With worldwide box office receipts of more than a billion dollars, “Zoomania” is one of the biggest Disney animated film hits of recent times. The fact that it still took an impressive nine years for a sequel, “Zoomania 2,” to be released in cinemas is probably due, on the one hand, to the fact that there was also the spin-off series “Zoomania+” on Disney+ in between – and, on the other hand, to the fact that animated films in this budget class (part 1 had a rumored 150 million at the time) simply take time.
But it doesn't matter, because in the world of “Zoomania 2” only a week has passed since the events of Part 1 and the sequel also ties in directly with the original from 2016 in terms of content, thematic and, above all, quality: The film offers a series of turbulent, extremely varied chases, an incredible density of gags and, once again, some pointed messages about compatible coexistence and the differences that define us.
With pit viper Gary, a reptile enters the stage for the first time in “Zoomania 2”.
Rabbit Judy Hopps (original voice: Ginnifer Goodwin / German voice: Josefine Preuß) and her fox partner Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman / Florian Halm) uncovered a conspiracy in “Zoomania” and saved the animal metropolis. But that doesn't mean that they can now do whatever they want with the Zootopia Police. During an operation at the port, they should actually just watch their more experienced colleagues and learn from them. But of course Judy and Nick have already set off to the harbor on their own to investigate undercover.
A wild chase through the city and a series of accidents later, the two are promoted to the substitutes' bench by police chief Bogo (original voice: Idris Elba), but one thing doesn't leave Judy alone: she found a piece of snake skin during the port operation that went wrong. All reptiles were actually banned from Zootopia a long time ago. Could this whole thing possibly have something to do with an exhibition by the Luchs family, who founded Zootopia and built the weather walls that enable the city's different climate zones?
Fast pace, high gag hit rate
As mentioned in the introduction, “Zoomania” is already nine years old, but those responsible for “Zoomania 2” tick that off with a short montage in which the end of the first part is briefly summarized and supplemented with a few new scenes. Then the directors Byron Howard (who was responsible for Part 1 together with Rich Moore) and Jared Bush (who also wrote the script for Part 2) really put their foot down and hardly give the audience a moment to breathe:
After the car chase through Zootopia, we move straight on to an infiltration of the aforementioned exhibition, where the snake Gary De'Snake (Ke Huy Quan / Rick Kavanian), which is extremely important to the plot, appears for the first time and causes panic, causing tons of chandeliers to crash from the ceiling. Judy and Nick then slide down a snowy slope, using a painting (!) as a snowboard, before the next clue leads them to the previously unseen Marsh Market, where water-loving mammals such as sea lions, walruses and dolphins cavort (and there's the next wild hunt).
In Part 2, Judy and Nick investigate, among other things, in a swampy marketplace.
But not only is the pace incredibly high, especially in the first hour of “Zoomania 2”, Jared Bush and Byron Howard also throw in so many gags that you hardly have a chance of noticing them all on the first run. What's more, the hit rate is pretty impressive – whether it's using a porcupine to set up a roadblock, a row of wildebeests sticking their tongues to an ice pillar, or Nick and Judy encountering other bizarre animal-cop duos during partner therapy, including a mouse and an elephant.
Not to mention the numerous pop culture references and film quotes that are again present this time, from the modified film titles already seen in part 1 (“Wrangled” instead of “Tangled”, i.e. “Rapunzel – Newly Tangled”) to a detailed (but of course family-friendly) image quote from, of all things, Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece “Shining”. And of course the sloth Flash shouldn't be missing, who delivered the best gag in the film in Part 1 and once again provides a great laugh when he helps the main characters out of trouble at a crucial point.
Sloth Flash is the real star of the “Zoomania” series!
In addition to the fast-paced action and the high level of humor, the thematic underpinnings are also not neglected in “Zoomania 2”. While part 1 was a big parable about racism and prejudice, part 2 goes even one step further with the reptile population of Zootopia, which has been almost completely erased from the history books. And the big theme that defines the film of the (important!) differences between the different animal species is also played out on a small scale in the (working) relationship between Nick and Judy, into which, as in numerous police series, a romantic undertone slowly creeps in.
Like the first “Zoomania” with its yoga-nudist oasis, “Zoomania 2” is aimed not only at children but also at the adults in the audience with the “Shining” quote, the “Will they, won’t they” relationship between Nick and Judy and other elements borrowed from the cop genre. It also fits that the film's very successful suspense climax, with its dark images and the two main characters in extreme danger, is almost a bit too intense for the very little ones in the audience – even if the scene is of course quickly resolved.
Conclusion: “Zoomania 2” is a wild hunt through old and new areas of the animal metropolis, in which, in addition to fast-paced action and many successful gags, an important moral is also conveyed. And of course the real star is still Sloth Flash.