Zootopia was a breath of fresh air for Walt Disney Animation in 2016 and went on to gross over 1 billion dollars at the global box office from a modest production budget of just $150 million.
The film was particularly a smash-hit in global markets, with 67% of its gross coming from foreign territories. The film owes its success to the incredible chemistry between the characters Officer Hopps (a rabbit), voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin and Nick Wilde (a fox), voiced by Jason Bateman.
Hopps, an optimistic, by-the-book bunny police officer, plays off fantastically with the cynical, street-smart con-artist that is Bateman's red furred Canidae.
Their dynamic is so strong that some viewers have interpreted a hint of something more in their partnership, despite the fact that Zootopia depicted all romantic relationships to be of a same-species nature.
In a new interview with The Direct, Ginnifer Goodwin is addressing those theories and revealing her own thoughts about the pairing.
"I wish we could dissect how we have gotten here," said Goodwin in response to the idea that there are a large number of Wilde-Hopp shippers and how that affects her performance. "But honestly, I just feel like it's part of the Disney magic. I don't understand how Disney does anything that they do and make me laugh until I cry, and also just making me cry, and teaching me a lot about the human condition, even through animals."
Goodwin continued on, "I don't know because I can see that they've got incredible chemistry but the truth is, Jason and I don't get to record together because we have to be separated, because I can't not laugh at him. Which is not necessarily the way that things would be with Judy and Nick. I think Judy would be rolling her eyes, but I am always laughing at Jason, or laughing with Jason I should say- never laughing at Jason, because we're buds."
"The wildest mystery in Zootopia hisssstory."
"In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia 2,” detectives Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before."