Eagle-eyed (or eagle-eared?) attendees of the Walt Disney Animation Studios feature Zootopia 2 this holiday weekend may have noticed a familiar voice in the film.
Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., delivers the weather forecast in a scene as “Bob Tiger.”
For theatergoers who stay for the credits of the film, they confirm that Bob Tiger was voiced by Robert A. Iger, in what is credited as the veteran Disney executive’s first-ever acting role on IMDB. Iger joins a voice cast that includes Shakira, Ke Huy Quan, Macaulay Culkin, Quinta Brunson and Dancing with the Stars winner Robert Irwin.
Iger, of course, has appeared as himself in dozens of documentary and unscripted projects (he appeared on the ESPN Manningcast just a few weeks ago), but despite Disney’s long history in animation, he has never voiced an animated character until now.
In fact, this is the second time that Iger has delivered a weather forecast for a Disney platform. In December 2021, just ahead of his previous exit from the company (his hiatus ended up being short-lived, as we know now), Iger delivered the weather for KABC, the Disney-owned ABC station in Los Angeles. One of Iger’s first jobs in media was as a weatherman for a local TV station in Ithaca, New York.
Zootopia 2, a sequel to the 2016 film, is on course to have a blockbuster Thanksgiving weekend, garnering $39 million on its opening day. The film in many ways epitomizes Iger’s strategy for Disney, which has leveraged the Zootopia IP into theme park rides and shows in Florida and China.
And Iger is planning to leave Disney for real this time, with the company telling Wall Street that it expects to name a new CEO next year, with Iger’s contract ending at the end of 2026.