I had a kid last year, which means a lot of my time has been spent watching movies for children. And I am pleased to say his first trip to the movie theater was to see Zootopia 2.

Now, this movie was great for a lot of reasons, but as an adult sitting in a kids movie, I was happy to not only watch something I found to be universally pleasing, but it also contained a run of cinematic references that only I'd get, which kept me engaged in the movie.

Today, I found a video unpacking them that I wanted to share with you.

Let's dive in.

'Zootopia 2' Cinematic Parallels

I believe that we are the sum of all the filmmaking that has come before us, and we're trying to add something new to the mix that helps inspire us after.

While watching a movie like Zootopia 2, you can see that in action.

It's a highly original film with a lot of cool ideas, but it still finds time to reference, pastiche, or homage all sorts of films that came before it.

That kind of cinematic intertextuality should be lauded; it's such a lovely letter to the medium, and it made the movie one of my favorites of the year.

In the video, we see cinematography and editing that resemble:

  • Pulp Fiction
  • The Shining
  • The Silence of the Lambs
  • The Great Escape
  • Back to the Future
  • Rango
  • Babe
  • Ratatouille
  • Tangled
  • The Fate of the Furious
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  • The Lion King

When a film references Pulp Fiction and Babe in the same breath, it isn't just being "meta." It is practicing a form of visual literacy. It uses our collective memory of cinema to skip the exposition and go straight to the emotion.

It is also a bit of a shortcut to get us to engage with it. These are shots and scenes we know have had a dramatic effect on audiences, so doing them again is a kind of shorthand in getting a similar response to the one, while also capitalizing on nostalgia.

By remixing these classic tropes, the creators don't just mimic the past; they celebrate it. And celebrate the act of watching movies in general.

They prove that while the characters might be new, the language of storytelling is a living, breathing thing that connects every generation of moviegoers.

Summing It All Up

Zootopia 2 shows us that while characters and technologies evolve, the fundamental language of storytelling connects every generation of cinephiles.

And it reminds us that we aren't just watching a sequel; we are participating in the ongoing evolution of art.

It's cool to see a movie embrace being such an active part of it all.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

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