Torrence overjoyed to be part of movie history in ‘Zootopia 2’

When it came to box office dominance, "Zootopia 2" was king of the hill in 2025.

First, the movie ruled the box office over Thanksgiving weekend, where it reeled in $158 million in ticket sales during the movie’s U.S. opening, but it didn’t stop there. “Zootopia 2” also set record-smashing numbers worldwide, with $560 million in ticket sales globally.

Disney’s instant blockbuster continued to lure moviegoers into theaters during a time when ticket sales were truly struggling.

By mid-December “Zootopia 2” had smashed past the $1 billion barrier and was plowing its way to the top grossing American release of the year, topping “Lilo & Stitch,” the only other U.S. movie to hit the $1 billion mark in sales.

Larger and more highly publicized productions like “Superman” and “Wicked: For Good” were steamrolled by “Zootopia 2.” Disney's sequel boasts the biggest worldwide launch of all time for an animated picture.

And in the middle of all that success was Officer Benjamin Clawhauser, the overweight, lovable and energetic cheetah who was played by none other than Holmes County native Nate Torrence.

Several years ago Torrence enjoyed the success of “Zootopia,” and when rumor had it that “Zootopia 2” was in line to be produced, he said he held out hope his phone would ring for a return engagement.

It did, about two years ago, and he was more than ready to revisit Clawhauser.

“I was so happy to be called back,” Torrence said. “I think this movie went way beyond expectations, but we knew we had three viable international markets that were really attacking promoting this movie, so we had an idea it was going to do well. But for it to hit $1 billion in 17 days is wild.”

Torrence said the key to success was Disney writing a strong mystery script created for kids that also plays to adults. He said the animation for the film is beautiful and the investment shows up on screen.

“The scope of what these animators did in putting this film together was incredible,” Torrence said. “That’s really where the magic happened. They really are the stars.”

He said while the movie was released Nov. 26, rewrites for the script were being done into July as writers made the push to get everything perfect.

“I’ve never pushed that hard and that close to a release date, even in life stuff,” Torrence said. “They just kept rewriting and testing to create the very best production possible.”

In creating Clawhauser, Torrence said he simply channeled a ton of energy from his children.

“In my mind I wanted to create a character who was the most wonderfully joyful best friend cheetah cop there could possibly be,” Torrence said. "He was just pure joy and energy, and his heart is as big as his belly.”

That Torrence is known around Hollywood for his never-ending exuberance and energy certainly helped land him the role. He said with this one being set in a global context, filled with mystery and intrigue, he knew one thing: He was going to pour himself into Clawhauser with every ounce of his soul.

“Since they were leaving 'Zootopia' and making this an international movie, I wasn’t sure how much Clawhauser was even going to be in it,” Torrence said. “But they created some really entertaining scenes for Clawhauser, which was really exciting.”

He said unlike “Zootopia,” the actors never got together for a table read, so in doing the voiceover work, he sat in studio with Director Jared Bush, who helped him feed off the script and the various characters with whom he was dealing.

While Clawhauser wasn’t the focal point, with those key roles going to Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde and Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, Clawhauser did have a strong presence, so much so that when Disney created the show “Better Zoogether” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the Tree of Life, Clawhauser played the central figure, his animatronic body taking visitors through the story and the voice of Torrence taking patrons on that journey.

“I’m a giant, 8-foot animatronic Clawhauser. How cool is that?” Torrence said.

During the grand opening, Torrence took his entire family, and he did a bunch of press, which helped introduce the movie prior to its release. Torrence said he even gets to sing a duet with Goodwin in the presentation, with "Better Zoogether" now available on Spotify.

“With all of the press I’ve done, a lot of it leans toward that exhibit,” Torrence said, noting an additional television show with Clawhauser interviewing people who went on the tour aired on Christmas Day on ABC.

Torrence said Clawhauser has opened new doors in the voiceover world for him, including being the voice of the newest puppy on the show “Sophia the First” on Disney, which will come out in 2026.

People also may recognize his voice in one other national commercial, that being Dairy Queen, where the tagline “Happy tastes good” is 100% Torrence.

“These are all opportunities that have come from being Clawhauser,” Torrence said.

Torrence said he owes a great deal to Disney in moving his career forward and said this opportunity is one for which he will be eternally grateful.

“I think what makes Disney movies so great is that they have a lot of fun and action going on, but then they have these quiet, sincere moments that really connect audiences to the characters,” Torrence said.

From being the Golden Graham Kid and the ‘What’s in Your Wallet” guy in his early days to playing inventor Lloyd in “Get Smart” and Clawhauser today, Torrence remains a boy at heart, full of joy, a charismatic, energetic presence on screen, whether it is him in real life or voicing an animated character.

He said he wouldn’t or couldn’t change that if he tried.