Original Zootopia Creatives Confirm Return For Upcoming Disney Parks Attraction
I guess you could say that these guys want to....try everything?
While a number of Disney Parks attractions based on IP may not have the full involvement of those who created the original content, the new Zootopia: Better Together at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will basically come straight from the source - same screenwriter and all.
What’s Happening:
- Once upon a time, a project at the Disney Parks based on a Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) or Pixar Animation Studios title might not necessarily have been produced by WDAS or Pixar.
- Take, for example, the opening day attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom - It’s Tough To Be A Bug!. While loosely based on the film from Pixar Animation Studios, A Bug’s Life, the animation was not done by Pixar, but rather visual effects house Rhythm & Hues Studios.
- Nowadays, that is no longer the case and WDAS and Pixar do provide large amounts of content for the Disney Parks and their experiences.
- Sticking in the same realm of The Tree of Life theater at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we can expect this WDAS content in the new Zootopia: Better Zoogether.
- Similarly, the 3-D adventure will be shown in the theater, and is currently set to open in the Winter of this year.
- More importantly, not only is WDAS producing the film for the attraction, but key figures from the original Zootopia will be overseeing the production.
- One of the original directors of Zootopia, Byron Howard, is returning to direct the animation in the new attraction, with Jared Bush, one of the writers of the original film, penning the new attraction.
- Bush, now the Chief Creative Officer of WDAS, has been at WDAS for over a decade, working on some of the recent classics coming from the studio. He wrote Moana (as well as its live action counterpart), co-wrote and co-directed Zootopia, and wrote and directed Encanto, earning him an Academy Award. Bush is also currently directing Zootopia 2.
- Byron Howard started as an animator back in 1994 at the studio, working on Pocahontas, Brother Bear, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and took the helm of Bolt alongside co-director Chris Williams, which saw him overseeing the character design and animation. Later, he went on to co-direct Tangled (alongside Nathan Greno) and Zootopia (with Rich Moore). He has also been announced as a co-director of Zootopia 2 alongside Jared Bush.
- Together, with the help of Walt Disney Imagineering and Senior Creative Director Danny Handke, they are bringing the new attraction to life at Walt Disney World.
- Not much is known about the story for the attraction, outside of the fact that it will feature beloved characters from the movie, including Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, and promises to take guests through the different biomes of the movie. We also know that there will be a new song featured in the attraction, and that it is set to open in the Winter of this year.
- The new information about Jared Bush and Byron Howard’s involvement in the new attraction comes from a recent interview we had with Bush at this year’s Annecy Festival, which you can read in full, here.
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