An event for Disney Animation's "Zootopia 2" (directed by Jared Bush and others, opening December 5th), titled "Zootopia 2 Zoojoji Smash Hit Prayer Event," was held on November 25th at Zojoji Temple (Minato Ward, Tokyo), with the star-studded cast, including Aya Ueto, who plays Judy, Toshiyuki Morikawa, who plays Nick, and Hiro Shimono, who plays Gary, all in attendance. In her opening remarks, Morikawa introduced Nick as "sarcastic, but very kind at heart. And he has a great voice," to which Shimono and Ueto chimed in, "You said that yourself!"
Also appearing at the event were Ryosuke Yamada, who plays Paubert, Noriko Eguchi, who plays Nibbles, Kenta Miyake, who plays Director Bogo, Dream Ami, who plays Gazelle, Takashima Masahiro, who plays Mayor Winddancer, Emoto Akira, who plays Hey Su-Su, and Takahashi Shigeo, of the comedy duo "Savannah," who plays Clawhauser. As the voice actors shouted out, the word "ZOOJOJI" was lit up at Zojoji Temple.
Shimono, who plays Gary the snake, a new character appearing in this film, said, "Those who have seen the recent trailers may know this, but Gary definitely isn't a bad guy, and he has the air of a lively character. I haven't seen the finished version either, so I have no idea how much I can talk, but the truth is, I really want to talk!" Despite his co-stars telling him "No!", he appealed, "I think he's an interesting character. I hope you'll enjoy seeing how he interacts with Judy and Nick."
This film is the sequel to "Zootopia," which was released in 2016. The previous film, "Zootopia," was set in Zootopia, a world where animals live in a high-tech civilized society like humans. It depicted Judy meeting Nick and overcoming many challenges together as she grows into a fine police officer. It was the first Disney animation film since "Frozen" to surpass $1 billion in global box office revenue. It was also a huge hit in Japan, grossing over 7.6 billion yen.
In the sequel, Nick, who has successfully graduated from the police academy and become a police officer, and Judy, the first rabbit police officer to do her job, team up again and embark on an epic adventure. A new character, Gary the snake, also appears.
