A deleted scene from Disney’s $1.74 billion hit Zootopia 2 was just revealed in an Entertainment Weekly exclusive clip in which co-directors of the film, Jared Bush and Byron Howard, explain that the beginning of the film could have looked very different if they hadn’t decided to cut this clip from the film.
The scene opens in a foggy night at sea on a ship controlled by rodents. One of the rodents is reading a newspaper that has an article about the upcoming 200th Zootennial Celebration. Soon, the rodent receives a text asking him, “Is it all there?”
After receiving the text, he opens up a briefcase in which small rodents are swimming in cash, who inform him that they have counted all the money twice. Then they throw a party in celebration of their new wealth. While the celebration is happening, a mysterious figure knocks one of the containers off the ship. The container washes up on shore, and the figure opens it, revealing a snake, and the two go off together.
As Bush and Howard explain in the clip, “In the final film, we open up our movie by looking back at where we left off with Judy and Nick in the first film, but in this early version, we began on a boat with a band of smuggling schemers being paid to bring something to town. The twist is that what they were smuggling in was actually a mysterious snake.“
Bush also added that “Ultimately, that scene did not fit within the overall structure of our film, but it was really fun to explore, and we are now excited to share it with you.“
Zootopia 2 is set to arrive on Digital platforms on January 27, 2026, including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD versions of the film will be released on March 3, 2026.