Fifteen Years Later
It was a gray, cold winter, and St. Crittersburg was now a leaderless town living under communist rule. Still, all predator and prey animals were living in harmony, going on about with their lives.
Even though Czar Stu and his family were lost to them, a rumor was going on that Judistasia was the only Hopps family member who was most likely still alive. But, her whereabouts and fate remained unknown to all.
Since their separation, Otto publicly offered 10 million roubles for the safe return of his beloved granddaughter.
Over at a factory, some of the mammals were complaining of the cold.
"A Rumor in St. Crittersburg"
(Gideon Grey)
"St. Crittersburg is gloomy!"
(Dr. Badger)
"St. Crittersburg is bleak!"
(Yax)
"My undercoat got frozen standing here all week!"
(Group)
"Oh, since the revolution,
Our lives have been so gray!
Thank goodness for the gossip,
That gets us through the day!"
(All)
"Hey!
Have you heard,
There's a rumor in St. Crittersburg?
Have you heard,
What they're saying on the street?"
One polar bear named Koslov inside his newspaper stand showed some passing-by animals the papers, with the front reading "JUDISTASIA LIVES!".
(Koslov)
"Although the Czar did not survive,
One daughter may be still alive,"
(All)
"The Princess Judistasia!"
A nearby sheep cop named Doug glared at the animals at the mention of that name, and crossed his arms.
The animals noticed, and quickly scampered off.
(Koslov)
"But please, do not repeat!"
Over in a crowd, a small fennec fox was fighting his way through to find someone. Only to be blocked by several large sets of feet.
"Outta my way!" He yelled in a deep voice. "Comin' through!"
The mammals hastily stood aside to let him by. They seemed startled by the sound of his voice, and the fact that he was the size of a toddler, which most animals usually mistook him as.
(All)
"It's a rumor,
A legend,
A mystery!
Something whispered in an alleyway,
Or through a crack!
It's a rumor,
That's part of our history!"
At one stand, an elephant named Nangi held up a snow globe with a tiny figurine of Judistasia inside it.
(Nangi)
"They say her royal Grand Pop-Pop,
Will pay a royal sum,"
(Group)
"To someone who can bring the princess back!"
In the meantime, the fennec fox made his way to a clear spot, right beside an old building. Just then, a whistle came right behind him. "Finnick!"
The little fennec fox turned around to find a much taller red fox standing behind him near a pole.
It was Nick, now a fully grown fox.
"Nick!" Finnick said, as he approached his friend. "I've got my part done!"
"Sweet!" said Nick. "Nobody caught you, right?"
"Almost got mangled up by a jackal cop," Finnick said in a frustrated tone. "But I got away!" But he changed his mood and gave a smile. "Come on! I have great news!"
The two of them then went into an old building where various animals were auctioning off royal antiques.
(Peter Moosebridge)
"A ruble for this painting,
It's Hopps-related, I swear!"
(Fabienne Growley)
"Count Lionheart's pajamas,
Comrade, buy the pair!"
(Swinton)
"I got this from the palace,
It's lined with real fur!"
(Swinton and Nick)
"It could be worth a fortune,
If it belonged to her!"
Nick took a black-furred shawl that Swinton showed to him and Finnick, and tossed a single farthing to the female pig as the two scurried off.
The two foxes went into a secret room, where no one would eavesdrop on them what their brilliant plan was.
"Well, Nick, I got us a theater," announced Finnick.
Nick grinned slyly. "Everything's going according to plan!" He stated. "All we need is the bunny! Just think, Finnick! No more forging papers, no more stolen goods. We'll have three tickets out of here. One for you, one for me, and one for Judistasia!"
Indeed, the foxes were con artists and partners-in-crime. When they heard about the reward, they decided to search for a Judistasia look-alike; to bring to Zootopia, pass her off as the real Judistasia, and collect the reward for themselves.
Nick took a look outside a nearby window at the town.
(Nick)
"It's the rumor,
The legend,
The mystery!
It's the Princess Judistasia,
Who will help us fly!
You and I friend,
Will go down in history!"
The fox pulled something out from a small hidden cupboard; Judistasia's music box. He showed it to his partner, and then placed it in his coat pocket.
(Nick)
"We'll find a girl to play the part,
And teach her what to say,
Dress her up,
And take her to Zootopia!
Imagine the reward her dear old Grand Pop-Pop will pay!
