‘Zootopia 3’ in the Works at Disney

Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde will be back in theaters soon as “Zootopia 3” is now officially in development at Walt Disney Animation Studios. And this time, birds are coming to the animal metropolis.

“Zootopia” co-writer/director and WDAS chief creative officer Jared Bush made the announcement at the Honda Center in Anaheim as part of Disney’s biennial D23 Expo. A release date has not been set for the threequel, but the fast-tracking means it is all but certain that fans won’t have to wait as long as they had to wait for “Zootopia 2,” which came out nine-and-a-half years after the first “Zootopia” hit theaters in April 2016.

It’s also little surprise that Disney is moving fast on a third “Zootopia,” as “Zootopia 2” passed Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” to become the highest grossing American animated film ever before inflation adjustment with $1.85 billion grossed worldwide. Only the Chinese fantasy sequel “Ne Zha 2” ranks higher among all animated films with $2.2 billion.

“Zootopia 2” got there thanks to its overwhelming popularity in China, passing “Avengers: Endgame” as the highest grossing Hollywood production there with $651 million. At a time when Chinese audiences have lost interest in most American blockbusters, the colorful characters and story of “Zootopia” resonated across cultural and national barriers, and the “Zootopia” section of Shanghai Disneyland remains one of the most popular areas of that theme park.

“Zootopia 2” followed Nick and Judy as their relationship as ZPD partners was put to the test while uncovering a generations-old conspiracy connected to the origins of Zootopia, one that left the multi-climate city as a place reserved for mammals while reptiles, including the lovable Gary De’Snake, were pushed to the margins.

In the film’s post-credit scene, a threequel was teased as Judy played her repaired, carrot-shaped voice recorder pen, which held a recording of Nick telling her, “Love you, partner.” As she sets the pen on her windowsill and leaves her apartment, a feather lands next to the pen, hinting that “Zootopia 3” will add birds to the menagerie of animal folks in Zootopia.

Both “Zootopia” films, as well as the animated short anthology “Zootopia+,” are available to stream on Disney+.