17/03/2026

LYFE TUESDAY | MAR 17, 2026

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Inside scoop of Zootopia 2 o Movie’s creators on making Hollywood’s highest-grossing animation

A LTHOUGH it lost best animated film to Kpop Demon Hunters at the Academy Awards on Sunday, Hollywood’s highest grossing animated movie Zootopia 2 remained a significant movie in pop culture. The Walt Disney Animation Studios sequel picks up where the original 2016 film left off, and sends police officer rabbit Judy Hopps and her fox partner Nick Wilde on a mission to uncover the truth about new reptilian character Gary De’Snake, voiced by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan. In an interview with Reuters, producer Yvett Merino and writer and co-director Jared Bush spoke about the themes and success of the film, which is also known as Zootropolis 2 in Britain and some other countries. How does it feel to have made Hollywood’s biggest animation? Merino: “It’s a little unbelievable. There are hundreds of artists who work on this film and so all of their work is being recognised, seen and enjoyed.” Bush: “The really exciting thing is it means people are going to see this in cinemas. The movie took about five years to make and that’s hundreds of people putting all these little details because you want to see it on this big screen and you want people to have this communal experience, so it’s just incredibly rewarding.” Why do you think the film has resonated so well? Bush: “People need joy right now, and there’s so much joy and hope in this movie. And of course, it has these really important deeper NETFLIX confirmed last Thursday that a sequel to KPop Demon Hunters , the streaming platform’s most watched film of all time, is officially in development. The new instalment will extend Netflix’s creative collaboration with co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans – and marks the first project under their new exclusive multi-year writing and directing deal for animation. “I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. There is so much more to this world we have built, and I’m excited to show you. This is only the beginning,” Kang said in the announcement. Animated by Sony Pictures Animation, the original musical film follows K-pop girl trio Huntrix – Rumi, Mira and Zoey – as they balance their superstardom with secret lives as demon hunters. Lead vocalists Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami propelled the movie’s breakout anthem Golden to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The film became a critical and awards-season powerhouse, earning Best Animated Feature and Best Song at the 31st Critics Choice Awards, as well as Best Animated Motion Picture and Best Original Song at the 83rd Golden Globes. It has two Oscar nominations – for best animated feature and best original song.

these homages to these films that you love, you get to go and do that. If you love a relationship story, there’s so few real relationship stories, you can have that. If you want to go in and really think about what’s going on in our world, you can have that too. So, I think there’s something for everybody.” How did you choose what issues you wanted to address? Bush: “Because of those differences that they had in the first movie, we wanted to say, okay, well, they said ‘Let’s work together’ – what does that really look like? We talked a lot about our own relationships. We talked about dynamics with people that you kind of know but until you’re spending a bunch of time with them, you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were like that, or you saw the world this way’. And I think something that happens in our world right now is that there’s this polarisation that can happen, certainly if you see the world differently and there’s such a tendency to just say, ‘Well, that’s different and we’re done’ and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to sort of take our audience through how do you get past those things.” How does it feel to have the film recognised this awards season? Merino: “It is always such an honour for us, it really just means that all of these artists and all of their hard work is being recognised.”

Zootopia 2 follows Gary (Ke), Nick (Jason Bateman) and officer Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) as they restore the original history of Zootopia and expose the Lynxleys.

themes, us understanding our differences. That’s so important. The Gary De’Snake story, that’s really a story certainly about

about people being displaced and how hard that is and trying to fix those historical wrongs. And so I think it’s a combination of a few

things. One, if you want to go in and have a great time, you can do that, no problem. If you want to go in and have a great time because there’s

Truly Golden : Netflix announces KPop Demon Hunters sequel

Razzies crown War of the Worlds 2025’s worst film WAR of the Worlds, the 2025 American sci-fi film inspired by H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel, dominated the 46th annual Razzie Awards last Saturday, taking home Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, Worst Remake, Worst Actor and Worst Director. The Razzies said the film “utterly destroyed H.G. Wells’s classic novel.”

“Director Rich Lee chose a goofy gimmick, hack dialogue and a particularly hilarious performance by its lead Ice Cube to seize 2025’s biggest number of statues,” the parody awards show said. The Razzies, Hollywood’s long-running spoof of the Oscars, spotlight the most critically panned performances of each year. This year’s other major target was Snow White , a 2025 live-action remake of Disney’s 1937 animated classic. The film earned Worst Supporting Actor – for all seven CGI dwarves – and Worst Screen Combo. “It cost a fortune, and lost a fortune. Maybe cursed by Walt himself for having ignored his dying wish for it never to be remade,” the Razzies quipped in its announcement. Rebel Wilson picked up worst actress for the action comedy Bride Hard , and Scarlet Rose Stallone won Worst Supporting Actress for her role in the Western action film Gunslingers . The Razzie Redeemer Award – given to a past nominee who has “gone on to better things” – was awarded to Kate Hudson for her widely praised performance as Cartwright-Sardina, one half of a Neil Diamond husband

The original musical film follows K-pop girl trio Huntrix as they balance their superstardom with secret lives as demon hunters. – NETFLIXPIC

Ice Cube stars in War of the Worlds . – IMDBPIC wife cover band in Song Sung Blue , which she stars in opposite Hugh Jackman. Hudson’s role has earned her strong critical acclaim and Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes, Actor Awards and Bafta Awards. She is also nominated for an Academy Award. The honour brings Hudson full circle after she previously received several Razzie nods, including Worst Actress for her role in the 2021 film Music , directed by Australian pop singer Sia. More than 1,100 Razzie voters across the US and roughly two dozen other countries decide the annual winners – according to the organisation’s website. – Reuters

Golden also secured a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media – the first Grammy ever awarded to a K-pop song. In January, Netflix announced the movie had shattered platform records, drawing 482 million views over a six-month period, along with 32 million views for its lyric videos. Its soundtrack continues to trend worldwide.

Appelhans, speaking to Reuters in January, stressed a sequel would need a clear creative direction from the beginning. “You have to know where you’re headed because otherwise you will be lost immediately. “So, we’ll just have to do that again and make something that we love and that means something to us,” he said.