Zootopia 2 Director Reveals Idris Elba Actually Ad-libbed A Funny Line, And Fans Are Impressed
Idris Elba brought the funny to Zootopia 2.
Based on Zootopia 2’s incredible opening weekend at the box office, the sort that we haven’t seen since the last animated Disney release, there’s a good chance that you saw the movie over the past weekend. Fans are gushing over the film on social media, including one particular line which, it turns out, wasn’t actually in the film’s original script.
One fan took to Twitter to shout out one of her favorite parts of the film, specifically, a dry line delivered by Idris Elba’s Chief Bogo. At one point in the film, Bogo, no fan of Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde, dismissively refers to the fox simply calling him, “orange dog.” Zootopia 2 director and Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer, Jared Bush, responded to the original post, revealing the line came directly from the actor. Bush said…
Idris Elba ad-libbed 'Orange Dog' in the recording booth and the second we heard it, we knew it had to be in the movie.
Fans are universally loving this detail. Many are surprised that the line came from Idris Elba himself, and if anything, the fact that it was an ad lib makes the line even funnier. Some of the best movie moments have been ad-libbed. Comments to Bush include…
- One of the more memorable lines in a movie chock full of bangers! You crushed it on this one Jared - @scottcaldwell
- I definitely heard Knuckles with that line XD - @Zootopia_News
- THAT WAS AN AD-LIB??? Oh my gosh that’s even better thank you for this glorious tidbit - @jessicannatar
- yeah as soon as he said that I was like did he call him an orange dog - @zeldysnep
- I KNEW that felt ad-libbed a little. Idris is such a fun guy with Bogo. - @The_Movie_Goer
Idris Elba has such a fantastically deadpan sense of humor that almost anything he says when delivered in the right tone can be hilarious. Calling a fox an “orange dog” wouldn’t be that great a line coming from just anybody, but Elba nails it.
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One of the above comments, that the line sounds like it came from a different Idris Elba animated character, might be on to something. Knuckles from the Sonic the Hedgehog movies tends to use formal descriptive language, and one could absolutely imagine him calling a fox an orange dog. That may have very well been what Elba was thinking of when he ad-libbed the line.
With Zootopia 2 already a massive hit, and the movie already teasing a potential Zootopia 3, there’s a good chance Idris Elba will be back voicing Chief Bogo before too long. Hopefully, he'll have a bigger role in the future, giving him a chance for even greater lines.
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CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.
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