Following the roaring success of their Lion King remake, Disney has announced that they will begin filming a live-action version of Zootopia in the spring of 2020.
In a Ladyspike exclusive (100% real) interview, I chat with Disney CEO and money-haver, Bob Iger, about the upcoming film and the company’s move toward live-action remakes.
MS: The Lion King had a twenty year break before it got remade. Zootopia has only been out for three years. What’s the rush?
BI: I can’t say too much about it yet, but we’re looking to establish a sort of Marvel-style universe with our live-action Disney franchises. Since they both star animals, it’s the next logical step.
Will the characters be animated, or is the set going to look like a reality show on Noah’s Ark?
Our plan is basically to gather a bunch of b-roll from the San Diego Zoo. It should be very easy to do, and everyone will get to take a trip to the zoo, which is always fun. Noah’s Ark wasn’t fun. Those animals all drowned in that flood, even the fish.
That’s certainly not a traditional filmmaking technique.
Listen, sweetheart. I haven’t seen the new Lion King – I’m allergic to cats- but I’m pretty darn sure it was also filmed at a zoo. I know for a fact I was at the zoo while they made it, just looking at lions and sneezing. God, I love the zoo.
Did your love of the zoo inspire you to push for the remake, too?
There are two very special people that inspired me, and I’d like to thank them both. I first had the idea for Zootopia when my wife said to me, “Hey, what if animals talked like people, how fun would that be?” I brought it to work and we all loved that idea. Well, last week, my niece showed me a funny animal video from her Tweeter, and I thought to myself, “Hey, what if the talking animals in the movie were real? Wouldn’t that be something?” So thank you to my wife and my niece. And me, I suppose, for actually having the ideas all by myself.
Mr. Iger, I don’t mean to offend, but aren’t some other people owed credit for bringing their creative energy to these projects?
Well, yes and no. Yes, I brought my creativity to these movies in full force and basically created them from my minds’ eye, and no, none other shall claim my creation. No offense taken.
Understood.
Now that you mention it, there is another individual I’d like to mention. The director of the picture will be Andy the Beagle, best known for his role as Daisy, Keanu Reeves’ dog in John Wick.
And everyone else at Disney is just… cool with that?
That’s what I pay them for.
DISCLAIMER: Bob Iger has no idea who we are or that we wrote this. We’re just really good at reading minds.
