I'm not certain what Disney thought when they were developing in Zootopia, but it is a film that is breaking box-office records and achieving critical praise. The film is probably more than a hit than Disney was expecting, and part of its success is its deal with the controversial issue of prejudice in a highly metaphorical way. Surely a Zootopia 2 needs to get a release date, but will the relationship between Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde get questionable to conservative audiences?
Cinemablend reports from Forbes saying that the film has become the second highest grossing original film of all time, second only to James Cameron's Avatar. Zootopia has a gross of $991 million, getting close to earning $1 billion mark. This is Disney's biggest film since Frozen, and it might surpass some of their films like those of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I don't know if this is a surprise to Disney, but honestly, I thought that Disney might miss the mark with this one on my first report. As it was, I finally broke down and saw it a few weeks ago, and I was surprised that the theater was almost as full as it was on a premiere weekend, as the film had been in the theaters for two months.
It really is hard not to make comparison of Zootopia to Frozen, and since Frozen is going to have a sequel soon, there is a lot of reasons to believe that there will be a Zootopia 2, eventually. Disney is probably updating their schedule for animated film releases at this time.
Well, as far as when Zootopia 2 could be released, it will probably be years. Seriously, these animated films take years, even with today's technology. Also, a lot of the extensive virtual sets of Zootopia could and really should be reused, as most viewers wanted to see more of the beautiful world of Zootopia.
In fact, the Zootopia director Rich Moore may have hinted at a Zootopia sequel with a tweet. A twitter user described a scene where Judy the rabbit introduces Nicholas the Fox to her parents, and Rich Moore replied with a tweet of "Five words: Look Who's Coming to Dinner".
Now, considering that Frozen had its short film with "Frozen Fever", it would make sense if Disney created a short film where Judy has Nicolas meet the parents. If you have seen the film, then you know that it is about predator species and their relationship with prey. It really makes the film work as it is a metaphorical statement on the dangers of prejudice, and how negative history between peoples has to be left behind.
One of the things with Zootopia is that Judy and Nicholas were set up as essentially buddy-cop partners, but it didn't make them boyfriend and girlfriend. MoviePilot suggests that "Zootopia 2 could center around Judy and Nick's growing romantic feelings for each other, but fearing the social stigma of being in an 'interspecies' relationship".
If you think about it, it is an interesting twist on a story that has a huge metaphorical statement in the first film. Of course, is this interspecies relationship meant to be a metaphor for an interracial relationship, or is Disney going for some metaphor for same-sex couples.
Oh yes, I went there, and I wonder if Disney is going to go there. I mean, if you think about it, if Judy and Nicolas do have a relationship, then they can't have kids naturally. Oh, and you thought that a potential girlfriend for Elsa in Frozen 2 was going to be controversial.
