Much of the appeal of any Disney park is that you can enter some of your favorite universes, whether star wars in Galaxy’s Edge, complete with walking, talking and beeping BDX droids, or a bar worthy of Jack Sparrow in The Beak and Barrel. And while guests can visit zootopia At Shanghai Disney, there’s now another way to explore this animal-filled metropolis.
Today, November 7, 2025, a new 4D immersive show will open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. Zootopia: Better Zoogether!. Replace the old one It’s hard to be a mistake show (movie theme The life of an insect) inside the Tree of Life Theater near the front of the park and marks the park’s first new attraction in years.
He zootopia The show debuts as the Animal Kingdom park undergoes major changes, including a new Indiana Jones-themed ride and a Charm attraction in the next land of the Tropical Americas. TechRadar had the opportunity to preview the new 4D show ahead of its opening and experience the production, created by the same animation team behind it. Zootopia 2 – and see an all-new animatronic from Walt Disney Imagineering up close.
It’s a fitting debut for an attraction so deeply connected to the zootopia universe, arriving just a few weeks before Zootopia 2 hits the big screen on November 26, 2025. The show even debuts a new location, Marsh Market, which will appear in the film, features the same voice talent, and was developed by the same storytellers behind the sequel. It is a perfect example of synergy between Disney parks, Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Zootopia: Better Zoogether! It lasts about 10 minutes and takes visitors through various celebrations centered around Zoogether Day, a day similar to Earth Day, exploring different biomes. Along the way, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde guide the story through an investigation. It’s engaging and similar to the shorts we’ve seen from Walt Disney Animation Studios on Disney+.
The art style and animation are almost identical to the cinematic universe, a huge plus that elevates the experience. It feels very similar to a zootopia story, and although it’s not a large-scale themed land, it still immerses you deeply in the world of the film. It’s all presented as “CarrotVision,” complete with orange 3D glasses, which help bring the “third” dimension to life. Meanwhile, Disney has also added a fourth dimension through effects, such as fans, wind machines, smoke and water sprays.
All of this enhances immersion and makes you look beyond the walls of the screen (sometimes up or down, left or right) to see where the next special effect might come from.
The real star, however, is the use of the original voice cast (Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy, Jason Bateman as Nick, and Nate Torrence as Benjamin Clawhauser) along with a new animatronic version of Clawhauser. Located on a platform on the right side of the theater, the animatronic rotates and feels like a one-to-one recreation of the character we see behind his desk in zootopia.
Clawhauser in this form is very expressive, with detailed facial movements (from eyebrows, cheeks, smiles and other emotional nuances), as well as realistic hand and paw articulation. It is impressively executed. While Disney has another Clawhauser animatronic lined up at Shanghai Disney, the eyes here aren’t screens, adding to the realism.
Nate Torrence, who voices Clawhauser in the zootopia movies, also lends his voice to this attraction. Speaking to TechRadar, Torrence said he was delighted to be immortalized in this way. For Zootopia: Better Zoogether!he recorded lines at Disney Imagineering, where the crew also filmed him for facial reference.
He recalled being aware of their expressions: “There were specific moments where they came and said, ‘we just want to see how you would say this and how you move, like when you wince in pain in the water.’ Things like that aren’t written into the process,” Torrence explained. “It was great to be included in that process.” He added that seeing the attraction made him more aware of how he uses his hands and became even more encouraged.
Ginnifer Goodwin also shared information about the filming process for both the attraction and the movie. “They explained to me that the way we move changes the way we sound and that makes us look more human, in the same way we want our zootopia “The characters have human overlays,” he said. That expressiveness, like Torrence’s wince, translates directly to Clawhauser’s animated performance.
While the attraction is advertised as a 4D show, the animatronic is visible, moves and interacts for most of the runtime before the character comes onto the screen for a musical number, something that is likely to surprise and delight. zootopia fans.
Speaking to TechRadar, Priya Sampat, Walt Disney Imagineering’s lead producer for the attraction, shared that the Clawhauser animatronic is more interactive than previous models, swapping out projected eyes for mechanical eyes and adding “additional features to his face and wrists to support what the characters are doing on screen.”
You’ll also notice that Clawhauser’s lighting is intentional: it gets brighter as he moves, coinciding with the biomes, and a little darker when the focus is on the screen or other effects in the cinema.
Sampat also noted that Imagineering worked hand-in-hand with Walt Disney Animation Studios to ensure “it is represented correctly in the show.” That collaboration is reflected in the images, since the same animation team behind Zootopia 2 He worked on the attraction. The result fits perfectly into the universe: a family experience that will leave you humming the original song created for it.
The various immersive elements go beyond the standard 3D tricks: being sprayed with water sprays while two otters describe a scene in Marsh Market, feeling the noise of your seat during a chaotic chase through Rodentia or being surrounded by smoke, fog and wind while racing. zootopia. These moments enhance the pacing and keep you fully engaged throughout the show.
Zootopia: Better Zoogether! is open now at Animal Kingdom at Disney World, and admission to the attraction is free with a park ticket; There is also a Lightning Lane option. You’ll want to take some time to get through the line, as there are Zoogether Day banners featuring great art, a mini ticket for Rodentia guests attending the show, and a ‘Pawdora’ display while you wait to enter the theater.
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