Zootopia 2 Review – Therapy, Snakes, and the Problem With Growing Up

Zootopia 2 is the rare Disney sequel that doesn’t feel like a brand-management checkbox. It actually feels like somebody in the story room asked, “Okay, what happens after the happy ending?” and then let the answer get a little messy. This is the Press X To Skip Zootopia 2 Review!

We’re back with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, now full-on partners in the ZPD, chasing a new mystery tied to Gary De’Snake, a slippery reptile whose arrival turns the city upside down and drags our duo into undercover work in new corners of Zootopia. On paper, it’s “another case, another villain.” In practice, it’s “what happens when your bestie suddenly has HR-mandated therapy homework and you’re both kind of the problem.”

It’s good. Very good, actually. But it’s not flawless—and that’s kind of the fun part.

Nick Wilde, Gary De’Snake, Judy Hops

The good stuff: Therapy, chemistry, and chaos

The smartest thing Zootopia 2 does is admit that Judy and Nick’s partnership would not be smooth sailing. Within minutes, they botch a smuggling sting, end up in buddy-cop therapy with Dr. Fuzzby (a quokka with the emotional range of a weighted blanket), and are forced to confront the fact that Judy’s relentless optimism and Nick’s weaponized sarcasm are not a sustainable communication strategy.

Those therapy scenes are some of the movie’s best material. They’re funny without leaning on “ugh, feelings” jokes, and they give kids a way to see conflict that isn’t “we never talk again” or “one big speech fixes everything.” Judy’s habit of over-functioning and taking responsibility for literally everything? Called out. Nick’s reflex to deflect any vulnerability with a joke? Called out harder.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman slide back into these roles like they never left. The banter’s tighter, the shorthand’s deeper, and you can feel how much history is sitting in the space between their one-liners. When the movie lets them just talk—no chase, no explosion, no musical cue—it absolutely sings.

Gary De’Snake, voiced by Ke Huy Quan, is also a great addition. He’s not just “evil snake is evil”; he’s twitchy, charismatic, and weirdly sympathetic in spots. Quan gives him this anxious edge that makes him feel like someone who’s constantly weighing whether to trust anyone at all. It’s a nice mirror to Judy and Nick trying to figure out what trust even looks like when your entire job is catching people lying.

New corners of Zootopia, same A+ worldbuilding

The first Zootopia’s secret weapon was its worldbuilding, and the sequel leans hard into that. We get fresh environments—marshlands, desert edges, fancy Zootenial Gala spaces—that keep the city from feeling like a reused backdrop.

Disney is still flexing on the animation side. Fur, scales, fabric, rain on glass—technically it’s absurd. But where it really works is in the tiny behavioral details: background animals checking their phones instead of the stage, a snake coiling around a railing mid-argument, Judy’s ears drooping in ways that say more than the script.

The returning side cast is used sparingly but well. Chief Bogo’s patience is hanging on by a thread, Gazelle is still pop-star extra, Mr. Big and Fru Fru show up just long enough to remind you that the mob still exists and is still hilarious. None of them hijack the movie, which is nice in a landscape where sequels often feel like “Spot the Cameo: The Motion Picture.”

And yeah, the social commentary is still there—less “predator vs. prey racism allegory” this time, more about trust, institutional power, and who gets to write the city’s story. It’s gentler than the first film, but the spine is there.

Where it stumbles: Familiar tracks and safe choices

Let’s talk issues, because this is Press X to Skip, not “Disney, please sponsor our feelings.”

First: structure. Zootopia 2 is absolutely in love with the first movie’s blueprint. Big mystery, odd couple, city-wide conspiracy, climactic set piece where the true plan is revealed while someone dangles from something very high. If you watched the original more than once, you can feel the beats lining up in advance.

That doesn’t make it bad, but it does make it safe. You can sense the version of this movie where they commit harder to the therapy premise, where the big conflict is less “what’s the snake doing?” and more “can Judy and Nick handle wanting different things from the job and from each other?” What we get instead is “both, but the mystery is louder.”

