The Zootopia 2 release date is less than two months away, and there’s a lot to be excited about with one of the big upcoming 2025 movies left on the release calendar. CinemaBlend had the chance to visit Walt Disney Animation in Burbank, California last month. We learned a lot about what to expect from the return of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, and the beloved characters we met during their first adventure. As someone who particularly fell for Flash the sloth, officially known as Flash Slothmore, I’ve got some exclusive answers on what to expect from him.
Zootopia 2 Filmmakers Confirmed Flash The Sloth Is One Of Many Returning Zootopia Characters
It’s hard to forget the scene in Zootopia when Nick and Judy visit the DMV. In a hilarious bit that was even involved in the marketing of the 2016 movie, the pair’s high-speed pursuit to figure out the details of a case moves to a hilarious halt when the DMV is run by sloths. Nick tells a joke to Flash and he slowly reacts to it before telling his coworker at a literal sloth pace, and it’s still just as funny nearly a decade later.
When I attended an early press day for Zootopia 2 on behalf of CinemaBlend, I had to highlight how the filmmakers, Byron Howard and Jared Bush, addressed Sloth. In their presentation, the co-directors confirmed Flash will be back for the sequel, along with a ton of characters from the original movie, like Dawn Bellweather, Leodore Lionheart, Gazelle, Mr. Big, Fru Fru and more. But as you may have noticed from the new Zootopia 2 trailer, Flash is not one of the characters Disney is teasing in the marketing.
Flash The Sloth Is In Zootopia 2. What I Know About His Return
Zootopia 2 picks up just a week after the events of the first movie at a time where Nick and Judy are still figuring out how to be an effective team. They find themselves engrossed in a new mystery that will answer why reptiles haven’t been living in Zootopia. When I asked the filmmakers, here’s how Howard teased Flash’s return:
I think we find that anytime we can make Judy and or Nick and both uncomfortable. [It’s] sort of the key to their comedy. We were talking to Andrew Stanton about this and some of the joy of these movies is really just seeing two great characters play off each other. And there’s just something so amazing about that. And that’s really been the core of the whole Zootopia [movies].
This totally makes sense! Based on Howard’s response, it sounds like Flash will pop out in a place where Nick and Judy will need to be uncomfortable, and perhaps slow them down again. I’m actually quite happy to be caught off guard by his return after he already had a popular scene when the first movie came out. As Bush (who is also Walt Disney Animation’s CCO) added:
The other part is we actually tried to not compete because it feels, if you try to do that same thing again, audiences are smart and savvy and they’ll go, ‘Oh, I remember that last one.’ You’re trying to do that thing again. And so as much as we could, we just looked into the animals we have in this world and what are different things we could do with them that are also really entertaining, but hopefully don’t repeat themselves.
After going to Walt Disney Animation and seeing 20 minutes from the movie, I can definitely tease there’s a lot of sharp comedy and fun to be had regarding the world of Zootopia. I cannot wait to return to this world when the movie comes out on November 26, and what Flash Slothmore is up to, of course!