My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: "Hoppers" - The New, Original Pixar Animated Feature With a Transformation Story and Animal Setting

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.

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Well, we were instructed to act natural with a cell phone :)

Yay! I`m (Mabel) finally one
of the cool kids at Pixar :)

If there`s been a new stigma to original animated properties, is how only franchise related movies are mostly able to make a profit. While that is not entirely strictly true, it has been true in most cases. But regarding Pixar`s reputation, once they used to be the Midas of Animation. Their first fifteen years at the movie business were essentially foolproof for them, as they made movies who were universally praised by critics and audiences alike (with the exception of Cars, which was unfairly a minor Black Sheep of the company. And to a lesser extent A Bug`s Life, who`s been neglected through the years). Their fate was forever changed with the release of the sequel to Cars, Cars 2. Which was universally hated and was considered to be such a dud that it harmed the company (which frankly was also undeserved, as Cars 2 was a fun movie. Yes, get the hate ready, haters). Afterwards came the much debated Brave, which was a victim of various scrutinies and was also a semi-dud for the company.

Yes, even a bird can be
desperate when it`s hungry
and wanting to eat a beaver :)

But the following Monsters University was considered to be a middle-on-the-road praised movie. But their true comeback was Inside Out, which was a Box Office hit and was considered to be on pair with Pixar Golden standards. But despite how Pixar has gotten rid of their dud-staple, the truth is that they`ve never fallen back to their former status of tbeing the Midas of Animation as they once used to be. Despite how Soul was essentially the movie that was considered to be the small return to their old standards, none of the following films have been labeled to belong to their once Golden Pantheon. Released March 6th, Hoppers is Pixar`s 30th movie. Directed by Daniel Chong (We Bare Bears) and written by Jesse Andrews, it stars Disney Channel star Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco and Meryl Streep. Mark Mothersbaugh (Toy Story Toons and Cars Toons) made the score. shorts for the studio. The end credits song was written and performed by SZA titled Save the Day.

The Trademarks and Elements of Hoppers

Don`t ask us why the tagline
is one who`s already been
used :)

With Hoppers, Pixar has made their second original film in a row after the record breaking success of Inside Out 2. And was the third Pixar movie released in March, after Turning Red and Onward. And being the first of two releases of Pixar this year, preceeding Toy Story 5 in June. But frankly, Hoppers is a movie that retreads Pixar`s trademarks. What Pixar has been known for during all these years, are creating movies which shows an

anthropomorphized World of a different point of view. And in that regard, Hoppers truly serves the bill. But Hoppers does something that animation is synonymous with: Having cute, cuddly animals, making Hoppers another animal-movie from Pixar after A Bug`s Life (which funny enough had a character named Hopper), Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and The Good Dinosaur. But while it`s premise is similar to Avatar (which yes, it even been snarkingly referenced), it`s also somewhat reminiscent of Brother Bear. For having a human transforming to a animal to experience it`s point of view.

I`m (Mabel) so excited. And I
just can`t hide it. Because I`m
a child :)

And yes, Hoppers

explores a setting that has been explored many times in animation: A North American setting with it`s types of animals. Despite how beavers have been rarely explored in animation. But at least Hoppers includes something that used to be rarity for Pixar: A female lead. While it has become more common nowadays, it`s remarkable how it used to be a rarity for Pixar. As they used 17 years and 13 movies before they finally had one (Brave). And also even having a biracial lead of color, a half-Japanese protagonist, making it the second Asian character after Turning Red and of course joining the likes of Big Hero 6, Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon. Cause human characters of colors also used to be a rarity for Pixar. But as for the plot of the movie, it`s essentially an environmental story with such themes (and also a emotional connection, as Mabel does her doing for her late Grandmother). And yes, it has been compared to Chris Sanders The Wild Robot.

The Information About Hoppers Revealed to the Public

Yes, I`m the Speedy Gonzales
version of a beaver :)

As for the information of Hoppers revealed to the public, it was officially announced in Disney D23 Expo in 2024. With the teaser trailer and some stills. In November that year, D23 Expo Brazil showed their presentation with new stills and clips. In November an article was released. In June 2025, some footage was shown on Annecy Film Festival (where Mabel saves the beaver from a bear, Mabel tours beaver society with King George and Mayor Jerry Generazzo gets into his car and find animals). In June, another article about the main plotline was released.

