A new adventure with new characters and more complex challenges puts Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, Zootopia’s most beloved detectives, to the test with a new case that challenges not only their cunning, but also their ability to understand others.
“If we are encouraged to spend a little more time understanding each other’s stories and experiences, and we do, the world would be a better place,” U.S. actor Ke Huy Quan, the voice of Gary De’Snake, one of the main characters in Disney’s animated sequel that lands on the big screen Wednesday, tells EFE.
After saving the city on their first mission, Judy and Nick return with a mystery that forces them to question the prejudices of their society with characters like Gary, a snake with a huge heart and a secret past that destabilizes the city.
Her arrival not only moves the plot of this second installment, but becomes the catalyst for reflection for Judy and Nick after discovering her heartbreaking story.
“If you think of empathy, you think of Gary. You can only imagine what it’s like to live with being constantly misunderstood. Still, he is able to maintain a positive and hopeful attitude, and just looks at everything with wonder and curiosity,” he explains.
Zootopia 2: Judy, from rookie cop to relying on her expert sense of smell
After becoming the first bunny to achieve the impossible within the Metropolis Police, Judy now faces her own insecurities.
“There’s like a cloud of doubt about her. They saved the city in the first installment and now she’s wondering if it was really based on her talent and merit. And that, oddly enough, makes her feel worse about herself. She feels that now she has to prove that she deserved this victory and that she even has to surpass it,” Ginnifer Goodwin, the voice of Judy in the English version of the film, tells EFE.
Even so, her instinct becomes Judy’s best asset, as she sacrifices her running mate’s advice to try to solve the mystery surrounding her new friend. “She opens up completely to Gary and doesn’t let anything get the best of her, she knows how to separate her emotions,” he adds.
The bunny uses the experience of her successful first case to take it a step further and learn “how to see beyond the things that the other creatures in her society are just beginning to be aware of,” Goodwin explains.
“What I love about his character, and Zootopia reminds us of this so well, is that he is able to see beyond the preconceived idea of Gary: a venomous snake. All the stereotypes and the label that comes with being that animal,” says Ke Huy Quan for his part.
Bringing to life a character as fascinating as Gary has been “a dream come true” for the Vietnamese-rooted performer. “I loved the first film, so I was very happy to be involved in this one,” he says.
“A lot of times they give us cartoonish character roles, and that’s because of our voice and personality. In fact, I think they take into account how we behave in the recording booth and how to incorporate that into the character,” says the Oscar-winning actor for best supporting actor for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, 2023).
It is precisely this ability to deal with such human issues that makes Disney’s animated films timeless, universal and with room to tell new stories from different prisms.
“There is always room to explore different ways to achieve this, to be better people or better animals. So we will continue with that theme, but there are still other ways to explore it,” concluded Goodwin, reported Agencia EFE.
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