Zootopia 2 has been released, and it’s in theaters now! Along with catching up with our favorite citizens of the Disney animated city, it’s also rather fun to listen in on what new voices you can recognize along the way. And, did you know that real-life couple Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are among the voice cast?
When CinemaBlend had the chance to visit Walt Disney Animation in Burbank, CA, they clued us in to the fact that the couple and parents to two cubs of their own are behind the voices of sibling lynxes. Here’s what producer Yvett Merino told us about what they were like in the recording booth:
They came in and it’s something we don’t do a lot here in animation is bring people in together. We were able to bring them in and just to watch them kind of feed off of each other cause they are playing these siblings who are like most siblings.
Macaulay Culkin, who’s of course best known for causing antics as a kid in Home Alone, plays the role of Cattrick Lynxley, the eldest son in the powerful Lynxley family. Song, who’s most famous for her Disney Channel days in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, voices Kitty Lynxley, the daughter. As Merino continued in our interview:
I have a son and daughter and they love each other, but they don’t always get along or they’re always sniping at each other or picking at each other. And so to watch them kind of play off of each other in the booth was something pretty special. And, it was great and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to see that and to bring them in at the same time.
While it’s kind of funny that these two are playing siblings, when they are in a romantic relationship, it sounds like they had a lot of fun together playing off each other in the vocal booth – a rare occasion these days for the voices behind Walt Disney Animation characters. You can see the couple together in the booth in the second image from Culkin’s Instagram post below:
Culkin and Song aren’t the only notable Lynxleys, either. Andy Samberg also plays Pawbert Lynxley, who’s the easygoing runt of the family, and David Strathairn is the family’s patriarch, Milton Lynxley. These supporting roles complement Jason Bateman’s return as Nick Wilde, Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps and Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan as Gary De’Snake.
The new movie has Nick and Judy trying to solve a mystery around why there aren’t reptiles in Zootopia when Gary arrives there. The latest Disney animated movie has been receiving high praise from critics overall, as you can see in our Zootopia 2 review. CinemaBlend’s own Dirk Libbey applauds the sequel for its “much stronger” character arcs this time around. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should also stay seated for an exciting post-credits scene hinting at the future of the franchise.
Did you catch Culkin and Song in Zootopia 2? It’s now playing in theaters.