This article contains spoilers for “Zootopia 2”.
Jared Bush and Byron Howard’s 2025 animated film “Zootopia 2” has already been more successful than anyone could have predicted. Worldwide, it has already grossed nearly $1.66 billion, making it the second highest-grossing film of its year behind Chinese animated epic “Ne Zha 2.” This figure currently makes it the 12th highest-grossing film of all time, having already beaten “The Avengers.” And even counting only domestic revenue, “Zootopia 2” is the third highest-grossing film of 2025.
The film’s success may be due to its adorable animal designs, as its main characters – the fox Nick (Jason Bateman) and the rabbit Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin) – are fuzzy and adorable. Part of the film’s success can also be attributed to its universal themes of racism and prejudice. The “Zootopia” films are set in the city of the title, a multi-species metropolis that uses high-tech environmental controls to ensure that all animals will be able to access their natural biomes while living within its walls. But even though Zootopia is a utopia, there are still persistent prejudices that must be overcome. “Zootopia 2” is explicitly about redlining. It seems there was a plan during the planning stages of Zootopia years ago to drive the reptiles out of town and build mammal malls in their former neighborhoods.
The main reptile character in “Zootopia 2” is Gary, a snake played by Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan. Quan, of course, rose to fame in 1984 when he starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” when he was just 13 years old. The creators of “Zootopia 2”, wanting to pay homage to Quan’s appearance in “Temple”, cleverly inserted snake characters that resembled Quan and Harrison Ford’s characters from that film. It’s an Easter egg among many others.
Zootopia 2 features snake versions of Short Round and Indiana Jones
To remind readers, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was one of the biggest hits of 1984 and is still watched to this day, despite the reputation of being one of the lesser Indiana Jones films. Ke Huy Quan played Short Round, a 12-year-old who, for reasons that are never fully explained, fell into the main character’s company, agreeing to help him in times of need and serve as an independent pilot. Quan was incredibly charismatic in this role and has been remembered for decades. As an adult, Quan moved away from acting and studied editing, film directing and martial arts. He returned in the 2020s, and quickly won an Oscar for “Everywhere All at Once.”
In “Zootopia 2”, Quan voiced Gary De’Snake, a snake who seems, at first, as if he is up to no good. He steals an old book that might contain a secret he wants to reveal. I won’t fully reveal the contents of the book here, but it involves the fate of Gary’s snake family, currently living in exile outside of Zootopia. Because this is a light-hearted talking animal movie produced by Disney, the drama of course comes to a happy conclusion, and it’s only a matter of time before we see Gary’s happy family.
When we see them, the film’s animators included a fun little reference to the “Temple of Doom.” A member of Gary’s family wears a fedora, identical to the one worn by Harrison Ford in “Temple of Doom”. Additionally, a snake child wears a baseball cap, the same one that Short Round wore.
It’s brief, but it’s there. “Zootopia 2” will be on Disney+ soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
