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Actor Ke Huy Quan thinks "Zootopia 2" highlights

importance of

sharing emotions

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The film is co-directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush

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Howard said movie mirrors real-life professional

collaborations

By Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES, Nov 25 (Reuters) - For Oscar-winning actor

Ke Huy Quan, Disney's ( DIS ) animated buddy cop comedy, "Zootopia 2,"

has a healthy message about the importance of confiding in

others for emotional support.

Quan, who voices Gary De'Snake - a pit viper determined to

help his family - told Reuters, "I grew up in a very traditional

Chinese family and was taught to really internalize a lot of my

feelings and not share them."

However, the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actor added

that it's unhealthy to keep emotions bottled up.

For him, the sequel creates an avenue for people to explore

the importance of sharing their experiences to foster empathy.

"Zootopia 2" continues the story of the highly acclaimed

2016 film "Zootopia," which follows rookie police officer rabbit

Judy Hopps, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, and the con artist fox

named Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman, as the unlikely pair

team up to investigate the disappearance of predator animals.

The sequel picks up where the first film left off, quickly

sending Judy and Nick on their latest adventure to uncover the

truth surrounding the new reptilian character, Gary De'Snake.

The second installment is co-directed by Byron Howard and

Jared Bush, who also worked on the first film.

The voice cast includes actor Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, the

Zootopia police chief, singer Shakira as the pop star gazelle

named Gazelle, and newcomers Patrick Warburton as Mayor Brian

Winddancer, a stallion, and Fortune Feimster as the beaver named

Nibbles Maplestick.

In "Zootopia 2," Judy, the overachieving bunny, and Nick,

the laidback fox, must come to terms with their differences to

become a stronger team.

For Bateman, the core of what the movie is conveying is that

"differences can be a plus" for those who have the courage and

curiosity to be with someone unlike themselves.

Echoing Bateman, Howard felt that Judy and Nick needed to

show both the pros and cons of a new professional partnership.

"Nick and Judy needed to be at the center of this film," he

said.

"There are new things to get used to. There's different

baggage that you're each carrying from your upbringing," he

added.

Mirroring his own real-life collaboration with others to

create the film, Howard said that "each of us has superpowers."

However, several characters do have to be vulnerable to

communicate their needs before coming together, which is

something that Feimster thought was timely for the audiences who

watch the film.

"I think we should be entering into a time where it's

considered a positive thing to say how you feel and to be more

in touch with your feelings because, why not? The antithesis of

that is so much pent up aggression," the comedian said.

"Zootopia 2" arrives in theaters on Wednesday.