Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are back to save the city from prejudiced mammals once again in Zootopia 2, this time tracking down a reptile with a secret. The film shares nice messages about overcoming prejudice, celebrating our differences and helping your fellow man, uh, animal. But parents will want to note some minor references to films geared more toward adult audiences.
You know what the hardest part is about saving your city from a maniacal sheep?
Figuring out what you’re going to do after.
Not that officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have had much chance to explore the possibilities.
Oh, yes, Judy (a rabbit) and Nick (a fox and former con artist) were Zootopia’s biggest heroes for a while after they brought the nefarious Dawn Bellwether to justice. They learned a lot along the way, too: Nick taught Judy that her prejudices against predators were wrong. Judy taught Nick to obey the law every now and again—a lesson that led to Nick becoming a police officer. And the two became friends, too.
But lately, the cases they’ve been assigned have been, well, boring. I mean, Judy may as well be back on parking duty.
Judy so earnestly wants to prove that her and Nick’s differences are an asset, not a liability. But in her eagerness to solve the next big case, thereby proving their partnership wasn’t a fluke, Judy causes the department quite a bit of turmoil—the kind of turmoil that gets Chief Bogo yelled at by the newly elected Mayor Winddancer.
But Judy really thinks she and Nick are onto something. They found a recently shed snake skin in the van of a known smuggler. That’s a big deal, because there hasn’t been a snake in Zootopia in over a hundred years, not since snakes were kicked out for the murder of a tortoise. Judy suspects that the interloping snake may be after the Lynxley Journal—a journal that contains the blueprints for Zootopia’s weather walls, the walls that allow animals from so many different biomes to live together in harmony. The journal is supposed to be on display at a gala event.
But Bogo tells Judy that she’s not allowed to investigate. She and Nick may have saved the city once, but that doesn’t give her license to do whatever she wants on a hunch.
If Judy really wants to prove that Zootopians are “better Zoogether,” she needs to start with her own partnership with Nick. Because lately, her wild antics haven’t only hurt Bogo and the department. They’ve hurt Nick.
And if Judy and Nick can’t get their act together, it will hurt the case for any future different-species partnerships, too.
If Zootopia 2 has a core message—and it certainly seems to have one—it’s about the importance of conquering prejudices and celebrating each other’s differences.
Judy and Nick are sent to a therapy group called “Partners in Crisis.” The therapist leading the session correctly identifies that Judy prioritizes her need to prove herself above Nick’s feelings. However, Nick withholds his feelings from Judy because he’s “emotionally insecure.”
As it plays out early on, both partners are in denial and want to dismiss the therapist. That, of course, leads to several misunderstandings as the pair fails to communicate clearly. However, as the film progresses, they realize the therapist was spot on. Nick and Judy apologize to each other, explaining that they each only acted out because they care about each other (and each other’s opinions) so much.
Nick and Judy discover that a snake is indeed after the Lynxley Journal, though not for the reasons everyone initially believes. Gary De’Snake believes the journal holds a secret—proof that snakes aren’t evil and never killed anyone, in fact. Gary only wants to prove his family’s innocence so that they can finally come home to Zootopia.
We hear that the creator of Zootopia’s weather walls designed the walls after witnessing many animals suffering in biomes unsuited to their species. The creator didn’t believe it was right for the weight of the world to be on any one animal’s shoulders (a sentiment that is echoed multiple times throughout the film). The walls’ creator wanted everyone to be able to live together in harmony so that they could all continue to help each other and make the world a better place together.
Judy, Nick and others risk their lives to help each other. They also risk their lives to help the snakes because they believe it will make the world a better place. Gary never gives up hope.
Judy’s grandma tells her that she “prays everyday” for Judy to leave Zootopia and come home.
A sheep has its wool shaved to make it appear that it has a six-pack and muscular pecs. However, an accident results in the wool getting shaved to look like a bra. The sheep embraces this change, saying, “Beautiful.”
Several characters mistake Nick and Judy for a couple. The two are not romantic, but when Judy dons a ballgown, Nick seems to find her attractive. Elsewhere, they go undercover as a married couple with a baby. Judy’s grandmother says she hopes Judy will come home and “make babies.”
Animals attend a “Burning Mammal” music festival. There, male and female attendees where tight leotards and belly-baring tops. Several male characters also wear speedo-like bottoms. They all dance and hop around together. At a concert performance, a singer wears a cropped tank top and shorts. Her dancers (all male tigers) do not wear shirts.
We’re told that Marsh Market (Zootopia’s swamp-like biome) is the only place an animal can get away with wearing a shirt but no pants, and we indeed see a few pants-less animals. One animal there gets a tattoo on its lower back. A walrus giving a river tour has life preservers on his chest, almost like a bra.
When a lizard’s tail pops off, Nick tries in vain to reattach it before the owner realizes. However, when she does, she flirtatiously tells Nick to keep it (she wears shorts and has her shirt tied together under her breasts).
There are pictures of goats kissing in a honeymoon lodge. When the floor collapses, two animals fall onto a bed together, and the fallen blankets make one look as though it is wearing a wedding veil.
A few characters ask for “permission to hug” before embracing friends, though this isn’t meant to be sexual. The anthropomorphic animals of Zootopia sometimes have exaggerated human-like features (such as breasts).
One family of lynxes is particularly violent, with members ordering multiple deaths and using their own claws to threaten and fight. (A member of another species describes them as killers with no honor.) We know a member of this family killed someone in the past. Another member attempts to kill three other people (his victims are all narrowly saved).
