More than a decade after Shakira's breakthrough hit "Hips Don't Lie" made her an American star, the singer praised Disney for making a midsection modification to her "Zootopia" character, Gazelle.
"The one thing they took as a suggestion was that she was a little too skinny for me," she recently told People magazine, which published her quotes Thursday. "So I asked them to give her a little — to give her bigger hips. And I said to the director, 'Come on, guys, give her some meat!' And they did."
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People reported the change was made after animators tweaked her cartoon counterpart's eyes and hair to mirror those of the singer, but Shakira said she identified with Gazelle from the beginning — for reasons that were beyond skin-deep.
"[Disney] decided to tell me about Gazelle and what she was like and her personality, the things that she stood for," Shakira told the magazine. "And I just felt that I needed identification with it, and I said to them, 'Listen, this is me. Gazelle is me. I'm in. You can hire me now if you want!'"
In a video posted to Disney's Facebook page Friday, Shakira confirmed her "instant" identification to Gazelle, adding "she and I had so much in common."
Premiering in American theaters this past weekend, the blockbuster "Zootopia" grossed more than $73 million domestically and has earned nearly a quarter-billion dollars worldwide.
Shakira's basking in the success as well: The official music video for her "Zootopia"-inspired song "Try Everything" has more than 3.3 million views within four days of its YouTube posting, and was No. 15 on the iTunes Store's "Top Songs" chart as of Monday afternoon.
Shakira also told People that participating in "Zootopia" was exciting because she'd get to share it with her two sons, Milan, 3, and Sasha, who's 13 months old.
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"[When] they grow up, we'll be able to spend the afternoon on the sofa watching 'Zootopia' when they're older," Shakira added. "It's a movie that will be there forever."
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