The Disney media franchise of Zootopia consists of the animated film Zootopia (2016), its sequel Zootopia 2 (2025), the streaming television series Zootopia+ (2022), and other media appearances. All the characters in the franchise are anthropomorphic animals, in the first film and most media being all of them mammals, while in Zootopia 2 reptiles are also introduced.
Main characters Judy Hopps
Officer Judith Laverne Hopps is a European rabbit and one of the central characters of the franchise along with Nick Wilde.
Development For the initial production of the film, Judy was not the protagonist of the story, instead being a sidekick for Nick, with the plot centered around him. She was an already established lieutenant of the Zootopia Police Department, with the goal of assisting Nick in clearing his name after being framed for a crime he did not commit. To Nick, the Zootopia city was broken from the beginning, and following the story of a cynical protagonist would degrade both the message of the story and the city itself. With Judy being an optimistic protagonist, and her struggle to insert herself within the harsh world of reality, the story and themes made much more sense.
In Zootopia Since Judy was a child, she has dreamed of becoming Zootopia's first police bunny, and although she finally succeeds, on her first day she is assigned to issue parking tickets as a meter maid. While she is working, she runs into Nick Wilde, a fox who wanted to buy his son, Finnick, a Jumbo pop but had no money, so Judy offers to pay for it. However, she discovers that Nick and Finnick are not father and son, but two con men who wanted to melt down the ice pop to resell as small popsicles. Subsequently, she pursues Duke Weaselton who has stolen some bulbs from a florist's shop, but although she catches him, the ruckus she causes enrages Chief Bogo. Between that and promising Mrs. Otterton to find her missing husband Emmitt, Bogo prepares to expel her from the police force for giving Mrs. Otterton false hope, but Assistant Mayor Bellwether intervenes and thwarts him. Instead, he offers Judy 48 hours to solve the case, or resign if she fails.
Investigating, Judy coerces Nick into helping her, and he introduces her to his friend Flash from the traffic department who supplies information about the limo in which Mr. Otterton was last seen. The limo turns out to belong to Mr. Big, a crime boss who is about to freeze Judy and Nick until he is stopped by his daughter Fru Fru, who recognizes Judy for saving her during Duke's chase. Mr. Big, grateful for saving his daughter, gives Judy the address of his limo driver, Manchas, who tells them that Otterton went savage and fled after attacking him. At that point, Manchas ends up going savage as well. Judy and Nick continue their investigation, discovering from traffic cameras that Manchas was taken in a van to an asylum, where they find Mr. Otterton and other missing predators, and that it is Mayor Lionheart who has them secretly locked up while doctors try to discover why they have become savage. Lionhart and his asykum staff are arrested.
Judy feels proud to have rescued the missing mammals, but in a press conference her accidentally inflammatory answers about predators negatively affects Nick. As more predators go savage, this now being reported on TV news, and the situation begins to cause chaos in the city, Judy decides to resign from the police force out of guilt. She returns to her family farm in Bunnyburrows to work with her parents, where she accidentally discovers that the flowers Weaselton had stolen are the likely cause of predators in Zootopia going savage.
Judy returns to Zootopia, and after tearfully reconciling with Nick, they continue to investigate the case together, and find that the animals going savage are being deliberately shot with pellets of a serum made from the flowers. Finally, they discover that the mastermind behind the plot is Bellwether, who tries to eliminate Judy by shooting Nick with the serum so that he will kill Judy. However, they have anticipated her and swapped out the serum pellets for blueberries, and Judy tricks her into detailing her plot while recording her, bringing her to justice. Subsequently, Nick joins the police force, becomes Judy's partner, and Bogo assigns the two to their first job together.
During the credits, Judy and Nick, together with most of the other main characters, attend Gazelle's concert.
In Zootopia 2 Judy and Nick continue as partners at the Zootopia PD. After a mysterious reptile, named Gary, arrives in Zootopia and turns Zootopia upside down, the duo must go undercover to new parts of town to solve the case. In her zeal to clear their names, she briefly estranged from Nick, which was made worse when Nick was arrested upon being them being separated as Judy was forced to escape with Gary De'Snake and Pawbert. Eventually, after being nearly murdered by Pawbert's treachery, Judy is able to save Nick from his attempted self-sacrifice to stop Pawbert, allowing them to reconcile with mutual declarations of love before together pursuing and capturing Pawbert and arresting him and the rest of his family. With that, she and Nick are cleared of all charges, decorated, and assigned to recapturing the prisoners Nick accidentally released when he escaped prison.
During the credits, Judy and Nick attend Gazelle's concert at the Burning Mammal festival. In the post-credits, Judy puts her recorder pen on the window. After threatening her neighbors who were listening in upon her departure, a feather lands near it.
In other media In Zootopia+, she appears in "Hopp on Board", where she is seen during her train trip into Zootopia. She also appears in "The Real Rodents of Little Rodentia", during the time that she saves Fru Fru in Little Rodentia. In "Dinner Rush", she and Nick are shown stopping Flash's car.