During a fight, someone swings Gary De’Snake around like a flail, causing one of his venomous fangs to pierce Chief Bogo’s head. Judy removes the dislodged fang, and Gary tells her he carries the antivenom. Before they can administer it, other officers arrive and mistake Gary and Judy for the chief’s attackers, so they’re forced to flee the scene. Later, the mayor mistakenly (and briefly) frightens people into thinking the chief has died, but we learn Bogo survives. Extracted snake venom is used as a weapon elsewhere, nearly killing a couple of other people.
A Zootopia police officer is ordered to kill some suspects. She swaps out her gun’s tranquilizer darts for lethal ones, but then she refuses to pull the trigger. The gun goes off accidentally, and Judy leaps in front of its intended target. A timely interruption protects both her and the would-be victim.
We see animals fighting in several different scenes, but nobody sustains any permanent damage. The same cannot be said for Zootopia’s infrastructure. High-speed chases result in damaged buildings and personal property. Animals are knocked and smacked around, too, but they’re little worse for wear. Someone is knocked unconscious. An elephant drops a barbell on his foot. A frying pan is used as a weapon.
Judy is warned not to use Marsh Market’s water tubes, since she’ll run out of air. She ignores this warning and hops in. Nick dives after her and narrowly saves her from drowning. Several characters nearly fall to their deaths throughout the film, narrowly escaping each time. When one character does fall from a great height, he survives. Judy is hit with a tranquilizer dart mid-leap, causing her to fall unconscious, but her friends catch her before she hits the ground.
While undercover, one animal wears two casts while his comrades tell someone he hurt his legs and lost his tail in an accident. Someone jokes that a tortoise died a “slow death.” We hear that coins are a choking hazard for sea lions. Someone tries to freeze a snake to death.
A sheep is kept in a glass prison cell, a direct reference to the cell where Hannibal Lecter (a cannibal) was kept in the R-rated Silence of the Lambs. A homicidal lynx staggers through a maze, another direct reference to an R-rated film (The Shining).
God’s name is misused a couple of times. Someone exclaims, “What the pork?” We hear the insult “butthead.”
Animals pop open a bottle of champagne at a party. We see animals drinking what appear to be alcoholic beverages in a few scenes, including at a formal party and a bar—and some background characters even appear to be inebriated. We hear about “piña koalas” several times.
Judy and Nick secretly investigate a smuggling case. When they disobey Chief Bogo’s orders to stand down, the smuggler almost gets away. However, other officers onsite manage to nab the guy—and Judy is frustrated when they take full credit for the arrest. Elsewhere, the pair accidentally releases more than 200 dangerous criminals from prison.
Nick and Judy steal a car to engage in a high-speed chase with a criminal. (They also break and enter.) Nick steals a woman’s necklace but immediately returns it to her, a ruse to trick her into inviting him to join her in the VIP section of a party. Judy sometimes lies to Nick, which is part of the reason for the discord in their relationship.
Officers mock Nick and Judy and play pranks on them. Insults are hurled. Nick admits that he uses humor as a defense mechanism because he had a “traumatic childhood.”
Siblings are rude to their brother. In an attempt to fit in better with his family, a character acts dishonestly. He betrays people who thought he was their friend. And when given the chance to be different from his family, he says he doesn’t want to.
We see the workings of a knockoff purse operation. We learn that the mayor got his political position through dirty deals with a bad guy. He is forced by those people to do some bad things himself to keep his position (though he eventually decides to do the right thing).
Someone uses a poop emoji in a text. A goat coughs up some flowers onto someone’s face. Nick and Judy are tricked into eating grubs, which they gag down.
Many characters, including Nick and Judy, are rude to a beaver who streams her own conspiracy theory channel. Someone hints that she might be crazy from lead poisoning, due to her penchant for gnawing on pencils.
Most Zootopian mammals are prejudiced against reptiles, especially snakes. Over a hundred years ago, one mammal used that prejudice to his advantage, convincing the citizens of Zootopia that snakes were evil. In the present, his descendants believe they are better than everyone else (though they put on a more modest face in public). They continue to propagate a bias against reptiles while secretly plotting to increase their own territory.
When Zootopia came out in 2016 it taught important lessons about prejudice and overcoming our differences. Zootopia 2 carries on in that same vein, teaching audiences that prejudice still isn’t OK and, even more, that our differences can help us, not hurt us.
Judy and Nick serve as the primary embodiment of that message. In the first film, Nick the fox should have been the natural predator of Judy the rabbit. Instead, they overcame their instincts and became friends and police partners.
However, the successful partnership of one bunny and fox does not a prejudice-free society make. Nick and Judy still have their work cut out for them. But by hunting down (and then helping out) Gary De’Snake, they realize that they themselves—champions of animal diversity that they are—could stand to let go of some preconceived notions about other species.
Zootopia 2 has a lot of messages like that. It encourages us to listen and to learn. It asks us to be kind and helpful. It emboldens us to stand up for the marginalized and to each of us play a part in making the world better for everyone. To borrow the movie’s own phrase, to be “better Zoogether.”
The film is rated PG, but parents should note some direct references to R-rated films. There are also some questionably dressed animals at a “Burning Mammal” music festival that, if the characters were human, would certainly raise some eyebrows. These things will probably go over the heads of most littles, but if mom and dad (or an older sibling, even) laugh at those references, it could create some awkward questions.
Those caveats aside, most families will enjoy the colorful animation, the creative storytelling and the just plum nice messages that Zootopia 2 has to offer.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
