Hey look! An alternate take on the ZNN logo! Kinda reminds me of some other news station’s logo, though…

Reddit’s gotta get some credit for finding and promoting things that would have gone totally unnoticed otherwise. Not only did they discover that Chris Hubbard, a storyboard artist on Zootopia, had his own site, they also discovered that he had posted three previously-unseen scenes from the Zystopia plot of the movie! Huge thanks to /u/ahunter64 for this find!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Zystopia plot, it was an earlier draft of Zootopia which, up until the last 6 to 8 months before release, was going to be the final movie. It is radically different from the film we got, with the focus being on Nick rather than Judy, a theme park called Wild Times, shady dealings with the mafia, and, most importantly, the requirement that all predators wear shock collars to prevent them from getting too violent. It was a much darker world than what we got- and Zootopia can get pretty dark by Disney standards. Zystopia is a concept that many fans have been curious about since the beginning- the story we could have gotten, but didn’t.

Today, we’ve got three scenes to show you, all in raw storyboard format. They’re funny, they’re action-packed, and they give us another look into what might have been. If you have any interest in the art of storyboarding, I definitely recommend you give them a look- I’m certain you can learn things from them.

You can find the three scenes ( Koslov’s Threat, Escaping Koslov’s, and News Break) over on Chris Hubbard’s website, or in the reddit post that brought them to our attention. If you want a quick little preview, be sure to check after the break for some of our favorite frames!

For the record, I think that was a solid effort to break the ice, Nick. Very slick.



I love how Koslov puts on this pleasant face in front of his son- which Nick uses to his advantage later on in this scene.

Oh, Morris, you’re just way, way too cute. So cute you kept this version of the movie in production even when many other aspects of the story just were not working. That takes a serious amount of cute.

See? Look at this kid, he’s so cute he’s saving Nick’s life without even realizing it. You were too good for this world, little cub. Literally too good for this world (aka Zystopia).

Now that would be a guard to run away from. Seriously, that’s fierce.

…Of course, Bogo leading a squad of razorback pigs with a minigun is pretty intimidating too.

You thought Nick didn’t have a plan? Nick always has a plan.

Just because you watch the movie for its plot doesn’t mean Judy has to approve of it.

Also, this would explain why Officer Hopps has been refusing our requests for an interview…

I like the idea of them needing a translator for the rodent squeaks. And how easy it is to mess up that translation.

Don’t worry little mouse. We can rebuild!

This is just fantastic. Journalism at its finest, folks!

Judy, can you go ONE press conference without making speciest remarks? Just one?

Woah. Okay, I knew not to mess with Judy before, but… Zystopia Judy is DEFINITELY not a bunny you want to cross. What an end to the scene!

Until next time, remember… your dust bath can KILL YOU!