How Zootopia+ Fits Into The Original Movie's Timeline
"Zootopia" is an Academy Award-winning animated movie that explores topics like bias, corruption, and stereotypes, while also keeping things light with pop culture references, tongue-in-cheek humor, and plenty of details that only grown-ups may notice (via IMDb). Thankfully, the story will push forward with an original series on Disney+. After being announced at the D23 Expo earlier this year, the first trailer for "Zootopia+" shows us a glimpse of what we expect from the show (via Collider).
Viewers will recall that Zootopia is a metropolis populated by a wide variety of animals. Zootopia is a city that thrives because of its diversity, which is a recurring theme throughout the narrative. While the original movie focuses on the unlikely partnership between Officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and con artist Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), we get to meet plenty of other characters along the way. "Zootopia+" will expand on characters that we met in the movie and we finally know how each installment will be connected to the source material. Let's take a look at how the upcoming series fits into the narrative laid out in the original film.
Zootopia+ will show the perspective of side characters from the original film
Zootopia is a busy place, so it makes sense that plenty of action was going on across the city while Judy and Nick were on the case. Thankfully, "Zootopia+" will be filling in the gaps. Ahead of the show's upcoming release, Disney Television Animation News revealed details about the series. A Twitter thread explained that while Nick and Judy will be making appearances throughout the show, "Zootopia+" will follow different side stories going on behind the scenes of the original film.
Each episode will be around 10 minutes long and pay homage to a different movie genre. For example, one installment will be a musical episode centered around Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk), while another episode will be a parody of "The Sopranos" that follows the fearsome shrew Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche). One installment, titled "So You Think You Can Prance," will focus on Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) and Officer Clawhauser's (Nate Torrence) mission to get tickets for the Gazelle (Shakira) concert shown during the movie's end credits. Yet another episode, titled "Hopp on Board," will feature a storyline about one of Judy's many siblings that expands on the film's opening sequence. The plot of each "Zootopia+" episode will spring from details in the original movie, so a rewatch might give you more clues about what to expect.
"Zootopia+" will be available to stream on Disney+ on November 9, 2022.