Hoppers (film)
| Hoppers | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Daniel Chong |
| Screenplay by | Jesse Andrews |
| Story by | Daniel Chong |
| Produced by | Nicole Paradis Grindle |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | Axel Geddes |
| Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[a] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hoppers is an upcoming American animated science fiction comedy film[2] produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Daniel Chong and written by Jesse Andrews, the film stars the voices of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan and Jon Hamm. It follows an animal lover named Mabel whose mind is transferred into a lifelike robotic beaver in order to communicate with animals and save their habitat from destruction.
Chong began working on a new original film at Pixar in December 2020, after returning to the studio. The film was first officially announced as Hoppers in August 2024, along with Curda, Moynihan, and Hamm revealed as part of the cast.
Hoppers is scheduled to premiere at the New York International Children's Film Festival on February 28, 2026, and will be released in theaters in the United States on March 6.
Premise
After a group of scientists invent a way to "hop" human minds into lifelike robotic animal bodies, an animal-loving teenager named Mabel uses their technology to embody a robotic beaver and thwart a construction company's plot to destroy the local animal habitat.[3][4]
Voice cast
- Piper Curda as Mabel Tanaka, a 19-year-old animal lover whose mind is transferred into a robotic beaver[5][6][7][8]
- Bobby Moynihan as King George, a beaver monarch[5][6][7]
- Jon Hamm as Mayor Jerry Generazzo, a greedy mayor[5][6][7][9]
- Kathy Najimy as Dr. Sam,[10] Mabel's biology professor who created the hopping technology[9]
- Dave Franco as Insect King,[10] the Insect Queen's mate [9]
- Eduardo Franco as Loaf,[10] a slow yet staunch beaver[9]
- Aparna Nancherla as Nisha,[10] Dr. Sam's astute colleague[9]
- Tom Law as Tom Lizard,[10] a lizard who prefers to avoid drama[9]
- Sam Richardson as Conner,[10] a grad student working under Dr. Sam[9]
- Melissa Villaseñor as Ellen,[10] a big, menacing, mostly grumpy bear always on the lookout for her next meal[9]
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Bird King,[10] a goose[9]
- Steve Purcell as Amphibian King,[10] a frog[9]
- Ego Nwodim as Fish Queen,[10] a fish[9]
- Nichole Sakura as Reptile Queens,[10] three snake sisters[9]
- Meryl Streep as Insect Queen, a butterfly who is the most respected and feared member of the all-seeing and all-powerful Animal Council[11][10][9]
- Karen Huie as Grandma Tanaka,[10] Mabel's grandmother[9]
- Vanessa Bayer as Diane,[10] a shark assassin.[9] Heidi Klum voices the character in the German dub of the film[12]
- Eman Abdul-Razzak as Insect Prince, a caterpillar[13]
- Alan Carr as Alan the Squirrel (UK release)[14]
- Amanda Holden as Amanda the Spider (UK release)[15]
- Demetri Martin as a flock of birds[16]
Production
Development
In December 2020, Daniel Chong revealed on Twitter that he had returned to Pixar following the completion of his Cartoon Network television series We Bare Bears (2015–2019) and the release of We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020) and that he was working on an original feature film.[17] At the D23 fan event in August 2024, Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter announced that the film would be titled Hoppers.[5][6][7] Shortly after, Jesse Andrews revealed on his Twitter account that he had been working on the film for three years.[18] As part of the film's announcement at the D23 event, Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, and Jon Hamm were revealed to be part of the voice cast.[5][6][7]
In an interview with D23, Chong said that one of his inspirations for the film were the nature documentaries in which robot animals are placed in the animal world; "It felt like it was ripe for comedy, this idea of how humans try so hard to fit into the animal world and the weird things that happen through that." He additionally stated, "obviously there are Avatar influences, [...] But there's also this Mission Impossible spy-thriller quality to the movie too, because Mabel's kind of infiltrating the animal world."[19]
Chong initially pitched the film with penguin protagonists. However Docter disapproved, arguing that penguins had been protagonists in several other animated films, so Chong changed the protagonists to beavers after doing research on how they affect the environment; "These animals can be these ecosystem engineers and help everyone else survive; I think that just made me go, 'Oh man, beavers are crazy cool.'"[20]
Writing
In December 2024, The Hollywood Reporter stated that, according to a former Pixar artist, the filmmakers were told to "downplay" the film's "planned message of environmentalism."[21] However, in a July 2025 interview with Screen Rant, Chong denied that the film's themes were censored, stating, "If anything, I felt a lot of alignment. [...] The honest truth about the process, though, is that every movie here goes through so much iteration and changes a lot, and I can see, maybe, to some other people's eyes within the studio, [how] they might see [that] it looks like things are being censored. But, really, [the movie is] just going through its natural course of iteration and stuff–at least for our movie."[20]
Music
In August 2025, it was announced that Mark Mothersbaugh would compose the film's score, marking his first composition for a Pixar feature film after composing for the Toy Story Toons short Hawaiian Vacation and several Cars Toons shorts for the studio.[22]
Release
Hoppers is scheduled to premiere at the New York International Children's Film Festival on February 28, 2026,[23] and will be theatrically released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 6, 2026.[24]
Marketing
A first-look image of the film was publicly shown at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2025.[25] Later that month a short teaser, featuring a lizard repeatedly typing the lizard emoji into a phone, played in theaters after the end credits of Pixar's Elio.[26][27] In August 2025, Pixar revealed that the lizard's name is Tom and that he would appear in the film.[28]
Notes
- ^ Distributed under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.
