Zootopia 2 has been a sensation at the theater, breaking some long-established records along the way – but here are some facts you might not know about it.
When Disney executives greenlit a sequel to Zootopia a few years back, they no dobut had high hopes that it would be successful at the box office. But even they probably wouldn’t have expected it to become the company’s most successful animation of all time.
Audiences have gone, erm, wild for the continuing adventures of mismatched cops Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as they come up against a new enemy and then face a battle to clear their names and find the real culprits when they are framed for a crime they didn’t commit.
Thus far, the movie has grossed more than $1.7 billion at the global box office, and it was the second-biggest grossing movie of 2025.
But while you know the storyline of Zootopia 2, how much do you know about its background, making of and all the hidden jokes? Read on to find out more.
Zootopia 2 is the second biggest animation of all time
As mentioned, Zootopia 2 is Disney’s biggest animated movie of all time, ranking it ahead of such classics as The Lion King, Frozen and Frozen 2.
Zootopia 2 is also ahead of Inside Out 2 as the highest grossing US-produced animated movie.
But Zootopia 2 hasn’t quite got to the top of the tree in terms of biggest grossing animation of all time. The movie is second on the list, but it is behind the movie that was also the biggest globally of 2025 – Ne Zha 2. The Chinese animation was a global sensation and took $2.2 billion at the box office when it was released earlier in 2025.
Zootopia 2 is in the top 10 grossing movies of all time
Zootopia 2 has been so successful it is now in the top 10 of highest grossing movies of all time. The movie currently sits in 9th place on the list – it is still playing in theaters so could still move up – behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, which took $1.92 billion.
However, Zootopia 2 has a long way to go to catch the biggest grossing movie of all time, which is Avatar from 2009, which took more than $2.9 billion.
Zootopia 2 is known by another name in some territories
As with the first movie, Zootopia 2 is known as Zootropolis 2 in certain countries, including the UK and other European countries. The name change was largely due to marketing reasons – Disney wanting to give me movie a title that resonated better in these countries. Zootropolis is a portmanteau of the words zoo and metropolis. Another consideration in Europe was that Denmark has a zoo that has registered the term ‘zootopia’ – meaning it can’t be used by Disney there – and in Germany there is a famous children’s book of the same name.
It has already won several awards
Zootopia 2 only came out at the end of 2025 but is has already won some awards and been nominated for others. Award wins, at the time of writing, include Best Animated Film at the St Louis Film Critics Association.
Zootopia 2 has also been nominated for many awards, including an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature Film category, where it is up against, among others, KPOP Demon Hunters.
Indiana Jones references explained
In Zootopia 2, there are several references to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, such as Weaselton selling a bootleg DVD of a zoofied version of the film. In addition, Gary De’Snake’s father wears an Indiana Jones-style hat, and his brother a cap like that worn by Short Round. All these are references to Gary’s voice actor, Ke He Quan, who played Short Round in the 80s classic.
Zootopia 2 started a pet craze in China
Zootopia 2 has been very popular in China and has been credited with sparking a trend of buying Indonesian pit vipers as pets. Gary is believed to be based on an Indonesia pit viper, and his character, and the journey he goes on in the movie, has improved their image among the public, leading to increased interest in them as pets.
