D23: The Cast And Crew Behind Zootopia Celebrate 10 Years Of The Mammal Metropolis

Disney has made something of a business out of talking animals. The history of Disney from Mickey Mouse onward is absolutely full of talking animals, which makes the fact that Zootopia is so different something of a surprise in itself. The franchise is now firmly among Disney's greatest modern successes, and it all came from the simplest of questions:

What if the animals lived in cities, and wore pants?

That's how Byron Howard described his initial thoughts on his movie idea to moderator Yvette Nicole Brown at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Howard was one of the panelists in Zootopia: 10 Years in the Mammal Metropolis, alongside co-director and co-writer Jared Bush, producer and Disney Animation President Clark Spencer, Composer Michael Giacchino, Zootopia 2 producer Yvett Merino, and two unannounced guests, voice of Judy Hopps Ginnifer Goodwin and Ke Huy Quan who voiced Gary De'Snake in Zootopia 2.

First and foremost, any animated film involves research, and so, in the case of Zootopia, that meant researching animals. Luckily, Disney has a pretty extensive collection of animals at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. One research trip there put Howard and Bush in shorts that were too tight, because the keepers insisted they needed to wear the same outfits as the other keepers. This was apparently not true, and something of a rib between Disney cast members.

A second Zootopia research trip to Africa was especially eventful for one particular member of the team. Layout Artist Nate Warner was bitten by not one, but two animals (an ostrich and a zebra) and was also pounced on by a cheetah. The reason for the animals' love, or lack thereof, has remained unclear.

As with all animated films, Zootopia went through a lot of changes in its earliest days. Michael Giacchino mentioned that he came on board this project, his only Walt Disney Animation Studios films, very early. So much so that what he saw, in his own estimation, wasn't much, which worried him, but he was promised that when he came back in six months it would be very different. It was, and Giacchino started to see the film's potential.

The original Zootopia focused entirely on mammals, largely because its allegory for minority rights fit best among mammals, where the line between predator and prey is clear. In other animals, like reptiles, that's not as much the case. The first Zootopia originally refenced that reptiles existed in the city before that was taken out in order to clarify and focus the predator/prey dynamics.

Zootopia would go on to gross over $1 billion at the global box office, and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Film. There was a bona fide hit here, and that meant sequels.

With Zootopia 2, reptiles would make their appearance. Most notably with Ke Huy Quan's Gary De'Snake. Quan was apparently the only actor considered for the role, which would have put the filmmakers in a tough spot had he said no. This made things all the more confusing, and worrying when after their first meeting, Quan was apparently unclear on if he'd been offered a role, and Jared Bush was unclear if Quan had accepted it.

The first time the team met on the Disney lot, Bush and Merino showed Ke Huy Quan the role of Gary, including some animation of the character using the actor's voice in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a move that harkens back to the famous story of new Disney Legend Eric Goldberg using a Robin Williams stand up routine to voice the Genie in Aladdin as a way to convince him to take the role.

Wherever the miscommunication started, it seems the Disney team never made it crystal clear the role was Quan's if he wanted it. Quan, for his part didn't realize until he was leaving that he hadn't them offer him the part, so he hadn't said he wanted it. Luckily things would be cleared up eventually.

The two Zootopia movies have grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide. The sequel's ending teased a third movie, adding birds to the mix, and during the D23 Entertainment Showcase it was officially announced that Zootopia 3 was in development. When asked about it at the panel by Brow, Jared Bush would say little more, beyond making a note that birds lay eggs, something foreign to both mammals and most reptiles. How that will fit into the plot is anybody's guess.

The good news is that all our Zootopia friends will be back.