Who else can pull it off, but you and me?
We'll be rich!"
(Finnick)
"We'll be rich!"
(Nick)
"We'll be out!"
(Finnick)
"We'll be out!"
(Both)
"And St. Crittersburg will have some more to talk about!"
The con artists jumped from the window together, and laughed as they slid down a snow-covered roof on their feet towards the ground.
(All)
"Shh!
Have you heard,
There's a rumor in St. Crittersburg?
Have you heard,
What they're saying on the street?
Hey! (2x)"
Nick and Finnick exited the front of the building, and hopped onto the back of a moving cable car.
(All)
"Hey!
Have you heard,
There's a rumor in St. Crittersburg?
Have you heard?"
(Group)
"Comrade, what do you suppose?"
A fascinating mystery!"
(Nick)
"The biggest con in history!"
(All)
"The Princess Judistasia,
Alive or dead..."
A sloth named Flash was up on the clock tower. Very slowly, he moved his clawed hand to adjust the big clock hands.
(Flash)
"Who... knows?
...Shhhhhhhhhh..."
Elsewhere, in a rural building called Prey's Orphanage, some young prey animal children were looking out the second-floor windows, waving goodbye to their longest member; a female gray rabbit named Judy. She was dressed in ragged clothing. Apparently having spent her whole life in the orphanage, Judy was finally being forced out now that she was all grown up.
She was followed outside by the two owners who ran the orphanage; Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson, a kudu and a gemsbok.
"We got you a job in the Fishtown Market!" Bucky protested.
Pronk pointed down the street. "You go straight down this path till you get the fork in the road! Go left-"
But Judy was busy waving goodbye to the other orphans. "Bye!"
"Are you listening?!" snapped Pronk.
"Bye everybody!" Judy's smile faded when she noticed Bucky and Pronk glaring at her. "I'm listening, Comrades Bucky and Pronk."
Pronk grabbed Judy by the scarf. "You've been a thorn in our sides since you were brought here!" He groaned, as he dragged her towards the front gate, nearly choking her.
"Yeah!" agreed Bucky. "Acting like the Queen of Shehunga..."
"Bye!" Judy called back to the orphans again, who kept waving goodbye.
"...Instead of the nameless no account you are!" Bucky finished.
Unable to handle this, Judy unraveled her scarf and let Pronk pull it off.
Bucky went forward to unlock the gate. "For the last fifteen years, we've fed you, we've clothed you, we've kept-"
"Kept a roof over my head," Judy finished, as she mocked him.
Bucky glared back at Judy, appalled at her mockery.
As Bucky opened the gate, Pronk narrowed his eyes, as a thought came to him. "How is it you don't have a clue as to who you were before you came to us?"
"But you can remember all that?" Bucky joined in.
"Well, I do have a clue to-" Judy started to say, as she pulled out a chained necklace around her neck.
"Ugh! We know!" snapped Bucky. He yanked at Judy's necklace, and read it. "'Together in Zootopia'. So, you want to go to Zootopia to find your family, huh?" He asked with a sarcastic smile.
"Mm-hmm," Judy nodded, smiling back.
"Little Miss Judy," Pronk laughed, as he and Bucky both pushed Judy out the gate, "it's time to take your place in life! In life and in line!"
"And be grateful, too!" Bucky added. "This isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song about your "journey to the past", and all your insipid dreams magically come true! So let. It. Go!"
Pronk threw Judy's scarf in her face.
"Together in Zootopia!" The brothers both laughed, as they slammed the gate shut. "Be grateful!" One of them coughed.
With that, Judy made her leave down the road.
After about a mile of walking, Judy came to rest at the fork road Bucky and Pronk told her to go. "Be grateful, Judy!" She mimicked the brothers' speech. "I am grateful! Grateful to get away!" She shouted down the path she had come from.
The rabbit turned around to face two signs. The sign pointing left read "Fishtown Market", and the sign pointing right read "St. Crittersburg".
"'Go left' they say," said Judy. "Well, I know what's left. I'll be Judy the Orphan forever." Just then, a thought came to her. "But if I go right," she gestured down the path to St. Crittersburg, "maybe I can find..." she touched her necklace. "...Whoever gave me this necklace must have loved me." Judy then shook her head. "This is crazy! Me? Go to Zootopia...? Send me a sign! A hint!" She shouted, tilting her head skyward. "Anything!"
Judy knelt down by the signs, feeling hopeless.
