Shakira to play a sexy pop star gazelle in 'Zootopia'
Pop star Shakira revealed via Twitter that she would be playing the character of Gazelle, the world of "Zootopia's biggest pop star." Apparently, Gazelle is a ... gazelle (perhaps Shakira is a chinkara?). The pop star also revealed she would be performing a song, "Try Everything," for the movie.
The announcements were part of Disney's D23 expo, which was held to promote Disney's many upcoming movies. Footage from Zootopia was shown; it is actually the first footage of the movie shown (the previously released teaser trailer featured a unique scene). The footage shown featured duel protagonist fox Nick Wilde's and rabbit Judy Hopps' actual first meeting (involving a young fox in an elephant suit) and a scene at a sloth run DMV. Aquatic mustelid fans will also be pleased to note that the previously revealed "missing mammal" case that is the basis of the plot is actually a missing otter.
Shakira is only the fourth voice actor to be revealed for the movie; besides the stars Jason Bateman as Nick and Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy, the only other voice talent announced is Alan Tudyk in an as yet unannounced role. Tudyk has appeared in every Disney animated movie since Wreck-It Ralph, where he played the character King Candy, for which he won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production. He has become Disney's "lucky charm" voice actor, similar to John Ratzenberger in Disney's sister studio, Pixar.
Colombian born Shakira (full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) is probably best known for her US Billboard Hot 100 number one hit, "Hips Don't Lie", which has been claimed to be the single best selling single of the first decade of the 21st century. Zootopia will be in theaters March 4, 2016.
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crossaffliction (Brendan Kachel) — read stories — contact (login required)a reporter and Red Fox from Hooker, Oklahoma, interested in movies, horror, stand up comedy
Formerly Wichita's only furry comic.
Comments
Finally got around to creating a 'Zootopia' tag; I think we might need it.
She's already got five tagged images (and their might be more than just failed to tag her as a separate character rather than the species) on e621; the original Disney picture released (seen above) is the only "Clean," there is only one "Explicit" (according to my blacklist) and the rest are "Questionable." In case anyone cared.
The highlight of the presentation at D23 Expo (besides the hilarious scene at the DMV) might well be a previewed scene that features police-rabbit Judy Hopps chasing a purse-snatching weasel into Lower Rodentia -- which is of course a miniaturized "city within a city". Trust me, you have never seen "funny animals" in a world that's this well-rendered. The outdoor lighting is photo-realistic.
Here's some of Byron Howard's original Zootopia character artwork for Gazelle.
Given that there are fourteen extant species of gazelle and at least two, possibly three, that have become extinct in recent history, the question naturally arises which species is Zootopia's Gazelle? The text suggests she may be a chinkara, but after reviewing photographs of the various species, it looks like Grant's Gazelle would be a closer fit.
The question brings back memories of a topic from my Lion King days, where we tried to figure which of the more than 50 hornbill species Zazu was.
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