Zootopia (franchise)

Zootopia, also known as Zootropolis or Zoomania in various regions, is a Disney media franchise that began in 2016 with the release of the American animated feature film Zootopia, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

The franchise takes place in the titular city where anthropomorphic animals consisting of predators and prey coexist with one another, with a particular focus on the adventures of Judy Hopps, a rabbit police officer in the Zootopia Police Department (ZPD) and Nick Wilde, a cynical fox hustler who becomes a police officer at the department himself.

The franchise consists of two animated films, Zootopia (2016) and Zootopia 2 (2025), and one television series, Zootopia+ (2022), which aired on Disney+, with a third animated film currently in development. Both films have been critically and commercially successful, with the latter film being the highest grossing animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios and the second highest grossing animated film of all time. It has since become one of the highest grossing media franchises of all time.

Films

Zootopia (2016)

Development of the film that would come to be called Zootopia began when Byron Howard pitched six-story ideas to Disney Animation chief creative officer and executive producer John Lasseter, of which three involved animal characters: an all-animal adaptation of The Three Musketeers, a 1960s-themed story about a "mad doctor cat...who turned children into animals", and a "bounty hunter pug in space". The common thread running through these ideas was that Howard wanted to do a film similar to Disney's Robin Hood, which also featured animals in anthropomorphic roles. According to Howard, Zootopia was inspired by his own childhood taking trips to many countries and cities globally, Zootopia emerged from his desire to create something different from other animal anthropomorphic films, where animals either live in the natural world or in the human world. His concept, in which animals live in a modern world designed by animals for animals, was well received by Lasseter, who responded by embracing and lifting Howard "in the air like a baby Simba". Lasseter suggested that Howard should try combining the 1960s theme with the animal characters, especially the space pug.