Zootopia Layout Reel - Little Rodentia Deleted Scene

Second part of my Zootopia Layout Reel, from an early story version in which Nick Wilde was the one being chased around Little Rodentia.

Though this sequence was cut and entirely re-worked, this early layout work helped inform the camera style for the final version of the film.

In layout we do a lot of explorations of ideas at an early stage, some stick, some don't, but they all help develop the film to its final form. You can see a lot of ideas that were on this reel that made it to the final, even with the story being completely different.

The process of layout involves a bit of animation, lighting, editing, modeling, and a lot of composition and good use of camera for a clear narrative. Sometimes we follow what is indicated in the storyboards, sometimes we break away from it entirely and come up with our own beats and ideas.

The process works somewhat like this: We layout artists receive a movie with the storyboards cut by the editor. We need to build up the first 3D representation of that storyboard, in a full cinematic form, by using the characters, sets and props created by the modeling department. We animate the characters (roughly, not very cleanly, it's all about efficiency and iteration), we sometimes model our own sets and props when they don't exist yet, we place some temp effects and lights, and most importantly, we make the choices of camera and composition.

What lens frames this shot better? What f-stop? What type of camera move expresses the right feeling and emotion? How do the shots combine together? What angle showcases the right attitude? We have all of this in consideration, and apply a ton of cinematic tricks to make the action clear, the emotions specific, the framing and composition well crafted, and the timing precise. It's a bit of a generalist job, with a strong focus on visual storytelling.

[ZUnknownFox]

still wonder how good the original script/story for zootopia was.

[sonicgen]

Pretty impressive that Judy was able to wrestle a fox at the beginning. She must really work out extra hard to compensate for her size.

[sonicgen]

Boy Judy was an even bigger loose cannon in the tame collar storyline.

[HammySkora]

Ah I was hoping you would share this. I've been waiting so long to see Nick get chased. The way they wrestle and the way the dart lands near the mouse makes it so exciting and not overly comedic.

Thanks so much. You've made me very very happy.

I haven't work with 3D modeling in a while but it was hard. You must practice so much to make it this good.

[OddOneOut]

I kinda would have liked to have seen Judy tussle with Nick in Little Rodentia. It feels more like a Giant Monster flick, hehe.

[Paul-A]

Wow, Judy is pretty irresponsible here. What if that dart hit someone?

[samalphasam]

I was actually expecting a chase scene between Nick and Judy in the final version. oh well

[RaikouWolf]

Again, thanks for sharing these! I was hoping to see stuff like this when I got the blu-ray, not that I was totally disappointed with the extras on there but I wanted more of the original idea and storyline. I can't get enough of this stuff. So happy to keep having gems like this pop up <3

[KUmer-mpsu]

This scene was pretty cool especially the way Judy chased Nick.

[wildbilltexas]

Ow poor Nick. That face plant would have been funny had it been used the weasel thief instead. Thanks for sharing it!

[rokonast]

If you don’t mind me asking… why were the taming stuff from the movie removed?

[puzzler]

if this was in the movie, i'd be a little happier.

[HathrGacha]

Here are a few questions for this:

1. Do you remember the date that you made this, or an estimate?

2. I saw a screenshot where the scene was having actual lighting, did you continue on the reel, or did someone else do so?

3. Are there any more scenes like this that you can release?

[ParanoidFuzz]

I love that Nick slides ridiculously far like a GTA character

[giftheck]

What I would really like to see is the original script that goes with this version of the film. I've seen three scripts for The Lion King (one of them being from when it was called King Of The Jungle, one from the earlier phases after they retitled it The Lion King and one from a slightly earlier version of the film but it mostly matches up to the final film) and I love seeing the creative process behind a film. Scripts are interesting to me.

Oh, failing that, do you know of The Star Wars? It was a comic book released between 2013 and 2014 and used George Lucas' original script as its base. I would love to see a Zootopia comic book that does that with the script that this scene originated from.

[TheSleepyWarlord]

Im sorry but nick just faceplanting than sliding across the road was hilarious 😂

[xavierlime]

I remember seeing a fully complete version of this scene. Only part was nick face planting to the ground. Do you happen to know anything about that? I understand if you can't talk about since it's probably sensitive information.

[KUmer-mpsu]

Now I get why they changed Judy's personality. She did appeared to be very aggressive and conical.

[planemod]

Lol the way nick threw the poor rabbit haha. Brutal

[Terastas]

0:44: "To answer your question: Something like that." XD