‘Zootopia’ new clips released ahead of March 4 premiere; Shakira requested Disney to add more hips to her character

By Staff Writer | Feb 12, 2016 09:42 AM EST

'Zootopia' is an upcoming 3D animated action-adventure and comedy film scheduled to be released on March 4, 2017. New clips of the film were released recently. Shakira, who voices a gazelle pop star in the film, requested Disney to add more hips to her character.

The upcoming 3D animated film featuring anthropomorphic animals released brand new clips ahead of its scheduled March 4, 2017 premiere. According to Entertainment Weekly, one clip featured Jenny Slate's stressed out sheep named Bellweather. Bellweather is a shy "glorified secretary" to J.K. Simmons' Mayor Lionheart.

Slate is best known for her role as Donna Stern in 'Obvious Child' and is also the co-creator of the stop-motion short film 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On', which was awarded Best Animated Short at AFIFest 2010. The 33-year old actress also worked on feature films 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked', 'This Is War' and 'The Lorax'.

According to another article by Coming Soon, the upcoming action-adventure film takes place in an animal-filled city called Zootopia. It follows a rookie bunny cop voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin as she teams up with a con-artist fox on the run voiced by Jason Bateman. Officer Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde work together to uncover a conspiracy.

The film put together an ensemble cast including Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps, Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Otterton, John DiMaggio as Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton and Katie Lowes as Dr. Madge Honey Badger.

Grammy-award winning singer and songwriter Shakira joins the cast as Gazelle, a gazelle who is a famous pop star. According to Billboard, Shakira requested Disney animators to give her character bigger hips. She said during an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, "It looked to me like she needed more hips [and] I asked them to give her more... And they did it!"

Shakira admitted that she has a lot of things in common with her animated counterpart saying that Gazelle's hair, eyes and clothes resembled hers. She also said that she didn't hesitate to grab the part as soon as the studio approached her for it. Her song, "Try Everything", is featured on the film's official soundtrack.

'Zootopia' is an upcoming 3D animated action-adventure and comedy film directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore and co-directed by Jared Bush. The film is based on a screenplay by Bush and Phil Johnston. It is scheduled to be released on March 4, 2016 in the United States.

More Sections