At that moment, a small female Arctic shrew with dark hair popped out of the snow. "Oh, the nerve!" she complained in a high-pitched voice. "I've never traveled in snow so thick in my life! I hope my hair isn't too damaged." She felt around her hair and sighed as she could sense nothing was damaged.
Then, she hopped up to the place where Judy was sitting. Noticing the scarf in the rabbit's coat pocket, the Arctic shrew tugged at it. The scarf came flying out, and landed on top of her.
Judy noticed her scarf in the snow, and blinked as it began to move away. "Hey!" She tried to grab it, laughing a little. "Hey! I don't have time to play right now, okay?" She then sighed. I'm waiting for a sign."
"Play?" The shrew's high-pitched voice came from under the scarf.
Judy nearly jumped at the voice.
"What about me? I'm trying to keep warm in this icebox!" Whoever was underneath continued to pull Judy's scarf, and began to walk away with it down the right path.
"Give me that!" demanded Judy. She followed her scarf, and tried to tug it back. She began to say with annoyance, "Would you please leave me al-"
But the scarf tugged back.
"Stop! Give me that!" Judy tried to hold on. But the rabbit ended up getting spun around in a circle, until she tripped and fell into the snow on her stomach.
The Arctic shew hiding under the scarf revealed herself to Judy. "I'm sorry!" She apologized. "I was just freezing my tail off, and your scarf looked so comfy! So I..."
"Decided to take it for yourself?" guessed Judy. She shook her head, now annoyed.
"I really am sorry," the shrew grinned sheepishly.
"No, it's alright," Judy sighed. "You can have it."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" cheered the shrew. She bundled herself up in Judy's scarf with a giggle. "So, what are you doing?"
Judy sighed again, as she got up, "I'm trying to decide if I should go left to the job I've been given, or right to St. Crittersburg," she answered. "I want to find information about my family... if I have one."
"Well, if I were you, I'd follow my heart to find my dreams," the shrew suggested, dreamily. "That's what my daddy told me. Just before he passed of hypothermia three weeks ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Judy told the shrew, sympathetically.
"It's alright," said the shrew. "He wouldn't want me to waste another tear, and tell me to live my whole life ahead of me, anyway. My name is Fru Fru, by the way."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Fru Fru," smiled Judy. "My name is Judy." She picked up her scarf, with Fru Fru still wrapped in it.
Just then, the shrew's advice gave her an idea. "A little shrew wants me to go to St. Crittersburg." Maybe Judy really could go to St. Crittersburg to find what she was looking for. "Okay..." she agreed. "I can take a hint."
"What do you mean?" asked Fru Fru.
Judy didn't answer, and just stared down the path to St. Crittersburg. A small gust of wind blew some snow along the path.
Judy took her first step forward.
"Journey to the Past"
(Judy)
"Heart don't fail me now,
Courage don't desert me,
Don't turn back, now that we're here,
People always say,
Life is full of choices,
No one ever mentions fear,
Or how the world can seem so vast,
On a journey to the past,"
She stopped for a brief moment to let a horse pulling a sleigh ride pass by her.
(Judy)
"Somewhere down this road,
I know someone's waiting,
Years of dreams just can't be wrong,
Arms will open wide,
I'll be safe and wanted,
Finally home where I belong,
Well starting now, I'm learning fast
On this journey to the past,"
Fru Fru watched as Judy kept on hopping down the road.
Judy looked back at her, and twitched her head, gesturing for her to come along.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, Fru Fru gladly followed the bunny, happy to have found someone kind enough to take her under her wing.
Not too long later, they came across a house, where Judy witnessed a family of woodchucks embracing with each other. She waved to them, and they waved back.
(Judy)
"Home, love, family,
There was once a time I must have had them too,
Home, love, family,
I will never be complete until I find you,"
Judy knelt down to Fru Fru and held her paw out for her to climb onto.
The Arctic shrew smiled, and leapt onto Judy's paw. The rabbit placed her on her shoulder as she skipped down the path.
(Judy)
"One step at a time,
One hope than another,
Who knows where this road may go?
Back to who I was,
On to find my future,
Things my heart still needs to know,
Yes, let this be a sign,
Let this road be mine,
Let it lead me to my past,
And bring me home,
At last!"
Judy finally came upon a lovely view of St. Crittersburg. This was it. She was finally off to discover her past; where she had come from, and return to her long-lost family.