Second: villain depth. Gary De’Snake is fun on-screen but a little undercooked on paper. His motivations make sense, his plan basically tracks—but the movie only flirts with the heavier stuff he represents: being an outsider in a city built without you in mind, literally scaled out of the power structure. There are flashes where the script goes, “Oh, we could say something sharp here,” and then you feel the mouse gloves of corporate Disney gently steering it back toward safer ground.

Third: pacing and noise. There’s a stretch in the middle where the movie starts feeling like a theme-park ride sizzle reel—rapid-fire set pieces, song drops, visual gags—when what you actually want is more time with Judy, Nick, and Dr. Fuzzby just sitting in the emotional muck. The movie is so eager not to bore the kids that it occasionally underestimates how long kids (and adults) will sit still for good character work.

Also, a couple of callbacks and needle drops are so on-the-nose you can practically see the “try not to cheer at this moment” storyboard note. They’re not awful, just… transparent.

Zootopia 2 Review: Does it justify existing?

Yes. Unequivocally yes.

Zootopia 2 isn’t a cash-grab sequel that coasts on nostalgia and merch. It’s genuinely funny—like “actual adults in the theater laughing, not just at the ‘for parents’ jokes” funny. It takes its characters seriously without turning the movie into homework. It remembers that Judy is more than “ambitious bunny” and Nick is more than “charming fox”; it lets them be wrong, stubborn, insecure, and occasionally unfair to each other.

Is it as sharp or surprising as the original? Not quite. The first film landed like a brick through the window because it snuck in a full-blown systemic-bias allegory under the “fun animal cop movie” packaging. The sequel is more conventional, more character-driven, less “we are absolutely starting discourse on whatever cursed platform people are yelling on now.”

But that’s also kind of the point: this is a movie about what happens after the big epiphany. After “we solved prejudice in two hours,” you still have to wake up, go to work, argue with your partner, and figure out how to keep doing the right thing when you’re tired and annoyed. Zootopia 2 gets that, and when it leans into it, it hits hard.

TL;DR (For The Skippers

• Zootopia 2 actually tries – it’s not a lazy cash-grab; it digs into what happens after the “happily ever after.”
• Judy and Nick in therapy is the best idea Disney’s had in years: funny, messy, and way too real for anyone who’s worked a toxic job.
• Ke Huy Quan’s Gary De’Snake is a charismatic chaos noodle, but his “outsider in the system” angle could’ve gone sharper.
• The worldbuilding still slaps: new districts, gorgeous animation, tiny background gags that make the city feel alive.
• The plot leans hard on the first movie’s blueprint—big conspiracy, big speech, big fall—which makes some beats feel safe and predictable.
• There’s a noisy middle stretch where set pieces overpower the character work you actually care about.
• Overall: heartfelt, funny, and worth your time—an unskippable sequel that plays it just a bit too safe to hit classic status.

Zootopia 2 Review: Final verdict

If the first Zootopia was Disney proving they could still surprise you, Zootopia 2 is them proving they can follow through. It’s not flawless, but it’s heartfelt, clever, and often genuinely hilarious. The therapy angle lands, the new villain mostly works, the world is still a blast to spend time in, and Judy and Nick remain one of the best duos Disney’s ever put on screen.

If you loved the original, this is absolutely worth a ticket. If you’re dragging kids, you won’t hate your life. And if you’re the kind of person who overthinks animated movies on the way home, there’s plenty here to chew on.

Need another movie to see this weekend? Check out our review of Wicked: For Good!

AJ Hanson

AJ Hanson has been part of games media since 2011, writing, streaming, and ranting about the industry long before it was his job. He runs the Galaxy’s Edge Discord, the go-to community for fans of Disney’s Star Wars parks, and works as Marketing Director for the Virtual Cantina Network, helping produce shows, interviews, and fan events. A lifelong Star Wars fan and unapologetic nerd, AJ’s focus has always been on building spaces where people can connect, argue, and celebrate the things they love without all the corporate gloss.