Jared Bush and Yvett Merino from ‘Zootropolis 2’, Hollywood’s most successful animation of all time

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco and today, exciting enough I speak with the team behind Zootropolis 2 The Oscar and BAFTA nominated production is also the biggest animated feature of all time To discuss the challenges of making an animation with 178 characters it was a pleasure speaking with producer Yvette Merino and Jared Bush director of the film and also chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios

0:47Let me ask you something. Do you think we're a good team? Of course. I just wish I knew what we had to do to prove it to everyone else. Big pleasure talking to you both. Likewise. Perhaps, Jared, I'll start with you. I'm a massive fan of Zootropolis, the first one. What I find interesting, there's been a 10-year gap. Yeah. And the amazing success. I mean, were you surprised in any way or form about this incredible success? worldwide, right? Yes. I mean, I think you'd have to be. The turnout for this film has been honestly mind-blowing for us. And it's really rewarding. 700 people worked really, really hard on this movie.

1:27And they really poured their hearts and souls into it. I think at every step, everyone wanted to meet the bar of the first film, if not exceed it. And when I see the number of people that have gone to see this movie in theaters, people that have gone back to see it again in theaters, because there's so much to take in. It's like a dream come true for us. And Yvette, it's interesting that, of course, Hollywood is changing and audiences in different countries are changing. And I'm thinking here of China, for example. It's been some interesting years. Hollywood, you know, it's not necessarily that it's going to be a big hit in China, but that didn't happen in Zootropolis.

2:02So why do you think is that? Because I don't think, you know, some stories perhaps are not translating, but that's definitely not the case of Zootropolis, too. Yeah, I think with the original film, Zootropolis, it really kind of resonated with many people over the world, but especially in China. There was something about the story of Judy leaving a small town and going to a big city and pursuing her dreams that resonated in China. I know it resonated with me, and I love Judy, you know, because of her story from the first film. And so continuing it in the second film, it really is kind of a continuation of the story of Judy and Nick.

2:40And, you know, we had the opportunity to go to Shanghai for the premiere there. And the love for these characters is like nothing I have seen before. And so it's so exciting to see how much people connected with these characters. And then to have them receive this film, like a continuation of the story of Judy and Nick, in such a way, has been truly, you know, mind-blowing. And Gerard, I was mentioning that my favorite character is this laugh, actually, because he may be laughing. There's a very special cameo. I'm not going to review anything here. But we're dealing here with so many characters, actually.

3:16I was reading 178, right? So it must be quite a challenging film, technically, to make as well, right? Yeah, you know, it's funny. I think this world is one where it needs to feel dense to feel like a real lived-in city. And I'd give enormous kudos to our character team, our riggers, our animators for making this place feel so lived in. Yeah, we have, I think, yeah, 150-something different species. We have 71 speaking roles, right? Which is, I think, it's close to a record for us. And the thing in this world is you want all those to separate. But the fun thing with animals is that you can do that.

3:55You can play with the scale. You can have Mr. Big down there. You can have, you know, something like, you know, our new Mare Wind Dancer is so ridiculous. Patrick Warburton actually crushed him. And then we have Kiwi Kwan who came in as Gary the Snake. And we needed that character to feel so vulnerable and so hopeful. We always say that he's even more Judy Hopps than Judy Hopps is. And so on the writing side, it's one of the most fun things in the world because you have this really wide palette. And it's really a question of when you bring that character in. Luckily, we pressure test this a lot and get some feedback on how much of a character is just right.

4:30And you mentioned Garrett the Snake, that character. I think even the visuals for a snake, it's something that's quite hard to do as well, right? To look kind of realistic. And how is it going to move on screen as well? Well, yeah. And also, it's a pit viper. And pit viperers have a very specific way of moving around. Also, their scales are very unique. You'll see this in the movie. There's something called keeled scales. They almost look like little feathers. That's unique to pit vipers. So we actually had to design software called Scoot, S-C-U-T-E, to make that possible, to make it feel real.

4:58But the real benefit of that was it almost gives Gary like this kind of fuzzy kind of texture. That's really what those snakes look like. But it made him kind of like cuter in some manner. I will say that Yvette is deeply afraid of all snakes. Me too, Yvette. Oh, good. But not Gary the snake. Not Gary. He's one of my favorite new characters. She only likes one snake now, which is Gary. That's true. Progress. Zootopia has a secret reptile population. Just let me handle the locals. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Heya, bub. Seen a snake? Nope.

5:33And Yvette's interesting because, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did not work in the first film, right? So how was it to move along? Because there was a sense of expectation as well because the first film has been a big hit. You know, there was the 10-year gap. How was it to actually enter the zootropolis world? Yes, it's such a fun world to kind of go into and play with. I am a huge fan of the first film. And the moment I saw it completed, I was like, oh, my gosh, I love this film. And so getting the opportunity with working with Jared and Byron again to come into this world and start playing, I was super excited.

6:11But, you know, doing a sequel and continuing their story is also a bit intimidating because not only did I love these characters, the world loved these characters and they all have their own expectations of what they want this story to be and what they want to happen. And so it's a little intimidating, but, you know, if we just kind of focus on the story and making sure that we're making a film that we love and that we want to see in the theaters was always kind of our focus and our goal to kind of let's put all those expectations aside for a second and just focus on what we want the story to be.

6:44And we're so thrilled on how the world is receiving it all. And maybe this is a personal comment for me, but one thing I like about Disney in general that I like the gaps between films because sometimes it feels very rushed when you have something. So I think, you know, Zootropolis, you had 10 years, you know, say, you know what, this will work. Because that's something I see a lot in Disney. It's never like, oh, there's a next film next year. Even though I do want a Zootropolis 3. Sure. Well, I mean, usually it takes us about four to five years to make a film. And in my experience, you learn so much in that four to five years.

7:18So trying to do something sooner than that, or even saying, okay, we have this idea and here's the next one. There's so much evolution that takes place. I don't think we could do it. And so for me, that period really gives you a lot of time to play and to explore and to frankly challenge, you know, is the direction that you set off in the correct one or is there a more nuanced or a better way of doing it? So, yeah, for me, I like that four to five year gap. Nine's a little long, but four to five years feels pretty good. I like that as well. And finally, just want to ask both of you, of course, we're dealing with the amazing success of Zootropolis 2.

7:56But looking ahead to the year and Disney, are you excited by the new films coming out? So tell us, I wonder if you can give us some sort of a preview or how are you feeling about this year and animation? The exciting thing is in my role, I kind of know what the next 10 years looks like from Disney Animation. And I think our ability to create new original stories is critical to what we do and take people to new worlds with new characters. And those stories are so exciting. I think they're really going to push the boundaries of what people think a Disney animated film can be. But then, of course, we have these worlds and these characters that people want to spend time with.

8:33There's, you know, on Deutropolis 2, for example, there were people that came to our studio because they grew up watching the first Deutropolis movie and wanted to work at Disney Animation to join that. And then they worked on Zootropolis too. So there's always going to be worlds that we are really excited to go back to. The hope is that audiences want that as well. And so I'd say we have a really nice balance of those two things. When you do save the city, maybe everyone will see. Reptiles ain't that different.

9:06Thank you, Yvette and Jared. Zootropolis 2 is out now. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and this show was edited by Mariella Bevan. Thank you for listening.