Creating 1,000 Creatures For Zootopia + Zootopia Coloring Pages

Creating an animal world unlike anything we have ever seen before was the challenge given to Walt Disney Animation Studios when it embarked on the journey to Zootopia. More than four years later, we will finally see how everything comes together when Zootopia comes out March 4, but in the mean time let’s look at how the animation came together.

I previously shared 5 reasons Zootopia is unlike any animal movie you have seen, and one of the most important things was bringing the animals of Zootopia to life walking on two legs to scale — wearing clothes no less. With more than 1,000 unique animals, the Disney Animation team had to consider every detail on a massive scale. 

From gnus to shrews, lemmings to leopards, rabbits to rhinos, Zootopia is home to animals of all shapes, sizes, stripes and spots. While the end result looks effortless and obvious, like all other animated films the path getting there was filled with trial and error. Sketches became rough computer animation, movement was added and finally light and detail to create furry animals big and small. 

After learning about the animation process art director Cory Loftis gave us our very own hands-on art demo. With pencil and paper in hand (no eraser provided!) I put my artistic skills to the test and followed along as Cory demonstrated line by line how to draw Zootopia’s Judy Hopps.

I may not be the next great candidate for the Walt Disney Animation team, but it sure is fun to try. If coloring is more your speed, enjoy these free Zootopia coloring pages. 

Zootopia Coloring Pages

Download the Zootopia coloring pages here. (When the link opens in a new window, save the file to your computer and then print it from your computer.) 

Want to learn more about Zootopia? Check out my previous post taking Zootopia from story to animation. 

About ZOOTOPIA: The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,” a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (“Tangled,” “Bolt”) and Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Simpsons”) and co-directed by Jared Bush (“Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero”).

See Zootopia in theaters March 4, 2016.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWM0ct-OLsM