Zootopia+ Season 1 is available now exclusively on Disney+.
One of the great charms of 2016’s Zootopia was its world-building, which included a loaded ensemble of quirky animal support characters for idealistic Zootopia PD cop Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and reformed con artist Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to play against. In the new Disney+ short series Zootopia+, that menagerie gets the spotlight in six original stories that feature audience favorites like Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche) and his daughter Fru Fru (Leah Latham), Flash the sloth (Raymond S. Persi), and the overly enthusiastic Clawhauser (Nate Torrence). Each is a fun addition to the mythology and storytelling of the world, and as a whole ranks among the best of the Disney+ original spin-off shorts projects.
The six stories are co-directed by animator Trent Correy (Zootopia) and story artist Josie Trinidad (Ralph Breaks the Internet), both of whom are rising star talents within Walt Disney Studios Animation. They also came up with the core stories of the episodes which take place within the time frame explored in Zootopia. So, there’s an adventure featuring Judy’s parents, Bonnie (Bonnie Hunt) and Stu Hopps (Don Lake), on the day they wave her off at the train for her big city training with “Hopp on Board.” And we see Fru Fru’s side of the great doughnut calamity from the movie when Judy saves her tiny life. There’s also a big musical episode all about scammer Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk) lamenting his petty ways and belting out a Broadway style “I want” song that Tudyk is clearly having a lot of fun with.
The best of the bunch is a Godfather parody as told by Mr. Big on Fru Fru’s wedding day in “The Godfather of the Bride,” rendered in Coppola-esque sepia-toned flashbacks and narrated by the legendary LaMarche doing his very best mumbly Brando. It works both as a clever animal-infused parody of all things Godfather, using rodent scale for some great jokes, and as a tightly conceived emotional immigrant story that is a complete story on its own. The second best effort is “Dinner Rush,” which features Sam the otter waitress (Charlotte Nicdao) desperately trying to get her sloth customers served so she can make it to the Gazelle (Shakira) concert that night. It takes the slow sloth frustration comedy of the movie to the next level of chaos.
Visually, Zootopia+ looks as good as the movie. They’ve carried over the quality of their theatrical characters into these shorts, which makes it a satisfying watch for animation aficionados and those who just loved the movie and want to see more of the world without budget compromises visually. The most original boarding amongst the episodes goes to “The Godfather of the Bride” and “Duke the Musical,” which both shoot for the creative stars in terms of executing their very different stories. The former, in particular, uses so much of the frame to pack in incredible details, visual jokes, and allusions to classic cinema that it begs multiple watches.
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