Ginnifer Goodwin is not waiting for a script. The voice of Judy Hopps says she has already been texting the Zootopia 3 team ideas about birds, the species that will shake up the next movie, while Ke Huy Quan is hoping his snake, Gary De’Snake, ends up making friends with them.
Both shared their plans in Disney’s Zootopia 3 sneak peek, which gathered new comments from the cast and filmmakers after the sequel was announced at D23 in August.
Goodwin Is Pitching Bird Ideas
Goodwin said the bird direction did not catch her off guard. “I did know — as I believe the audience knew — that the next one would end up being about birds. I have been texting them random thoughts,” she said. “There are things I’m discovering about myself and my own relationship with birds that maybe we could use.”
The hint she is talking about came at the end of Zootopia 2, which closed with a post-credits scene of a feather floating onto Judy’s windowsill. At D23, Disney Animation chief creative officer Jared Bush screened an extended sequence for the crowd at the Honda Center that confirmed birds will play a major role in the third film.
Goodwin also described the moment the movie was announced, with her kids sitting in the front row. “I was looking at the faces of my children who were in the front row, seeing everything through their eyes, and their excitement is next level,” she said. “In general, the announcement definitely made me emotional. I was like, ‘Please don’t cry onstage, Ginny!’ I just can’t believe my luck that we get to keep telling this story.”
Quan Wants Gary And The Birds To Get Along
Quan admitted he does not “know anything” about what is planned for Gary yet, “but I can’t wait to hear and go back to the recording booth and play Gary again.” He does have a wish for how things go once the birds arrive.
“Gary is such a nice guy. The birds might be afraid of him because he’s a pit viper, but I like to think that because of how cool he is that they’ll eventually see who he actually is and be good friends with him,” Quan said. “We’ll see what happens!”
That would fit the series. Zootopia 2 brought reptiles, Gary among them, into a world that had only shown mammals, and Disney Animation president Clark Spencer pointed out that adding reptiles last time and birds this time is how the story keeps getting bigger.
What The Filmmakers Are Saying
Bush said the bird idea has been in the works for a long time. “The idea of bringing birds into this world is something that we’ve been excited about for years,” he said. “What that means for Nick and Judy, what that means for the world of Zootopia, that’s going to be the fun surprise of this movie.” He added that the team wants the fan favorites back while “pushing on this one to bring people some new things.”
Yvett Merino, who produced Zootopia 2, is also excited to go back. “The world of Zootopia is one of my favorites to play in, because it’s such a mirror of the world we live in,” she said. “Just like the stories in our world, the stories in Zootopia are endless.” Director Byron Howard, meanwhile, said the team will keep leaning into the Nick and Judy romance debate.
Zootopia 3 is in early development, and Disney says release timing will be announced later. For more on where the story could go, Bush has also suggested the sequel may take Judy and Nick outside Zootopia City for the first time.
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