Since it was announced back in 2019, we were
all so excited to see what Disney would create for Shanghai Disney Restort’s Zootopia Land.
We were able to get some fantastic sneak peeks back in last year’s D23 where Disney unveiled lots
of concept art of the ride and land and a model of the ride vehicle. But the most impressive of
these sneak peeks was the Officer Clawhauser animatronic. This animatronic blew all of our
minds with its fluid movements and its size, and it was just a small piece of what
was to come with this fantastic land. So today, we’re going to be talking
about this ride and its spectacular animatronics! Let’s take a look at what’s coming! And please, take a moment and leave
a like and consider subscribing! It is super important for us to
continue making videos! Thanks! Citizens of Zootopia In Zootopia Land, guests will be invited to step
into the world of Zootopia. From food and drink to entertainment and merchandise, every aspect of
the new land has been designed to fully immerse guests in the world of Zootopia. But one of the
most immersive and impressive parts of this land are the citizens of Zootopia. We love meeting our
favorite characters at Disney Parks, and here in Zootopia Land, guests will be able to meet Judy
and Nick as usual. But a new part of this land is this one of a kind live entertainment experience
where you can catch a glimpse of characters like, including Fru Fru and her father Mr. Big, along
with Koslov the polar bear, Flash the sloth, Yax the yak, Duke Weaselton the weasel, and the Hopps
family who appear to interact amongst themselves (and sometimes even with you!) throughout the
day from the windows of Zootopia’s buildings. These animatronics and puppets look fantastic
and we would love to see Disney implement this type of live entertainment to other lands! You can
also see several other animatronics throughout the land, like this mouse and Giraffe that you
can see working out at the fitness center! Zootopia: Hot Pursuit Of course, every land has to have an E-Ticket
attraction and Zootopia Land has Zootopia: Hot Pursuit. We didn’t know much about what this
ride was about until September of this year, when Disney shared new details
and concept art of the ride. This ride is set after the events of
the film and in it, guests will get to become a part of the Zootopia Police
Department as rookie police officers. During this time, the residents of Zootopia are
gearing up for a big Gazelle concert celebrating Zootopia Day. In the beginning guests walk
into ZPD for orientation but an alarm sounds and we learn that Gazelle has been kidnapped
by Bellwether right before the big concert! So we are assigned to back up Officer
Judy Hopps and her partner, Nick Wilde, who is now officially a police officer and we
join them in an action-filled police chase. The chase will take guests across Zootopia’s
various terrains including Tundratown, Sahara Square, Mystic Springs Oasis, and
also the Rainforest District all while chasing Bellwether and her gang to save Gazelle. Pre-Show animatronics We love a good pre-show animatronic like
Hondo Ohnaka or Rocket Racoon. And Zootopia: Hot Pursuit has not one, but two
fantastic pre show animatronics. The first of these is the Officer Clawhauser
animatronic that we saw in the sneak peeks. We see him as soon as we enter the building
we find him and he begins talking to guests, asking them if he can crank some tunes, and
getting everyone ready for orientation. And what can we say about him? Most of us loved
this cheetah since we saw him in the movie, and seeing him come to life makes this
character even more lovable. He is so cute, funny and very impressive. But our
visit with him is cut short when the alarm sounds and we are whisked away to an
emergency briefing, delivered by Chief Bogo. Chief Bogo is another fantastic animatronic. His
fluid movements and size make him an imposing treat to see. In this scene we experience an
emergency briefing, delivered by Chief Bogo. Here’s where we learn that Gazelle has been
kidnapped by Bellwether right before the big concert! And we see Judy and Nick on a screen,
where they let us know that they’ve located Bellwether and they need reinforcements.
Both of these animatronics are fantastic and they show us a glimpse of the amazing
animatronics that we will see inside the ride. Nick and Judy Tundratown Here’s where the ride begins. Zootopia: Hot
Pursuit has a very similar ride system as Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and the
first clue of this similarity comes at the beginning of the ride when Judy and Nick
arrive to greet us driving a police car similar to the one we’re riding.
The ride has a trackless system, just like Runaway Railway and it works perfectly
for this ride because it sends riders through the Sahara Square section of the ride twice, therefore
making more efficient use of the ride’s footprint If you look around you can see that we’re at the
White Paw Fishing Factory at Tundratown. Nick and Judy arrive and tell us all about the case and
how we need to chase and find Gazelle. And both of these animatronics are incredible. They both look
very cute and impressive riding the police car. Probably, these animatronics use servos
and are part of the a1000 series due to their fluid movements. The only thing that's
not ideal is that their eyes use projections. But in our opinion that doesn’t take away from
this fantastic animatronics. Their design and sculpture is amazing. The smooth and delicate
movements of these animatronics are achieved because they are programmed and animated
using the same computer animation system used for the ride "Beauty and the Beast."
The ride has a great mixture of screens and physical effects and props, and while some
people may complain about the use of screens, we think that the balance in this ride
makes it spectacular. "Tundra Town" is a great example of this. We can see physical
effects like smoke and sets such as pipes and ducts that work perfectly with the animation we
see in the mapping projections and huge screens. Camel Gazelle and Giraffe Sahara Square The next scene takes us into Sahara Square.
