Watch These Hilarious Animation References For Zootopia 2's End Credits

David Badgerow has published a whole series of these videos.

Character Animator David Badgerow recently shared a series of his reference clips used for Zootopia 2, and it's always amazing to see how funny real-life footage gets transformed into polished animation. The clip above is from the film's end credits, where the animator is fully showing off his dancing skills.

"I love this beat of Duke, stuffed in the trunk of a car on his way to some beating probably, and him reacting flatly as if this happens each week. Animating Bonnie and Stu was challenging, getting their bodies to fit so snugly together. I originally wanted Stu to reach around Bonnie entirely, but their short arms make it impossible. Shooting ref for the elephants gave me a new appreciation for people who can move their hips expertly."

David also said he loves it when he gets to help another animator with reference work, or when they shoot reference with him, because seeing someone else's ideas and creative process feels like "free education." There's really no escape from real-life reference work, whether you're doing 2D or 3D animation, senior or junior, everyone has to learn from it to get better at their craft.

We've featured David Badgerow's reference footage for the Zootopia 2 scene that became a meme before, but here's even more behind-the-scenes material from him:

"This was exciting and challenging, doing a run of slow-motion action shots. Chatrasal Singh and I went into the ref room with a gigantic beanbag and shot actual slow-motion footage of the running, jumping, pushing, impact, and falls to see how the mechanics would feel at quarter speed."

"This was a fun assignment since it's what animators love to do: communicate fully with expressions and body language. The launch from the directors was simply: 'Without words, have Gary say "Thank you", and have Judy say "You're welcome."' The most challenging bit was Nick at the end, where they wanted him to basically say 'You did it, kid' to Judy, much in the way a Harrison Ford archetype character would."

David Badgerow also recorded reference videos for The Bad Guys 2:

Do you want to see more fun animation references? Here are a few great ones from KPop Demon Hunters:

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