Judy is also a main character in the video game Zootopia: Crime Files, where she investigates cases with Nick. She also appeared as a playable racer in the racing game Zootopia: Racing Carnival. Judy also appears as a playable character in the video games Disney Infinity 3.0, Disney Magic Kingdoms, Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, and Disney Mirrorverse.
In Disney Parks, she is a meet-and-greet character at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In the Shanghai Disneyland attraction Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, she and her newly appointed partner Nick are in charge of solving the Gazelle kidnapping case.
Judy has a cameo appearance in the 2023 short film Once Upon a Studio, where she comes out of a picture on the wall to take a group photo with the rest of the characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Reception In The Daily Telegraph, Rosa Prince singled out Judy Hopps as a welcome change for Disney animated feature film heroines. She found that unlike the stories from characters such as members of the Disney Princess franchise, focused on romance or family loyalty, her focus is on her dream career as a police officer and serving her city.
Alliance of Women Film Journalists awarded Judy the Best Animated Female award in 2016 (shared with Moana from the film of the same name after a tie).
Nick Wilde
Officer Nicholas Piberius Wilde is a red fox, and one of the central characters of the franchise along with Judy Hopps.
Development For the initial development of the film, Nick served as the film's protagonist. He was a wanted fox on a mission to clear his name after being framed for a crime he did not commit, with Judy Hopps, a lieutenant of the Zootopia Police Department, assisting him in achieving this goal. Nick also was every bit as sarcastic and cynical, but with a strong dislike towards the city of Zootopia, which was more of a dystopian society, with direct abuse and cruelty against predators. In production, the filmmakers felt the tale of optimistic Judy Hopps, an ambitious bunny that wants to achieve her dreams in what she believes to be a wondrous city, would make for a more compelling story with the message of preconceived notions.
In Zootopia Nick is a con artist who tricks Judy into buying a large ice pop for his son because he had no money, later Judy discovering that his "son" is actually his partner Finnick, with whom Nick used the ice pop to resell small ice pops. Later, Judy asks for his help in solving the case of the disappearance of Emmitt Otterton, and although Nick initially refuses, Judy blackmails him with revealing that he has not filed his taxes. Nick introduces Judy to his friend Flash from the traffic department to find the limo where Mr. Otterton was last seen. The limo turns out to belong to Mr. Big, a crime boss Nick has had problems with in the past, and who is about to freeze Judy and Nick, until he is stopped by his daughter Fru Fru, who recognizes Judy for saving her in Little Rodentia. Mr. Big, grateful for saving his daughter, gives Judy the address of the limo driver, Manchas, who tells them that Otterton fled after attacking him. At that point, Manchas ends up the same as well. Later, after standing up to Bogo, Nick reveals to Judy that as a child he suffered discrimination from other children for the simple fact of being a predator.
Judy and Nick continue their investigation, discovering from the traffic cameras that Manchas was taken in a van to an asylum, where they find Mr. Otterton and the other 13 missing predators, in addition to discovering that it is Mayor Lionheart, who has them locked up away from the public. But the fact of having solved the case causes the inhabitants of Zootopia to be afraid that all predators will end up in the wild, and seeing that even Judy is afraid, he gets angry and offended seeing that he will always be discriminated against. Months later, Judy apologizes to Nick and asks for his help in solving the case, earning his forgiveness. Finally, they end up discovering that the mastermind behind all the plot was Bellwether, who they manage to set up to record her confession, bringing her to justice. Subsequently, Nick joins the police force, becoming Judy's partner, both being assigned by Chief Bogo to their first job as a team.
In Zootopia 2 Nick and Judy continue as partners at the Zootopia PD. After a mysterious reptile arrives in Zootopia and turns Zootopia upside down, the duo must go undercover to new parts of town to solve the case. There is some irritation between them in light of Judy's reckless determination to solve the case regardless of their fact that they are framed fugitives from the law. They separated at the Honeymoon Lodge when the ZPD arrest him while Gary De'Snake and Pawbert spirit Judy away. Finding Nibbles Maplestick in prison, the pair escapes, and get a ride from Flash in his sports car to get to Judy and help her at a critical time. Eventually, at the weather wall, Nick is attacked by Pawbert, who had attacked Judy and then Nibbles as part of his plan to impress his abusive family. At near-certain sacrifice of his own life, Nick is able to get Gary's antivenom injector to the snake to save Judy, who then manages to save Nick from falling to his death with Gary's help. After confessing their mutual love, Nick and Judy pursue and capture Pawbert with Gary and Nibbles' help. With that success, Nick is cleared of charges and decorated with Judy, with their next mission to round up the criminals he accidentally freed.
During the credits, Nick and Judy attended Gazelle's concert at the Burning Mammal festival.
In other media In Zootopia+, he makes a brief appearance in "Hopp on Board", making ice pops with Finnick. In "Dinner Rush", he and Judy are shown stopping Flash's car.