Our first glimpse of this area is the huge screen again, but suddenly, our police car
turns and we enter a beautiful set where we see lots of buildings and billboards, announcing
Gazelle’s concert. And right outside of the venue, we see an animatronic camel impersonating
Gazelle. This animatronic is not only pretty funny because of its impersonation, but
it is also a great animatronic. While its movements might not be as fluid as the
ones in the rest of the animatronics, it is a fantastic detail in the area,
providing a mixture of comedy and awe. On the other side of the street we see a
very tall tourist with a drink in hand, waiting for the concert to start. This giraffe
looks more like an animated prop than an actual animatronic, but the fact that it moves at
least a little is pretty awesome if you take into consideration its size. Also, the use of
the screen in the bridge above is pretty cool. Yax Mystic Springs Oasis Before we go on to the next scene we take a
small detour into the Mystic Springs Oasis. And let us jolt your memory in case you
don’t remember this place from the film. The Mystic Spring Oasis is the place where
Nick and Judy went to find Emmitt Otterton. There they met Yax, who explained that the Oasis
was a naturist club. That meant that the mammals who work and frequent here are often nude.
The ride takes us to the Oasis, but right before we enter we see a fantastic Yax animatronic
who welcomes us, and tells us that a show is about to start. The animatronic is sitting down, but its
head movements are fantastic and the way it talks makes the animatronic look very realistic. We see
him briefly because we then enter the Oasis where we see several nude animals. We exit the Oasis
and find ourselves back at Sahara Square for a second before seeing the Yax animatronic again
for a moment and then moving on with our path. Rainforest District We then enter the Rainforest District and while
the main show in this area is done with screens, Disney was able to show us the perfect way
to mix screens with real life environments and sets because this scene is beautiful and
very impressive. We see trees and foliage all over the road while in the background
a screen shows Nick and Judy noticing Gazelle in one of the cable cars. So we get
in one of the trolleys and begin a chase in this area. This part of the ride is a motion
simulator and while there are no animatronics, it’s still a fantastic and very enjoyable scene.
We continue down the road when we suddenly see a fantastic Flash hologram and then
a huge screen that takes us back to the city where an awesome persecution takes
place. And the scene ends with Judy arriving in a helicopter and finally being to save
Gazelle from Bellwether. They fly away with Gazelle while officer Clawhauser takes in
Bellwether, who is stuck inside a doughnut. Gazelle Concert And so, after saving her from danger. Gazelle is
able to make it to the concert in time, and we are lucky enough to attend! And we can honestly say
that this scene is mindblowing. We can see one of the most fantastic animatronics in the ride, and
probably in all of Disney. This animatronic of Gazelle is so impressive that many have thought
it's an animation, but it's not. It's a full body animatronic with amazing fluid movements.
This animatronic is placed on an illuminated platform, and behind her, you can see her dancers
in a mapping projection. This scene has left all of us speechless. She is singing her single,
Try Everything, and dedicates the song to the heroes who saved her. The scenery is a bit lacking
here, if you compare it with the rest of the ride, but the animatronic makes up for it. We love
seeing these types of scenes with such impressive animatronics and we’re so happy to see that
Disney continues using them in their rides. Nick and Judy Ending We’ve arrived at the ending! We enter the
concert’s backstage area where we get to see Gazelle’s dressing room, which is very cool to
see. But the main attraction in the scene are the Judy and Nick animatronics. We see Nick reclining
on a chair with Judy standing right next to him. They proceed to thank and congratulate us for
saving Gazelle and apparently all of Zootopia’s society and they pronounce us heroes! These
animatronics are also fantastic, so the ride has a great closure. As with all the rest of
the animatronics in this ride, we actually feel in the presence of these characters because of
their amazing and life-like movements. This land looks amazing and we hope to visit it soon! But
there are lots of other exciting things to come! Future Zootopia Animatronics As many of you may know, Disney suggested
that we would probably be getting a Zootopia inspired expansion at Animal Kingdom
in Disney World. Of course many of us were hoping that this expansion would be the
Zootopia themed land that opened in Shanghai but nothing like that has been confirmed yet.
But what we do know now is that a new Zootopia show is coming to the Tree of Life at Animal
Kingdom that will replace the current show “It's Tough to be a Bug!” Disney describes the
current concept as “filled with humor and action, taking you into some of the different biomes
you see in the film and some you have yet to see yet. But there have not been any more details
announced for this attraction. The only thing that we know is that the show will feature characters
from the movie like Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and an Officer Clawhauser figure that will come with the
attraction. So hopefully it will be a replication of the one we see in Zootopia: Hot Pursuit.
There have also been two more animatronic figures that have been teased. One of them is Duke
Weaselton. This animatronic is fantastic. He made a grand entrance by rolling across the stage while
pushing a vibrant purple kiosk, all while playing catchy pop music. He then effortlessly hopped onto
the kiosk and attempted to persuade Josh to grant him the esteemed title of honorary ambassador
of Zootopia. This animatronic has a wide range of dynamic movements and expressive animated
facial features. This remarkable achievement was made possible through the collaboration of
not one, but two synchronized robots. Remarkably, not only Duke was a robotic figure, but the kiosk
itself was also part of this technological marvel! But the next one is even more impressive. Last
year at the South by Southwest conference, Josh D’Amaro introduced a new
and exciting type of animatronic. This was an animatronic that resembled
Judy and this animatronic can move, fall and even get back up again, mimicking
life-like movements all by herself. She was unveiled by climbing out of a box, rollerblading
across the stage and doing somersaults. This is probably the most impressive animatronic we
have ever seen and we can’t wait to see how Disney is going to use this technology at
the parks! Hopefully it will be very soon! If you want to see a video about another ride full
of animatronics, check out this recommended video, and don’t forger to check out our patreon!
Thanks again and see you next week!