References
- ^ "Hoppers (G)". British Columbia Film Classification Office (Consumer Protection BC). February 5, 2026. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
- ^ "Hoppers: Pixar Action Comedy Puts Beavers In A 'Perilous Mission: Impossible Spy Thriller Situation'". Empire. December 17, 2025. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
- ^ Tangcay, Jazz (July 16, 2025). "'Hoppers' Trailer: Pixar Film Pokes Fun at 'Avatar' as a Young Scientist Gets Put Into the Body of a Beaver". Variety. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (November 20, 2025). "'Hoppers' Trailer: Pixar Film Pokes Fun at 'Avatar' as a Young Scientist Gets Put Into the Body of a Beaver". Deadline. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Unveils New Film At D23: Hoppers With Jon Hamm & Bobby Moynihan". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Moreau, Jordan (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Reveals Hoppers, a Beaver Body-Swap Movie Starring Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, Piper Curda". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Reveals New Original Film Hoppers Featuring Jon Hamm and Robotic Beavers". TheWrap. The Wrap. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Travis, Ben (July 16, 2025). "Hoppers Trailer Breakdown: Inside Pixar's Most Bonkers Premise In Years". Empire Online. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o ""HOPPERS" ADVANCED PRODUCTION INFORMATION" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Becker, Amy (November 20, 2025). "Pixar's 'Hoppers' trailer: Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Jon Hamm star in animated comedy". abc7. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
- ^ Pixar (November 20, 2025). "All hail the (insect) queen 🦋👑 Meryl Streep joins the cast of #Hoppers". YouTube. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ Allison, Paige (January 22, 2026). "Heidi Klum Voices A Shark Named 'Hai-Di' In New Disney Pixar Film 'Hoppers'". Celebrity Insider. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
- ^ @pixar (February 6, 2026). "The insect dynasty is here. See #Hoppers only in theaters March 6!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Chase, Stephanie (February 11, 2026). "Celebrity Traitors icon Alan Carr lands "dream come true" role: "I couldn't be happier"". Digitalspy. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ^ Chase, Stephanie (February 11, 2026). "Celebrity Traitors icon Alan Carr lands "dream come true" role: "I couldn't be happier"". Digitalspy. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ^ Daniel Chong [@threebarebears] (July 17, 2025). "SAME VOICE" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2025 – via Twitter.
- ^ Daniel Chong [@threebarebears] (December 10, 2020). "WELP guess there's no hiding it now- Happy to be back and developing something @Pixar!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ jesse andrews [@_jesse_andrews_] (August 9, 2024). "[lifts helmet, wipes sweat off face] i've been working on this movie for three years" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Stateman, Alison (July 17, 2025). "Exclusive Q&A with Hoppers Director Daniel Chong". D23. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ^ a b Danoff, Owen (July 16, 2025). "Director Of Pixar's Next Movie Explains Why It's So Much More Than "Animal Avatar"". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ Gajewski, Ryan (December 27, 2024). "Ex-Pixar Staffers Decry 'Win or Lose' Trans Storyline Being Scrapped: "Can't Tell You How Much I Cried"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
- ^ "Mark Mothersbaugh to Score Pixar's 'Hoppers'". Film Music Reporter. August 29, 2025.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (January 30, 2026). "Disney Pixar Film 'Hoppers' To Preview At New York Children's Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 13, 2024). "Frozen 3 Gets Official Thanksgiving 2027 Release; Pixar's Hoppers Sets Spring 2026". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Drew (June 13, 2025). "Pixar Unveils Hilarious First Footage From 'Hoppers', Featuring Robotic Beavers and Jon Hamm". TheWrap. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
- ^ Edwards, Belen (June 20, 2025). "'Elio's end-credits scene teases Pixar's next movie. Here's how". Mashable. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ Graves, Sabina (June 23, 2025). "'Elio' Has a Bizarre Post-Credits Scene That's Not About 'Elio' at All". Gizmodo. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
- ^ Woodroof, Cory (August 9, 2025). "How Pixar is behind the 'Lizard' meme taking over social media". usatoday. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
