I used Gemini to translate the Chinese article; if you want to read the official version, the source is at the end.
Introduction: Recently, directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush sat down to answer questions from Weibo fans to thank the Chinese audience for their support. They discussed everything from the timeline for the third movie to the mystery of why there are no domestic cats or dogs in the city.
Key Interview Highlights
Q: When is Zootopia 3 coming? We waited 9 years for the second one...
- Jared Bush: Byron is lazy; he likes to take his time (laughs).
- Byron Howard: I do like to take it slow, but 9 years was too long. We promise the next one won’t take that long.
- Jared Bush: Definitely less than 9 years. We are currently in the "idea exploration" phase, which usually takes the first 2-3 years of a 5-year production cycle.
Q: Is Zootopia 3 confirmed to be about birds?
- Jared Bush: Good catch! We explored reptiles in the second movie, and since a bird feather appears at the end of Zootopia 2, I’d say it definitely means something.
Q: Will we see Nick in the Police Academy?
- Jared Bush: I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone: We actually had scenes of Nick training at the academy in Zootopia 2. We eventually cut them, but the storyboards were hilarious. Nick wasn't great at the physical drills, but he was very clever at outsmarting the instructors.
Q: Why are there no domestic cats or dogs in Zootopia?
- Jared Bush: Our rule is: no domestic animals because there were no humans to domesticate them. That’s why there are no monkeys or apes either. Technically, "African Wild Dogs" exist, but they aren't the pets we know.
- Note: The line where Chief Bogo calls Nick an "orange dog" was actually an improvisation by Idris Elba that they loved so much they kept it in.
Q: How old are Judy and Nick now?
- Jared Bush: In the first movie, Judy was about 24-25 and Nick was 31-33. The second movie takes place about a year later. We don't use real animal lifespans, or all the rodents would be gone by now!
Q: What do they eat? How does the food chain work?
- Byron Howard: Since mammals can’t eat each other, fish and insects "took the hit" for the team. They are the primary source of protein. You’ll see "bug burger" shops throughout the city.
Q: Will Gary the snake’s tooth grow back?
- Jared Bush: Yes! Viper fangs regrow. He stays toothless for the rest of the movie because the story takes place over just one day, but it will grow back eventually.
Analysis: What this means for the fans
- The "Bird" Expansion: Moving the story to the sky (birds) allows Disney to explore new themes like elitism or different social hierarchies, much like they did with size in the first movie and reptiles in the second.
- Nick's Depth: The mention of Nick's guitar and his cleverness in the academy shows that the directors want to keep his "charming rogue" persona alive, even as a cop.
- WildeHopps: By staying vague about their "partnership," the directors are keeping both "pro-romance" and "pro-friendship" fans engaged for the third installment.
I would have loved to see some Nick’s training 😭
Me too, i think it would be interesting to see his “hard work” on his way to become an officer 👮♂️
I hope Nick's training will be added as deleted scenes in the blueray/digital edition
So Z2 is one year after the start of the events of Z1 like most fans had assumed, good. It's one week after Judy and Nick became partners because Nick went to the academy first.
In other words, it's the year 2017 for them and presumably somewhere in late August to boot. Which honestly seems like a very long time ago by now...
The problem with that last part, if they keep playing it safe with their relationship. It would end up pleasing no one at the end
I don't think they'll continue playing it safe. Their money comes from their romance playing it safe for another movie will be lazy and boring writing
There’s no reason to hold back either. I think this IP will end as a trilogy so it doesn’t make sense just to leave it open ended
I like Judy and Nick as Both platonic partners and romantic pairing
so I "win" either way 😉
He's being ambiguous because saying yes or no would be a spoiler. But it's obvious they'll be something. You can't keep all the fans happy, and the pro-friendship fans are a minority. They're even smaller now than before.
I highly disagree that they’re a minority. The fandom consists of the most vocal fans.
Your disagreement doesn't change the fact that the fans who only want to see them as friends are a minority. The majority of fans want to see them together as a romantic couple.
After Zootopia 2? They are now to the point where even the general audiences think that they’re together now. Especially Asian countries
Please be in the extras, please be in the extras...
No domestic animals but... farm pigs exist??? 🤨
Edit: HORSES?!?!?
I have a theory that the sheep and pigs (and in the second movie, horses) are descended from a slave caste during a time when a dynasty of predator dictators practiced eugenics on their subjects. This would also explain why Bellwether is so distrustful of predators-- her ancestors directly suffered at their hands.
Hey this is interesting. But if that's the case, shouldnt the reverse also happens for the dogs/cats?
I feel like cats should have been appearing, there are actual wild cat that looks like domestic cats.
Ocelots, servals, you get the idea.
They said domesticate when what they really meant was typical household pets.
