Disney announced an upcoming Zootopia TV Show titled Zootopia+ that will explore the minor character of Flash the sloth and will release on Disney+ in 2022. The original Zootopia film was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released in 2016. The movie was a massive success for Disney, with Zootopia making over $1 billion at the box office and receiving rave reviews. It earned the Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars, as well as a host of other accolades. Due to the 2016 animation's enormous financial success, a sequel has been rumored numerous times over the years since, and now with growing demand for original content on Disney's own streaming service, the studio has more room to expand on its various properties.
When it released, Zootopia introduced viewers to a wide animal world, including the titular city, to which the young rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) ventures. There, she meets plenty of colorful characters, including the sly - but ultimately good-hearted - fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). It's Nick who introduces Judy to Flash (Raymond S. Persi), one of many sloths working at the DMV. Now, Flash will return in an upcoming Zootopia spinoff TV show alongside other movie characters.
During the Disney Animation portion of the studio's Investor Day presentation, Disney confirmed Zootopia+, noting that the series will arrive on Disney+ in 2022. The reveal also confirmed that the show will focus on minor characters Fru Fru, Gazelle's tiger backing dancers and Flash the sloth, expanding on them despite their limited appearances in the original film. The series will be directed by Trent Correy and Josie Trinidad, an animator and writer on Zootopia respectively. Check out the title treatment for Zootopia+ above and below.
As if the great joke of a sloth working at the DMV wasn't already brilliant enough, the idea that a new series will focus on the likes of Flash is sure to be hilarious. Getting a new perspective on the world created in 2016's Zootopia makes a lot of sense, being a simple yet fresh way of further exploring it, especially in a Disney+ series that can really take its time to tell a variety of stories and not rush them. Indeed, the film crafted such an intricately detailed world that it would benefit from being explored through the eyes of new characters with fresh experiences, creating endless possibilities. With no large, overarching story to commit to, Zootopia+ has the potential to be an almost pseudo hangout style story, similar to classic movies such as Clerks and Slacker. It could not only be a fresh perspective on Zootopia's world, but an innovative storytelling style for animated series in the future.
The upcoming Zootopia TV show is still a long way off. As with most of these latest Disney+ developments, creatives are either just getting started on exciting new projects or working hard at bringing big scale stories to the ever accessible small screen. However, sometimes focusing on the small scale action, like Zootopia+ is planning to do, can be an unexpected and inspired way forward.
Source: Disney