It’s no secret that Disney’s recent releases have largely been sequels and remakes, but Disney Animation Studios’ Ralph Breaks the Internet marked just the third sequel ever to hit theaters among the major studio’s 57 feature films, following 1990’s Rescuers Down Under and Fantasia 2000. The animation studio now seems to be hopping on the trend started by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar with more sequels. Frozen 2 is coming out later this year, and it would not surprise us if Disney Animation kept the ball rolling with their other big hits. According one of the stars of 2016’s Zootopia, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, we can expect to see more from the bustling metropolitan full of wildlife animals. Here’s what he said:
I can tell you for sure I’m gonna do another Zootopia with Disney. We doing three of them. They did three Madagascars. We’re gonna replace that. We’re the biggest film that Disney is producing. The last one was $240 million. This one I’m hearing might be $300 million. That’s what they spent on the budget, not the advertising. But the movie made $2.6 billion, with merchandising and the box office.
The actor, also best known for playing Deebo in Friday and President Lindberg in The Fifth Element, mentioned the existence of two in-development Zootopia sequels during a live appearance and Q&A at a Dave and Buster’s Ontario (via RingScoops). “Tiny” Lister played a fox named Finnick, who was Nick Wilde’s popsicle business partner-in-crime before Officer Judy Hopps came along.
It should be noted that Disney hasn’t yet announced plans to continue the Zootopia story. However, just a few days ago, Disney confirmed plans to build a new Zootopia themed-land in its theme park in Shanghai. The 2016 film also hit over $1 billion worldwide and currently sits right below the animation studios’ top earner of all time, Frozen.
Zootopia was warmly received by audiences and critics alike, especially being praised for its apt social commentary, and it took home the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2017. So for Disney to move forward with more Zootopia movies makes a ton of sense and is not surprising.
The film ended with Nick Wilde joining Judy Hopps ranks as a police officer, and the two became partners on the force. There are a lot of possibilities for the story to continue as the pair deal with crime in the busy city.
Disney Animation has not yet announced its upcoming projects after 2019, though it does have slots for untitled projects in November of 2020, 2021 and 2022. The studio could be holding off on announcing what is in development until the D23 Expo in August. However, with this fox is out of the bag, the studio might decide to make an earlier announcement about Zootopia 2.
You can check back with us as more news develops, and check out our 2019 release date schedule to plan your next trip to the movies.
