Hello, my fellow Zootopians! Prepare to get Z.A.P.ped! It's time for this week's edition of the Zootopia Appreciation Post, or Z.A.P. for short. Every Saturday, I'm gonna be posting a different Zootopia-related topic that we can all discuss.
For today's topic, I would like to talk about the town of Bunnyburrow.
Apologies for not doing this on Saturday.
As you all know, Bunnyburrow was Judy's original home before moving to Zootopia. It is located about 211 miles away from the city of Zootopia, which director Byron Howard compared to "what Yonkers is to Manhattan - way out in the country." Bunnyburrow (and the "Tri-Burrows Area" as Stu Hopps mentions) is likely inspired by Pennsylvania, a state known for having boroughs instead of towns. Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, is also a similar distance from New York City as Bunnyburrow is to Zootopia.
Its population is about 81,435,818 and growing at a rate of roughly 5 per second. This is a reference to the stereotype that rabbits are explosive breeders. The overall expansion of Bunnyburrow reflects the rapid expansion of newer suburbs outside cities throughout the United States, known as the suburban sprawl.
Farming and other food production are two major industries in the region, and carrots are likely at the forefront of the farming scene due to the fact that over 81 million rabbits live there. Bunnyburrow has a school, named Woodlands Elementary School, which was attended by Judy and Gideon Grey as well as a small train station, the last stop on its line before reaching Zootopia.
It is unknown whether there are countryside regions other than Bunnyburrow in Zootopia, although it can be assumed that there are, since a "Deerbrooke County" is mentioned by Judy in a conversation with Nick.
Bunnyburrow has its own newspaper, called the Bunnyburrow Beacon. The town's appearance is very similar to that of the Shire, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Due to its ever-expanding population, it is possible that Bunnyburrow is more populated than Zootopia.
I personally would like to see the town revisited in a sequel. Maybe Judy would be introducing a certain fox to her family?
So, what do you guys think? Sound off in the comments below!