I wanted to show that you can
look smug in blue :)

In July, the first teaser was officially released, as well as the teaser

poster, and another articles with the creators and some stills. In September, a showcase was hold on Disney D23. In November, the trailer and a poster was released, as well as an official synopsis. As well as many more articles. In January, a special look TV Spot was revealed, as well as a Japanese Poster and trailer. And with clips, featurettes and some songs. And also many articles about Box Office predictions. In February, a Valentine Card featurette was revealed, as well as an article. And a display at Disney World. In March, many more articles were released.

Behind the Scenes Information

I`ve got hands! :) Despite how
they`re small! Yay! :)

The idea of Hoppers

began with Daniel Chong`s love for animals (despite his allergy for them) and stories about them.

Inspired from nature documentaries where robot animals are placed in the animal world. Like it was a good fit for comedy. And regarding the Avatar reference, Hoppers was called Animal Avatar. And liked how the teaser to called it out. The crew at Pixar was excited about that idea. The director came to Pixar in late 2019 and pitched the story in early 2020 and been working on it since. Originally it had penguin leads and it was called Penguin Avatar. But Pete Docter disapproved, stating that penguins had been used in other animated films. Chong changed it to beavers after doing research on how they affect the nvironment. But Chong didn`t thought that his vision for the movie would come through, but the crew at Pixar encouraged him. But the crew had to downplay the message of environmentalism, despite how Chong denied that it was censored. 12 characters were cut to get under budget. The scene where Mabel and her Grandmother connects with nature was put in various places, but it was logical to put it at the beginning of the film.

Even a beaver can be an
albino :)

Curda was chosen for being chaotic, but also grounded and lovable.

When regarding the story difference between The Wild Robot, the crew threw in some weirdness and made some weird rules. Pixar made a technology called the Paintbrush tool, that allows to add paintbrushes to 3D models to simplify the background. Which gives an impressionistic feel to the scene in three dimensions, to show the beauty of nature, but also not make it crazy to look at. But still, everything was modeled traditionally in CGI and this effect goes on top of it. The birds in Hoppers were taken from the For The Birds short, but remodeled them. The Avatar-line took 84 takes from Curda, because Chong was micro-tuning the exact phrasing until it felt perfectly “thrown away.” But as for other inspirations, Back to the Future was another reference. As Mabel calls Dr. Sam "Doc". But also inclduing weird science where things don’t make sense, but you buy into it anyway. So he was inspired by hia childhood movies, from the ’80s and ’90s. Even early Tim Burton. To visually indicate the perspective, the animals were given large, expressive cartoon eyes when they're talking to each other. Humans see them with small, inexpressive "dot" eyes. Which was borrowed from a lesser-known film from Ghibli. The human/animal duality from Isao Takahata's 1994 film Pom Poko.

Epilogue

This cable looks
yummy :)

At the end, Hoppers is among Pixar`s new entries in their animated library. But while that said, it`s exciting to see if it`s going to be regarded as one of Pixar`s best movies ever. As for the commercial reception, it has done well, quickly grossing over $164.7 million globally within its first two weeks (some having claimed that it was successful for being an animal movie, wbich usually appeals to people. And critics have approved it. As for my own personal opinion about it, did I like it? Yes, despite how it came across as good, but not great. While it had some truly great and resonant moments, it was overall just fine and passable entertainment as a whole. Either way, my small gripe with it is how Pixar has gotten worse with their designs, as most of their designs of the humans have almost a clay-like design to them (sorry to say).

We were instructed to
look weird :)

And how some of the comedy was badly executed and secondary characters annoying. And sure, for me it may not be Pixar at it`s very best, but still mid-range Pixar (as Pixar actually can make a great masterpiece once in a while). However, as for the overall reception of Hoppers, whether it`s going to be one of Pixar`s true classics, there`s nothing else than to welcome it to Disney and Pixar`s never ending jungle of franchises. And it actually proves that (fortunately) an original animated property can break the Box Office, having hope that original properties can make it once again in the future...