Jared Bush is not only the co-director/co-writer of Zootopia 2, but since the fall of 2024, he is also the Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2011 and directed and wrote the first Zootopia in 2016. During his time at Disney, he earned an Academy Award for Encanto, which he wrote and directed. He also executive-produced Raya and the Last Dragon. On top of that, he was the writer behind Moana and Moana 2 (for which he was also an executive producer). He also won an Emmy for Zootopia+.

After a record-breaking opening at the box office for Zootopia 2, Jared Bush sat down to talk about the film and also the future of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Take a look at this interview that Disney released with Bush below.

After Zootopia was released in 2016, it earned more than $1 billion at the global box office. Why do you think this particular franchise has such a strong, universal appeal?

There’s something about animals that people can relate to. That’s one of the really fun things about Zootopia: you can identify with an animal. That’s you, that’s your friend, that’s your teacher, that’s a guy you saw at the DMV. There’s something very universal about that.

I also think that the themes we talk about [across the entire Zootopia franchise] are real human themes: “How do we get along with one another?” “Are our differences too much?”

No matter who you are or where you are in the world, you can see your story onscreen.

The world fell in love with Judy and Nick in the first film, and their adventures continued over the years through Disney’s theme parks, cruise ships, and consumer products. What inspired you to expand their story even further onscreen in Zootopia 2?

I know Judy and Nick as characters; I know them really well. And in the first film, they only really got to hang out for about 48 hours. Stepping into the next story, the big question was: “What happens to them next?” As a storyteller, that’s really exciting to think about.

We spent a lot of time looking into Judy and Nick’s pasts and [imagined] what they would do moving forward: Will they actually make a good team, or are they a one-hit wonder? Judy and Nick are always our true north. More than anything else, with all of Zootopia’s bells and whistles, what you really care about is this duo and what’s going to happen next.

What makes Zootopia 2 a must-see in theaters?

In 100 years, it’s our most ambitious film that we’ve ever created at Disney Animation. And it is the most immersive environment you can imagine; the cinematography takes you to places we have never put onscreen before. But, more than that, it is filled with absolute joy.

It’s been 14 months since you were named Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation. From Hexed to the Frozen sequels, what are you most excited for in the coming years?

It takes about five years to make one of our films, so we have to have ideas that we are so passionate about — ideas that we want to stick with as they’re going through all of their different iterations. I know what the next 10 years of Disney Animation looks like, and it’s really exciting. The variety is honestly spectacular, and it all comes from filmmaker passion.Jared Bush