Zootopia 2 Easter Egg Confirms Zootopia 3 Is Happening

Disney has not officially announced Zootopia 3 yet, but a moment in Zootopia 2 implies that the studio has already given Walt Disney Animation Studios the go-ahead to develop it. After taking nine years to make a sequel to the original $1 billion hit, Disney does not appear interested in a similarly long gap between audiences seeing Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde again.

Now that Zootopia 2‘s box office shattered records in its opening weekend, it feels even more inevitable that Disney will give viewers another adventure in Zootopia. While we have to wait for the studio to directly confirm another sequel is on the way by announcing the cast and crew’s involvement or even securing a release date, there’s a part in the main portion of Zootopia 2 that teases how far along development has gotten.

Zootopia 2 Easter Egg Suggests Disney Already Greenlit Zootopia 3

Near Zootopia 2‘s ending, Clawhauser is tasked with using Paul’s, another ZPD officer, computer to get some information, and this requires him to find the password to log in. Luckily, there is a Post-it note with it written on it right there. Zootopia 2 doesn’t focus on what Paul’s password is, but it turns out to be a pretty huge Easter egg for Zootopia 3.

Now circulating online, “P@Rt3izFr&BrdZ” is the visible part of Paul’s password, but there are additional characters covered by Clawhauser’s fingers. The common belief is that the final characters are “r2,” making the full password “P@Rt3izFr&BrdZr2.” If we decode the characters, it appears that this is code for “Part 3 is for real and birds are too.”

While the very end could be slightly different, the writing on this Post-it note, if taken as fact, is a clever way for Disney to confirm that Zootopia 3 is happening before any normal official announcements are made. It makes even more sense after what happens in Zootopia 2‘s post-credits scene, too.

How Zootopia 2 Sets Up Zootopia 3

Nick and Judy rowing a boat in Zootopia 2

Disney directly set up a third movie for Judy and Nick in the sequel’s credits, as Judy is shown in her apartment with the repaired carrot-shaped recorder, which she sets on the windowsill. After she turns around and leaves, a bird feather lands next to it as a shadow flies across.

The post-credits scene sets up Zootopia 3 introducing birds to this world, as aerial animals have been absent from the franchise to this point. It appears that Paul is one of the natives of Zootopia who believes that birds are real, and his password/note becomes another way that the film teased the role that the flying creatures in the animal kingdom will have in what comes next.

It’s clear that Disney and directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard have a plan for what the future of the Zootopia universe will include. If that wasn’t apparent by the credits scene, having Paul’s password act as another way to set up Zootopia 3 shows how confident they are that this story will continue. That’s already definitely happening based on the Zootopia 2 Easter egg after all.