Jason Bateman Compares Voice Acting to Performing Blindfolded as Zootopia 2 Premieres

Jason Bateman, the star who voices the sly fox Nick Wilde in Disney’s hit animated world, has described his work on Zootopia 2 as being like performing blindfolded. He compared the unique challenge of voice acting for animation to acting without being able to see your fellow performers or the final world your character inhabits. The comment came during promotional interviews for the sequel, which sees him and co-star Ginnifer Goodwin return after nearly a decade away from their beloved characters.

The actor, known for his roles in Arrested Development and Ozark, is celebrated for his specific, dry wit in live-action projects. Transferring that skill to a recording booth, where only his voice matters, required a different kind of trust. Bateman explained that in live action, an actor uses their whole body to give meaning to a line, but in animation, that control is handed over to the artists who draw the character.

“When you’re doing voice work, you can say that same reading of ‘I love you’ and you’re completely at the mercy of the animators to either support that, offset that, juxtapose it, contradict it,” Bateman said.

This process of letting go, he suggested, is the core of the challenge and the unique art of voice acting for feature animation.

How Bateman and Goodwin Returned to Their Roles After a Decade

The original Zootopia movie was released in 2016 and became a massive success, earning over a billion dollars at the box office and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. For Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, stepping back into the recording booth as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde meant revisiting characters they hadn’t played in almost ten years.

Goodwin shared that she prepared by watching the first film repeatedly with her children, who are now nine and eleven years old. “I spent the last decade forcing this [Zootopia] down their throats,” she joked. “It was the only thing that I’ve ever done that I was able to slip in, that they didn’t know it was me, and they actually loved it and watched it repeatedly”.

Bateman humorously noted the intense preparation, saying, “We both studied the first film excessively… The hours at the zoo, this is just forever”. Their return to the roles wasn’t about recreating cartoonish voices, but about finding the authentic personality of the characters again. Goodwin recalled that during the first film, the directors specifically told her not to “do voices” but to simply be present and act naturally.

The Surprising Process Inside the Recording Booth

Many people think voice acting requires exaggerated, theatrical performances. However, for the Zootopia films, the directors wanted the opposite. According to Bateman, the environment is designed for a natural, performance-focused approach.

“When we’re recording, we have the little easel or whatever there, and a microphone; you have an iPad in front of you, which has got the script in it. So you’re looking at the script and you’re acting,” Bateman described. “I wouldn’t change my performance at all if the camera was on me and the iPad was the other actor I was talking to”.

The animators at Disney Animation use small cameras inside the recording booth to capture the actors’ facial expressions and body language. These real human movements then serve as a guide for the animators when they bring Nick Wilde’s sly grin or Judy Hopps’ determined posture to life on screen. Goodwin found this collaborative process fascinating, noting that animators often act out the scenes themselves while listening to the recordings to add another layer of humanity to the characters.

This means the actor’s job is to deliver a truthful, emotional performance with their voice, trusting the animation team to translate the rest. Bateman said he leaned heavily on the directors for guidance. “I just leaned on them a lot for their guidance. They were great in kind of holding my hand through the whole thing, because, you know, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing in there”.

Zootopia 2 Release and a Family-Friendly Premiere

The long-awaited sequel, Zootopia 2, arrived in theaters on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. The new story follows police partners Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as they tackle another major case in the sprawling animal metropolis. The film has already garnered positive early reactions and strong box office performance.

The promotional tour for the film became a family event for its stars. At the UK premiere in London in late November, both Bateman and Goodwin were joined by their families. Goodwin attended with her husband, actor Josh Dallas, and their two young sons. Bateman brought his wife, Amanda, and their two daughters. The premiere highlighted the film’s broad, multi-generational appeal, a hallmark of Disney’s most successful animated features.

Reflecting on being part of such a large Disney project, Bateman expressed humility. “You’ve done just a voice part and then you see how it slots into something that is so complicated, so immense. I think they said 700 people were on this crew… So, it’s very humbling because you’re such a small part of something so massive”.

For Goodwin, the excitement extended beyond the screen to the promotional merchandise. She humorously admitted to a specific mission: “I keep going through McDonald’s drive-through because I want to get a Judy toy. I’ve gotten five Nicks. Five Nicks! I’m determined to get a Judy”.

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