That still makes no sense. Domestic horses and farm pigs didn't just blip into existence, we had to literally capture and selectively breed wild boars and wild horses to look and function how they are now.
They're a fox and a rabbit with opposable thumbs. Not that much thought has gone into the world building of every animal.
I guess, it still just feels a bit lazy and contradictory on their part. Chief Bogo calls nick an "Orange Dog", Clawhauser says "cats and lights!" During the Gala when directing traffic, and the two underling Lynxley's names (excluding Pawbert) are cat puns, those alone I feel would suggest that proper dogs and cats exist in-universe to some degree (even if the "Orange Dog" line was improvised).
Horses probably selectively bred themselves for size, because it'd be natural for them to prefer larger, stronger mates.
But still, there's color variations and morphs/breeds that would've never occured naturally without human interference. Winddancer is a friggin Clydesdale for Christ's sake. If we're going by Jared's logic, every horse should look like a Przewalksi's Wild Horse.
I would have loved to see scenes of Nick’s training. I assume physical skills weren’t his strength but outsmarting him is very difficult. That’s why he was always considered the brain over the brawn.
It would have been nice if they showed at least a bit of Nick's academy training and a note saying "x months later" after he's done or something like that. It would've helped clear up timeline confusion. So many people think Nick and Judy have only known each other for a week instead of a year.
Plus, it would have been cool to see those academy scenes in general. Hopefully they will include them as extras on the Blu-ray/Disney+!
Maybe also a short of Nick and Judy on their first date too
That would be such a nice surprise for the fans. Fingers crossed 🤞🤞
Yep one can hope
Zootopia+ season 2 material right there definitely.
WE NEED THE SCENES OF NICK IN ACADEMY TRAINING PLEEEEAAAASE JARED AND BYRON I BEG YOU 😭😭😭😭😭
They both seem acutely aware of the knifes edge they're walking along here. But they are at equal risk of alienating both crowds.
They also seem very aware that a key draw for the audience is coming to see where Nick and Judy land.
This is what we call "playing with fire"
But a lot of them are on the romance side
If I were to take what I've informally observed, the individuals who perceive it as romantic do out number the ones that don't. But that could just be all of us in an echo chamber...it's hard to tell...
Yeah though it wouldn’t hurt if they did hangouts and moved in as roommates
And also a lot that aren't, and a lot that don't care at all.
Well yeah that too in any case they’ll have to make a decision
Showing no primates at all is fair, we can just say we died out in the Paleocene in that universe.
But we see regular horses and pigs? They’re both domesticated animals. Wild horses and pigs look nothing like the ones shown in the movie.
Nick's training be like:
https://preview.redd.it/pdyo7bl26v8g1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb847f7fbfc247881f4d62627dd35cef12dd2663
(from the manga What Does The Fox Say by Bear Hand)
Hopefully the scenes if nick training are in zootopia +
Honestly? I was sad to find Nick has no interest in being a cop. I’d be even more sad to find he basically cheated his way through the academy.
I like to think Judy rubbed off on him a little bit more than that beneath the surface.
I think what they were trying to emphasize is that Nick’s strength as a cop is actually his wit; I don’t think it equates to cheating through the academy. I imagine scenes with Nick actually being smarter and more clever than his instructors give him credit for…at least that is how I interpreted it
I also think Nick does want to be a cop, but not for the same reasons Judy does. Judy idealizes it and wants to make the world a better place; Nick wants to be a part of something bigger, a pack. This is reinforced by him wanting to join scouts as a kid, it reflects a genuine interest in being part of a team/pack
But also, we all interpret it differently 😊😊😊
I think of it like in Zootopia 1 where Judy jumps on the other mammals to get over the icy wall or how she slingshots herself to make the rhino punch himself. She's technically cheating but the polar bear instructor liked it. I imagine something similar with Nick.
https://preview.redd.it/te89vtktxu8g1.jpeg?width=2051&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d207604cfd37d64af5f2ad6b17fee53ca89868bb
LMAOOOO where is this from 😂😂😂😭😭😭this is hysterical I am cryingggg
I've managed to find a colored version:
https://preview.redd.it/9te8la9pzu8g1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b26ada6a620965a53917ec0e666100d2c48882d4
ITS EVEN BETTER 😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂 god bless you
It's from a manga What Does The Fox Say by Bear Hand.
Free heads up its hentai and a spicy one at that. If memory serves there a weird non-con element to it. Look it up at your own risk.
Oh, right, I should've mentioned it beforehand.
Im kinda a sucker for the idea that Nick genuinely wanted to be helpful as a scout, and being a cop would have been his second chance at that. His opportunity to be the earnest helpful mammal he’d given up hope he could ever be without just becoming an abused doormat.
