Shakira demanded Disney give her cartoon Zootopia character 'bigger hips'

Shakira 'loves' the character of Gazelle but wanted to make sure that she was a good role model for children

Shakira enjoyed voicing the character of Gazelle but will return to making music in March (Getty Images)

Shakira has proved that her hips really don’t lie by demanding Disney to make her upcoming Zootopia character “curvier”.

The Colombian singer voices an animated gazelle called, err, Gazelle, in the new movie due for release on 26 February.

However, when Shakira was first introduced to her animal alter ego, she was upset to discover that creators had made her “too slim” as she wanted Gazelle to be a strong role model for children.

“I love that she is opinionated and she cares about her people. She feels she has a social responsibility,” the 39-year-old told reporters at the film’s world premiere in Barcelona.

“I feel like her and I have a common denominator. When the directors told me about her I said ‘That is me’, but she was too slim so I asked them to give her more curves and put more meat on the bones. She needs bigger hips so she has them now.”

Shakira noted that she has “things in common” with Gazelle from the colour of eyes and hair to her dress sense. She added that she relates to Gazelle’s sense of “social responsibility”, an awareness that she “has an impact on the people who follow her and listen to her”.

While Shakira has spent plenty of time making music in recording studios, she found the process of voicing a character different. “It’s a process in which you have certain creative licence but different to the kind you have as a performer,” she said.

“I thought they were going to animate before I recorded the voice but it was the opposite; they recorded my voice to capture the emotions of the scene and then animated the character to my voice to reproduce the expressions. It was interesting for me.”

Shakira’s song “Try Everything” features on the Zootopia soundtrack and she plans to return to music in March.