Zootopia Outtakes

Upon returning to Disney, I was asked to jump in and help out on Zootopia. The story process was well underway and the crew was gearing up to make the fifth screening of the entire movie.

 There's always a steep learning curve when joining a new production, especially mid-stream. New characters, new plot, new directors, new story team; I found myself spending the first weeks trying to wrap my head around it all. Not to mention the added challenge of not knowing what ground had already been covered in the previous four screenings. Many of my comments early on were met with, "Yeah, we tried that in screening three already." Altogether, my time on the movie was about 6 months.

Friends, who saw the movie, often ask me what scenes I worked on. I smile and confess to them that nothing I worked on actually made it to the screen. They look at me a little puzzled, not sure if they should pursue the matter any further. I try to explain to them that it's not unusual for most of what we do to be thrown out, wondering in the back of my mind if they think I'm just trying to spin it. But the truth is...

...THAT'S STORY!

This little snippet is from a scene featuring Nick and Koslov, head of a polar bear syndicate in the Tundra Town district of Zootopia. Here, Nick is paying an installment on a loan he took to open an underground "Preds Only" night club called Wild Times. This section takes place in Koslov's refrigerated stretch limo.

(Koslov was eventually replace by the Godfather shrew character that was in the final movie.)

Note: Koslov's business card was drawn by friend and colleague, Jeremy Spears. I simply lifted it from a sequence he had done. Thanks, Jeremy.