I actually think this is exactly what the writers were going for!!! (In my opinion)
I'm sorry to be contrary, but the "no monkeys or apes" bit still doesn't make sense to me.
I think it would be very challenging to differentiate between evolved animals in Zootopia and evolved primates... which are just so far ahead on the evolution scale, even in today's world. In this world, they'd basically evolve into humans (because the difference between a real-life fox and Nick is basically as between a chimp and a human on an evolution scale), and that would defeat the purpose of the story. It would mud the waters too much for a 2-hour movie, so they avoided that question for now.
Maybe the primates never existed in this world. Maybe this is a post-apocalyptic setting, and the humans (and other primates) went extinct. Or maybe they're away somewhere else on this planet, just like birds were until now, and they can be explored in Zootopia 4 or 5.
The primates don't have to be, well, the familiar simians that humans also belong to. But there's definitely lots you can do with, let's say, lemurs for example. And maybe a few New World Monkeys too if they wanna go that route.
Nick totally Kobiyashi Maru'd his way through police academy
Nick Wilde in Starfleet though ...hmmmm ...
I hope to see nibbles and gary again even just for a moment, they are so sweet
Maybe an exchange or two before they head out to the Nocturnal District to meet a bat?
I don’t wanna wait a lifetime for this movie/franchise to continue……(but I literally would)😃🙌
Thank you for the info
I always thought of Nick at the Police Academy being like Mahoney from... Police Academy
I cannot believe they are only revealing this to East Asia (China, specifically) and not the country where it was made 🙄
Thanks for the translation, OP
And of course Nick would smooth talk or hustle his way out of the physical drills 😂
So it has been a year since Z1. I knew I wasn't crazy!
2017 to be specific in fact, likely somewhere in late August.
aren’t the pink pigs in the movie domesticated late descendants of wild boars? as far as i know those aren’t seperate species.
I know all movies have deleted scenes but in this case it really felt like they were severely struggling with trying to fit everything in. Even the 4-minute-long Silence of the Lambs sequence with Bellwether (which could've served as a good breather between action scenes) was reduced to 10 seconds. I was barely able to process that when I first watched the movie.
The only thing I would wish differently, would be for fish to also get to be sapient. I think it would make sense since they’re also vertebrates. My head-canon is the fish we see in the movies are tofu fish or other plant-derived protein.
That's... that's realistic tofu...
Yeah, I know, copium really taking over. But it’s not necessarily out of the question. I tried going vegan and a lot of people in the vegan community, prefer foods that replicate animal meat. Such as consistency, taste, and look. Like vegan hot dogs. So I’m trying to imagine that the fish in the movie is trying to appeal to predators by mimicking real fish, and that there’s still (albeit small) potential for fish characters in the future.
I suppose if they have magic weather walls, hyperrealistic tofish isn't out of the question. And heck, Zootopia 4 might just retcon it all to bugs.
I feel there were questions about Pawbert that didn't get chosen, because Disney's considering where to take that character if anywhere. He's proven unexpectedly popular, after all.
They famously only ever answer the questions they want to.
Which makes sense, of course.
First lesson in media literacy.
Imagine if Z3 will have him serve as a wimpy sidekick or something to an owl or hawk villain and at the end, he does gets his redemption?
I could see his dad using him to help a bird big-bad; "They'll restore the Lynxleys to power when the birds take over! We'll get all of Tundratown!" And then Pawbert being conflicted then working to stop that bird at the end, but...I kinda want longer with the redemption stuff, not some one-off action myself lol
Alrighty.
Is this the first time they confirmed Nick and Judy's ages or am I only tripping?
It's the first time they themselves have given us numbers.
Which means that, funnily enough, I was the same age as Judy when Zootopia 1 came out. With the opening prologue set in 2001 when Judy was about 9.
I think some domestic animal can exist. Even though humans don't exist, it doesn't mean animals of similar species have tried getting together.
Well, at least we have a little bit of proof
Jared and Byron speak English, so it wouldn't surprise me if at some point, what they originally said in English comes out.
Technically we can get around the domestic cat restriction because there's a number of species that closely resemble them, like Sand Cats.
Servals too.
I'm not gonna fuckin wait for another 9 years!!!😡
RELEASE THE TRAINING CUT
So they don't use real animal lifespans but they do use animal pregnancy periods, because little Judith was born in like a week lmao
So instead of seeing Nick at the academy, we got the bit where they broke canon immediately by having Judy kick open the door to the museum. Though in some ways, perhaps I wouldn't have wanted to see the academy scenes.
Mg why am i fanning over the age gap🙂😩😭💓
Who cares about age gaps when it comes to true love? I sure don’t. If Nick and Judy love each other (and I’m positive they do), that’s all that matters. Nick literally said “Love you, partner” to Judy at end of movie with a totally serious face. He meant it.