Actress Ginnifer Goodwin is jumping from Disney television to Disney feature film.
Goodwin will voice a lead character in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ next film Zootopia, which opens in theaters this March. She joins previously revealed cast member Jason Bateman, who is voicing a fox, the lead character, named Nick Wilde.
Disney formally announced Goodwin and Bateman’s roles Wednesday evening. The studio describes the former’s character as an “optimistic bunny named Judy Hopps who’s new to Zootopia’s police department.” Bateman’s character is a “scamming fox, Nick Wilde, who Judy reluctantly teams up with to crack her first case.”
“We knew that ‘Zootopia’ would only succeed if we found the perfect actors to play our main characters,” said director Byron Howard in a press release. “This rabbit- and fox-duo are in practically every scene in the film together. After meeting Ginnifer, we knew she embodied Hopps, the ultimate pure-of-heart, idealist bunny. You fall in love with her character instantly. And for Nick Wilde, our cynical con-artist fox, we only ever had one actor in mind, the incomparable Jason Bateman. Jason has a way of saying the most hilarious sarcastic things while always staying completely charming. We feel so fortunate to be working with both of them.”
A low-quality photo depicting Judy and Nick can be seen below. Disney debuted this piece of concept art at a fan event:
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia will open March 4, 2016. It arrives roughly a year and a half after their most recently released feature Big Hero 6. Zootopia is directed by Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph).
Looking further ahead, the studio is also working on an animated fantasy adventure titled Moana in which “a spirited teenager [is] on an impossible mission to fulfill her ancestors’ quest.” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will co-star (he recently teased he’ll be singing in the movie). The lead female role has yet to be cast.
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