Guess Who: Disney Legends and Classic Character Voices to Appear in Cameo Roles in Upcoming "Zootopia 2"

As we get closer to the debut of the new highly-anticipated sequel from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Zootopia 2, it seems that the voice cast continues to grow before its November premiere with newly announced cameos.

What’s Happening: 

• As tickets go on sale today and we learn all about the different theaters and their Zootopia 2 offerings, we are also learning about a number of new voice cameos that will be heard in the new sequel. 
• The cameos that were announced are all other voices from the Walt Disney Animation Studios family and many of its recent hits. 
• Announced today, we have learned the new cameos (and their characters!) include:
  • Dwayne Johnson (Zeke) – Zeke is an accident-prone dik-dik who meets with a musical mishap as a result of Judy and Nick’s high-speed pursuit gone awry.
  • Auli’i Cravalho (Anti-Venom Pen) – The antidote for pit viper Gary De’Snake’s venom, his Anti-Venom Pen is almost as cute as he is.
  • Rachel House (Gramma Taller) – Currently behind bars at the ZPD, Gramma Taller makes Nick’s visit to the jail even more unpleasant.
  • David Fane (Truffler) – Truffler is Captain Hoggbottom’s meathead razorback partner.
  • Josh Gad (Paul Moledebrandt) – Ornery mole and ZPD’s IT expert, Paul Moledebrandt rules his domain with a tiny iron paw.
  • Anika Noni Rose (Squeal of Fortune Mouse) – This adorable mouse is the lucky winner of an almost-new car on Zootopia’s favorite game show, “Squeal of Fortune.”
  • Stephanie Beatriz & Wilmer Valderrama  (Bloats and Higgins) – Hippo ZPD cop partners Bloats and Higgins may be excellent swimmers, but they can be easily distracted in their pursuit of new fugitives Judy and Nick.
  • John Leguizamo (Antony) – Smarmy anteater Antony is a smuggler who bolts at the first sign of trouble.
• Each of these talented individuals come from a previous Walt Disney Animation Studios role. Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho are Maui and Moana respectively in both Moana and Moana 2, where David Fane comes from Moana 2 as well, lending his voice to the grumpy elder, Kele. 
• Also from the Moana films, Rachel House provided the voice of Gramma Tala, and her new character in Zootopia 2 also appears to be a send up of that - with the name “Gramma Taller.” Similar to Alan Tudyk’s Duke of Weselton in Frozen, and his Zootopia character, Duke Weaselton. 
• Disney Legend’s Josh Gad and Anika Noni Rose come from Frozen (Olaf) and The Princess and the Frog (Princess Tiana), respectively, 
• The rest of the cameos are rounded out by favorites from Encanto, Stephanie Beatriz (Mirabel), Wilmer Valderrama (Mirabel’s dad, Agustin), and John Leguizamo (Bruno). Interestingly, Beatriz and Valderrama are both portraying new cop partners in the film, both actors of which have previously played officers of the law -  Beatriz as Detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Valderrama as Special Agent Nick Torres on NCIS. 
• This new list of cameos also adds to an impressive (and lengthy!) roster of voice talent will be heard in the new film, which also includes Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), Macaulay Culkin (John Candy: I Like Me) and Brenda Song (The Last Showgirl) who appear as the Lynxleys, one of the most prominent families in Zootopia. Comedian Fortune Feimster (Crushing It) is the voice of Nibbles Maplestick, an oddball beaver whose podcast explores reptile mysteries; Idris Elba (Heads of State) returns as Chief Bogo, the well-respected head of the Zootopia Police Department; Patrick Warburton (The Emperor’s New Groove) voices actor-turned-politician Mayor Brian Winddancer; Shakira (Zootopia) returns as the voice of Zootopia’s biggest pop star, Gazelle; Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) stars as Dr. Fuzzby, an adorable quokka therapy animal; Robert Irwin (Dancing with the Stars) joins the cast as the cute koala Robert Furwin; and Nate Torrence (Get Smart) reprises his role as Clawhauser, ZPD’s charming cheetah receptionist.

• As for the movie itself, we catch up with rookie cops Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) as they find themselves on the twisting trail of a great mystery when Gary De’Snake (voice of Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan) arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. 
• To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before. 
• The Oscar-winning team of Jared Bush and Byron Howard (directors) and Yvett Merino (producer) are the principal filmmakers.
• As tickets go on sale, a new international trailer for the film has also been released. 

• Zootopia 2 arrives in theaters everywhere on November 26th.

What They’re Saying: 

• Disney Animation chief creative officer Jared Bush: “From the beginning, Easter eggs and winks to our favorite films and characters have been a hallmark of the world of Zootopia. We are ecstatic that Zootopia 2 expands our Zootopia family to include even more members of our extended Disney family, filled with dear friends and true Disney Legends.”

Casting Call:

• An opinion: While the idea of paying homage to past classics through vocal cameos is a fun one, announcing them like this takes away from the fun of hearing them, or at the very least, the surprise of hearing them. Especially when you have an already astoundingly lengthy voice cast that has been added to over weeks and months leading up to the film. 
• In this post alone, we have mentioned 23 different actors and actresses who lent their voice to the production. It’s a far cry from say, Moana, which highly touted (at best) 8 voices - going all in on the marketing of Dwayne Johnson as Maui and the introduction of Auli’i Cravalho while also mentioning names like Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa), Christopher Jackson (Chief Tui’s singing voice) or Alan Tudyk (Hei Hei) in the process. 
• While it’s cool to see this cast list grow and grow, frankly this is a move that makes me nervous as listing every single voice (or at a deeper level, casting for recognition and marketability reasons) that will be heard is something akin to early DreamWorks movies like Shark Tale, or today, something like Smurfs which came out in July and took a good chunk of its trailer to list 18 different cast members. 
• It’s a move that, nowadays, might be considered a hallmark of a lesser-quality animated film but is likely being done in the case of Zootopia 2 to get people to head to theaters in lieu of waiting for streaming, as if the Zootopia franchise weren’t enough to do that. It seems that we’re just pushing all the chips onto the table.