Zootopia 2’s animal gags and puns hide surprisingly dark themes

Zootopia 2 (PG)

108 minutes, opens on Nov 27
★★★☆☆

The story: After the events of Zootopia (2016), rabbit Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) have defied stereotypes to become good cops, despite Judy being a small prey animal and Nick a predator. But the police force’s large mammals – especially buffalo Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) – are still biased. The pair need a big case to prove themselves, and when they meet the mysterious pit viper Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan), they find that opportunity.

The first Zootopia was the whole package. It had adorable animals and all-ages comedy, wrapped in a lesson about interspecies tolerance.

For the sequel, Disney, not surprisingly, plays it safe. It brings back the main characters, but it also reprises the story: Judy is an overeager optimist, Nick the rational adult, and working together, they must reveal their animal utopia’s dark secret.

Not everything is a retread, however. The original story – an allegory about racism – has been expanded to cover the idea of racism hardening into government policy.

It is one thing to make a PG-rated comedy about fighting bias and stereotypes, but tackling the forced removal of natives from their homeland is a big leap in scope.

If there is one thing Disney animation has proven, it is that the studio is a finely tuned machine that processes prickly themes into smooth, palatable nuggets. Judy and Nick’s adventures with Gary can be read as a slick thrill ride across Zootopia’s biomes – Tundratown and Sahara Square, among them – or a critique of colonial brutality.

It is probably not a coincidence that Oscar-winning Asian-American actor Quan was picked to voice Gary, given spasms of violence against non-whites, and Asians in particular, that have gripped the United States since the 19th century.

All this is underpinned by comedy of the sort found in an above-average sitcom, if that sitcom imagined mice and sloths as friends and co-workers.

The influence of American cartoonist Gary Larson’s The Far Side comics is evident, given the number of nerdy visual gags about animal behaviour.

Zootopia 2 is also dense with references to animal movies, another element aimed at keeping older viewers engaged, if the many cameo voices fail to do so.

Colombian pop star Shakira (as a singing gazelle) and beloved American actor Michael J. Fox (as a fox, naturally) are just two of the many making appearances briefer than a beat of a hummingbird’s wing.

Hot take: Palatable but predictable, so save this second outing to Zootopia for when it comes to streaming.