Here’s how you know that your Walt Disney movie has made it to the big time: They create a roller coaster at a Disney park in your honor. Past Disney classics, from Snow White and Seven Dwarfs to Dumbo, have rides dedicated to their stories. Recent hits from the Pixar Animation Studio also have earned Disney Park attractions. Zootopia doesn’t have a ride yet, but after pulling in a record-breaking haul over the weekend, the park operators at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida might want to start planning a fan-friendly event. So when I sat down with the directors and cast at a Zootopia press day, I asked them what they’d want the ride to entail, and they gave great answers! Check them out below:
I love the reaction of Zootopia directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore, who genuinely seem like they are thinking, for the first time, about the idea of a Zootopia ride existing at some point in an official Walt Disney World park. And their discussion goes straight to the most interesting debates about how the ride should be constructed. What vehicle would the park patron ride in? Would it be the train that brings Judy Hopps from the suburbs to Zootopia? Would it be a police car, piloted by Judy and Nick, that is pursuing a new criminal who isn’t connected to the story?
I also like Jason Bateman’s idea that the different stages of the ride can play off of the different characteristics of the Zootopia characters, from his own Nick Wilde to the gruff police chief voiced by Idris Elba. But the guaranteed MUST part of the ride, if this ever becomes a reality, is that the Sloth needs to be part of the coaster. Will he show up at the end, when the ride is slowing down and getting ready to stop? Or will the Sloth be at the beginning, so everyone’s patiently waiting for the ride to go… and waiting, and waiting.
In Zootopia, animals function as humans in a domesticated society. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) moves to the big city with a dream of being a top-notch law-enforcement agent. Only, she needs the help of a sly fox (Jason Bateman) when it comes time to crack her first major case. The movie set all kinds of records for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and should continue to dominate at the box office in the coming weeks.
Can a roller coaster ride modeled on the winning movie be far behind? Or even Zootopia 2? We hope not.
