“Zootopia” has been an incredible success critically and financially, having just crossed the $1 billion threshold on June 5th, making it the second highest grossing Walt Disney Animation Studios film of all time! Disney definitely nailed it with this film, and created a Blu-Ray of bonus features worthy of how incredible this movie is!

Often times, it seems that the Blu-Ray of a film can be pretty lack-luster in its bonus feature offering, and not really give us the in-depth behind the scenes looks at the making-of that fans crave. I was pleasantly surprised, however, not only with how in-depth these bonus features were, but also incredibly entertaining! Let’s take a look at each one:

• Zoology: The Roundtables – This is a series of interviews with the directors, costumers, and other crew members who discuss the exciting moments (and the challenges) of making this film. It felt really personable, and like a fun conversation with the crew rather than documentary-style talking heads, which I enjoyed. They talk about fun challenges, such as figuring out how to tailor clothes to various types of animals, and the progression of the movie’s characters as the film moved along in development.
• The Origin of an Animal Tale – I felt this was a unique bonus feature, talking about how there was a change of the film’s main character fairly late in the game. I feel like we often don’t hear about why major changes sometimes happen during the development of a film, so it was interesting to hear how they felt such creative shifts can benefit a story so dramatically.
• Research: A True-Life Adventure – This bonus feature was so fun to watch! We watched the documentation of the animators doing their research on the character’s real-life animal counterparts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and in Africa. It was incredible to watch how they’re “true-life adventures” were interpreted onto the screen with anthropomorphic animals.
• Z.P.D. Forensic Files – This bonus feature focuses on all the Easter eggs hidden in the movie. They couldn’t show all of them, as there were way too many to list! But they showed some pretty interesting ones that would have been near impossible to notice otherwise!
• Scoretopia – Documentation on the making of the film’s score, which was composed by Michael Giacchino. You get to see the use of dozens of instruments with tribal flairs, which I hadn’t noticed prior to watching this feature. Having seen the movie again after watching the bonus features, it really created a new love and appreciation for the dedication and passion behind the film’s score.
• Deleted Characters – A discussion with the directors about some characters that were storyboarded, but ulitmately eliminated from the final film. Since I can’t get enough of “Zootopia”, I loved getting a little extra of the film by getting a taste of some more hilarious and intriguing characters within the world of Zootopia.
• Deleted Scenes – Many of these are more like alternate versions of scenes already in the film, as opposed to full on deleted scenes. Some of the deleted scenes were actually quite funny, and I loved that the deleted scenes felt lengthy and like actual scenes. I feel like many bonus features on Blu-Rays are more like short, scene transitions. I especially enjoyed the deleted scene entitled “Detective Work”, where we get to see how small animals like Judy cope with technology more suited for larger animals.
• “Try Everything” Music Video – The music video is Shakira‘s “Try Everything” with clips of the film cut together throughout the video. I keep playing it over and over again, not only because it’s an uplifting and catchy song, but because my toddler can’t stop dancing to it!

Overall, I would highly recommend getting the Blu-Ray of Zootopia, or purchase on Disney Movies Anywhere when it becomes available June 7th! The bonus features have a lot of substance, fun, and give fans a very satisfying behind-the-scenes look of the film.