I am a HUGE fan of Jason Bateman, so when I got the email with the final itinerary for the #ZootopiaEvent, I couldn’t contain my excitement. You may recognize Jason Bateman from such films as Juno, Hancock, Up in the Air, Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief (one of my favorite movies of his, by the way), among many, many others. Well, now Jason Bateman can add another amazing movie to his curriculum. Yes, I am talking about his role in the newest Disney animated film, Zootopia, which hits theaters on March 4. Not only is he an accomplish actor, but he is also a dad and after screening Zootopia, I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say about playing this character.

An Interview with Zootopia’s Jason Bateman

So, let’s get started! Jason Bateman is the voice of Nick Wilde in Zootopia. Nick Wilde is a fast-talking, scam-artist fox. Pretty interesting, right? Knowing that this is Jason’s first animated film, it got me wondering how much of his own personality went into this character. And this is what he has to say about that…

Yeah, I mean,  I’m not a big fan of seeing a lot of acting, you know? I mean, I think that’s the goal is to not act, it is to look natural so I try to use as much of me as possible in any part that I play. If I read a script and there’s a character that is so far from me that I would have to do a lot of acting to play that character, then just kind of by definition I probably shouldn’t play that character because then you are going to see acting, you know? So yes, there is quite a conniving, sarcastic fatigued part of me.

Trust me when you see the movie, you will understand that Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde is a match made in heaven. Jason Bateman plays that character with so much convincing, but I won’t get into that today, stay tuned for our full movie review coming up this week. Oh and by the way, if you are wondering how long it took Jason to record the voice of Nick Wilde. The answer is around 3 years with recording sessions happening every few months and him recording 2 to 3 scenes or 3 to 5 pages per session. I think that’s mindblowing, it never ceases to amaze me how long these movies take to make from beginning to end!

And speaking of how long the movie took to make. Do you see a little bit of Jason Bateman in Nick Wilde? I certainly see a resemblance. As Jason explained it best, he did the voice and the animators did the rest. Of course, the voice came first and he said: “They do put a little bit of everyone’s face in there like a mini caricature.”

As I mentioned before, Jason Bateman is not only an amazing actor, but he is also a dad to two amazing little girls, ages 9 and 4. As a mom of three kiddos myself, I wonder how Jason felt about taking on this role. Jason told us that for him is it pretty cool and he feels a sense of pride to play this role unlike any of the other roles he has played before because it is a movie where he can take his girls and for that matter, the entire family.

Zootopia as a Parenting Tool?

One last takeaway from our interview with Jason Bateman. As Jason Bateman stated, Zootopia can be a great tool to address everyday life issues with our young children. Themes like racism or xenophobia or fear mongering or bullying are addressed in the movie and parents can take the opportunity to get the conversation started about these issues utilizing the characters and situations from the movie so that kids can understand.

Thanks to Jason Bateman for taking the time to seat with us and converse about Zootopia, its lessons, his family and his experiences in the movie. And one last thing, if your kids are wondering what is Nick Wilde favorite color? Jason Bateman decided it is green, like cash green! And I would agree. 🙂 Stay tuned for more #ZootopiaEvent adventures coming up this week.

Disney’s Zootopia hits theaters March 4, 2016!

Zootopia Trailer

The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.

Disclosure: I was be provided with an all-expense paid trip to Orlando Florida to attend the #ZootopiaEvent. No additional compensation was received.