other and what would they never want to change about each other?

GINNIFER GOODWIN: I legit feel like what we learned in this one, not that this is going to, in practice, actually happen, but I feel like they learn, at the end, that they should love each other for exactly who they are.

JASON BATEMAN: And that they really can benefit from one another. We’re getting dangerously close to the opposites attract and tension-is-humor problem with this. They’re starting to really like each other a lot, at least my character is starting to change a bit for the better. Judy doesn’t need a lot of changing.

GOODWIN: Yeah, she’s pretty perfect.

BATEMAN: So, I don’t know where [Zootopia] 3 would go if we were lucky enough to do a third.

GOODWIN: It would be funny if that’s what 3 is about.

BATEMAN: You’re right.

GOODWIN: We just wrote it. You heard it here first.

Judy and Nick walking around Marsh Market in Zootopia 2

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After nearly a decade, the world of Zootopia returns bigger and better than ever.

We waited a decade for the sequel. Especially with the tease at the end of this film, you can’t make us wait that long for a third film.

GOODWIN: She saw the tease.

BATEMAN: She saw the tease.

Of course, I saw it.

GOODWIN: A lot of people did not see the tease.

I know, I saw people leaving. I don’t know what’s wrong with people.

GOODWIN: I don’t either.

BATEMAN: We were getting ushered out.

After that, how can you not do a third one immediately?

GOODWIN: I agree. I don’t think it would be as long. Hopefully. I don’t know. We’re getting up there.

BATEMAN: Do you mean the run time of it or the wait to do it?

GOODWIN: No, no, no, no, the wait to do the next one. I don’t know how much older they’d want us to be getting. I mean, we look amazing.

BATEMAN: As long as our voices didn’t age that much.

GOODWIN: Do they?

BATEMAN: I don’t know if they do. Do you sound older as you get older? We’ll be right back.

GOODWIN: Someone Google this. I’m thinking about some singers and their voices. Anyway, we won’t harp on that.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman Wanted to Get ’Zootopia 2’s Emotional Moments Exactly Right

“I did that scene more than any other scene.”

The movie is obviously fun and funny, and it has all these fun animal puns and gags, but it’s also just a sweet, pure, honest story of friendship. For that moment you guys share, when you’re expressing to each other how much you truly mean to each other, how important was it to get that just perfect? And did it change or evolve at all while you’re doing it?

GOODWIN: By the way, I think I did that scene more than any other scene. That and the moral of the story scene, which I did so many times. And then, I don’t speak in it now, which I was so pleased by. It was haunting me because we kept re-recording it. I was like, “Something’s not right.” And then, I saw it and I was like, “Oh, they gave it to you because that was the right thing to do.” That’s why it wasn’t right. I wasn’t supposed to share the moral of the story at the end.

BATEMAN: That’s probably because no one would be surprised to hear the moral of it from Judy because Judy is all-knowing and is pretty enlightened. The fact that Nick needed some sunshine to see things is a bit of a cool thing that I saw in this film. As she said, we did do those scenes quite a bit because the directors, as they should be, are super tasteful and while the thematics, the morals, and the ethics of this thing are important to get right, they also don’t want to hammer you with it. They’re constantly trying to italicize or underline just the right moment or word, here or there. I was noticing, watching the film for the first time, that the moments that are super hitting the nail on the head, they cut away from the character that’s speaking about it and they go to some other image. They’re trying to get it just right, so you never get to the point of, “We get it.” They’re super tasteful and hip, these guys.

Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps sitting in chairs and wearing nametags in Zootopia 2

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“We love this world. We love hanging out with these characters. We love continuing their journey,” says Jared Bush, who also wrote the film.

Jason, as much as I love your work as an actor, I also love your work as a director. Is it true that you’re going to be directing Tom Holland for The Partner?

BATEMAN: Yeah. But like all things, there’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen before we end up in a junket about it. So, all fingers and toes crossed.

What was it about that project that made you say, “I want to direct that story”?

BATEMAN: Plenty of things that would take much longer than we’ve got here. But Zootopia is something to see.

In ‘Zootopia 2,’ Judy Hopps Wants to Represent Something Bigger Than Herself

“Part of being brave is figuring out when to be brave.”

Judy Hopps runs towards something off-screen while Nick Wilde follows her in desperate pursuit

Ginnifer, it feels like Judy has finally gotten to where her bravery matches her enthusiasm.

GOODWIN: Oh, yes!

Do you feel like that was something that was important for her to find in her growth?

GOODWIN: I suppose so because, as we’ve discussed, she’s already in such a good place with no issues at all. I do feel like her ambition gets her into a lot of trouble, maybe not externally as much as it sabotages her actual mission in life. Her life goal is to represent something bigger than herself, and she sabotages that in a number of ways because of her behavior. I think that part of being brave is figuring out when to be brave. So yes, that was a very important lesson for her to learn in this.