Zootopia 2: The Rare Disney Sequel To Live Up To The First

We're living in the age of the Disney cash-grab sequel, and that won't change anytime soon. After avoiding making big-screen sequels for many of the major films in their history and strictly keeping any continuations to home video, the past decade has seen the studio backtrack. The result has been, so far, diminishing returns for any kid hoping for more high-quality adventures from the likes of "Moana." 

With an eye-watering sum reported to get the "Frozen" cast back in the booth for more sequels, it's safe to assume we're not going to see anything too creatively inspired from the Mouse House anytime soon. Yet all the studio's recent output has done is establish low expectations for "Zootopia 2," another sequel to an Oscar-winning hit that from the outside, you'd safely assume could have been a Disney+ original in another life.

However, there's one key distinguishing factor: "Zootopia" wasn't a fairy tale with a clean-cut happily ever after, but an offbeat take on the buddy cop comedy with hints of an even more expansive universe to explore, and far more animal puns — some inspired, most groanworthy — left on the table, much of which this charming sequel deploys. With that in mind, it's a surprise that it's taken nearly a decade for the film sadly not titled "2Topia" to arrive on our screens, considering there are no narrative obstacles for the writers to work around, and that it never threatened to hit the ever-expanding pile of canceled Disney animated sequels.

"Zootopia 2" picks up not long after the first film, and dives straight into another child-friendly conspiracy plot that follows the formula of its predecessor to a tee. But somehow, it never feels derivative like other lazy Disney sequels of late. The new corners of this world explored this time around allow for more comic invention than the narrow parameters of the studio's other fairy tale universes, and the relationship between the mismatched duo at the story's center is further fleshed out to the point that many grown-up audiences will likely view the film as a will-they, won't-they between a fox and a bunny rabbit.

The buddy cop comparison isn't flippant either, as writer and co-director Jared Bush — joining returning director Byron Howard — has stressed that the genre was an inspiration this time. Now both officers at the ZPD, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) have maintained that familiar dynamic; the by-the-book officer and the wild card happy to break rules to catch criminals. They're regarded as heroes after the resolution of the first movie, but patience is wearing thin after a series of destructive schemes, and Judy's insistence to investigate the rumored appearance of a snake — the rare creature outlawed in Zootopia — leads them into a direct collision course with the Lynxleys, the family who founded the city a century earlier. Judy uncovers a conspiracy that a snake was actually the city's creator, and was outlawed so the Lynxleys could take credit instead; as she tries to clarify the truth, the family uses their power to make her and Nick public enemies once again, forcing them back out on the run to help an entire species clear their name.

The first "Zootopia" had a hard-to-miss allegory about police racial profiling that, although its heart was in the right place, was more than slightly problematically handled if you thought about it for more than a second; the overall charm of the movie ensured you didn't linger on that for too long. There's no equivalent allegory this time around, with the plot point of a family of oligarchs pulling the city's strings to maintain their wealth too on-the-nose to count as metaphor, with nothing impactful to say on the matter that could count as a teachable lesson for kids. 

Once again, however, the lack of depth here is made up for by the ever-transforming dynamic between Judy and Nick. It does, however, misunderstand what makes the characters tick at times — the second act is kicked into gear because Judy is a fan of Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster), a conspiracy theory YouTuber (sorry, Ewe-Tuber) who has long been the sole voice to claim the city wasn't founded by its supposed fathers. Again, it's best not to read the film as social commentary this time, because Judy Hopps being interested in the animal equivalent of QAnon — which somewhat regrettably is proven right — might break the franchise altogether. For a seemingly straightforward animal kingdom, many of the bricks which build this universe are far weirder than you'd assume when you examine them closely.

This strangeness of "Zootopia 2" is what makes the sprawling city so exciting to explore, where for every lazy dad joke of a pun — Nick is watching a streaming service called "HuluZoo" at one point, as if "Zoolu" wasn't right there for the taking — there are several more moments of oddball inspiration. The third act features a chase sequence through a Burning Man-style desert rave, and the first genuinely inventive riff on "The Shining" since the famous "Simpsons" Treehouse of Horror short. Even supposedly expository details, like giant swimming slides which connect the rural water neighborhoods to the city center, have had their practicalities considered beyond the needs of the action sequence they're used in. There's a method to the madness — and that it still feels thrillingly oft-kilter despite following an established formula is the film's biggest triumph.

None of this would work if it weren't for the buddy cop dynamic at its heart, with the core relationship deepening to the point that both characters have dual existential crises here. My critical defenses were very easily worn down by Nick and Judy's gradual realization that they depend on each other, an overly sentimental plot which still manages to avoid the most obvious beats you'd expect from a children's animated movie about the enduring power of friendship. Perhaps this relative maturity is why it's easy to read their relationship as being more than friends, nor does the film itself do anything to dissuade you from contemplating this becoming the most unlikely of romances, which could very likely get your kids asking you some awkward questions on the car ride home.

That "Zootopia 2" has anything that will linger in the imagination long after viewing already puts it a league above Disney's other cash-grab sequels, but it effortlessly clears that lowest of bars. It's not perfect, but even the parents dragged along by their kids will be happy to see a third movie — and by modern Disney standards, that is nothing short of miraculous.

"Zootopia 2" arrives in theaters on Wednesday, November 26.