Disney Just Slipped A Tangled Easter Egg Into Zootopia 2 (Here's Where to Look For It)
Disney is already planting surprises for Zootopia 2, and one of them ties straight back to Tangled.
Zootopia 2 is closing in, and Disney is already doing the thing Disney loves: sneaking in a little crossover gag from another of its hits. Yes, Rapunzel is crashing Zootopia. Sort of.
The Tangled connection: bring on the frying pan
At a Los Angeles screening last week, director Byron Howard talked up the nearly-finished sequel and confirmed a blink-and-you-miss-it nod to his own Tangled days. Specifically, Rapunzel's weapon of choice is back.
"Two important appearances."
That is how Howard teased the frying pan's involvement. He even showed one of them: a slick image of Nick Wilde, tuxedo and all, brandishing the pan like he is about to attend a fancy gala and crack a case at the same time. The second moment stays under wraps for now. You will see it when the movie opens on November 26, 2025.
Inside baseball note: directors reusing props and gags from their earlier movies is a long-running Disney Animation hobby, so this tracks. The event itself was described as a 15th anniversary screening of Zootopia, which, yes, makes no sense math-wise. Zootopia came out in 2016. Given Howard also made Tangled, which turns 15 this year, you can connect the dots on what that probably meant.
So, how finished is the movie?
Howard said the sequel is basically in the home stretch. He is not just dropping Easter eggs either. He is co-directing with Encanto partner Jared Bush, with Bush also writing the script. Yvett Merino is producing.
Cast check: who is back, who is new
The sequel is bringing back a lot of familiar voices and adding some new ones. Here is the lineup as it stands:
- Ke Huy Quan as Gary De'Snake - new
- Quinta Brunson as Dr. Fuzzby - new
- Fortune Feimster as Nibbles - new
- Shakira as Gazelle - returning
- Idris Elba as Chief Bogo - returning
- Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Hopps - returning
- Don Lake as Stu Hopps - returning
- Nate Torrence as Clawhauser - returning
- Jenny Slate as Bellwether - returning
- Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton - returning
- Maurice LaMarche as Mr. Big - returning
- Leah Latham as Fru Fru - returning
- Josh Dallas as Frantic Pig - returning
- Tommy Chong as Yax - returning
- Mark Rhino Smith as Officer McHorn - returning
- Raymond Persi as Flash - returning
What to expect next
Beyond the frying-pan cameo, Disney is keeping story details quiet. But the tuxedo Nick shot suggests at least one sequence where the movie goes full caper mode, which fits Zootopia's vibe. We will see how that mystery second Easter egg plays when Zootopia 2 hits theaters November 26, 2025.