Hoppers
Act natural.
Hoppers (2026)
Production
Budget
$150 000 000
Revenue
$389 685 783
Director
Daniel Chong
Scenario
Daniel Chong
Author
Composer
Producer
Nicole Paradis Grindle
Actors
Piper Curda
Mabel (voice)
Bobby Moynihan
King George (voice)
Jon Hamm
Mayor Jerry Generazzo (voice)
Kathy Najimy
Dr. Sam (voice)
Dave Franco
Insect King (voice)
Eduardo Franco
Loaf (voice)
Aparna Nancherla
Nisha (voice)
Tom Law
Tom Lizard (voice)
Short description
A woman named Mabel uses an advanced scientific breakthrough to transfer her consciousness into a realistic robotic beaver. This technology allows her to interact and communicate directly with wildlife. While exploring this new environment, she discovers unexpected secrets about the animal world and forms a bond with a beaver named King George. Mabel eventually finds herself leading a diverse group of animals to protect their habitat from the threats posed by a human politician, Mayor Jerry Generazzo.
Produced by Pixar, this animated feature is the second directorial effort from Daniel Chong, following We Bare Bears: The Movie. The film features the voices of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, and Eduardo Franco. With a budget of 150 million USD, the movie earned 390 million USD at the global box office.
Reception has been generally positive across different groups. On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 7.4/10 based on 37,734 votes, while on TMDB, it has a higher score of 8.1/10 from 2,360 votes. Film critics provided a rating of 7.7/10 from 203 reviews, placing their assessment between the two audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- King George was based on the director and screenwriter Daniel Chong.
- The character voiced by Piper Curda is based on the mother of director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, who, according to him, had a very strong sense of duty.
- According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, the visual difference between the animal and human worlds (specifically referring to the animals' eyes) was inspired by the 1994 Studio Ghibli anime titled "Pom Poko," which focused on tanuki. It was this project by director Isao Takahata that helped the creators convincingly depict the concept of the coexistence of two worlds.
- The Butterfly Queen was modeled after Meryl Streep, although none of the filmmakers expected her to take on the voice acting role.
- In the original concept of the film, the character voiced by Tom Lowe did not exist. According to Daniel Chong, this character "somehow slipped into the storyline on its own" and remained there, despite there being no urgent need for him. The conclusion that the character was popular with the audience was reached based on the results of preview screenings.
- Towards the end of the film, an image of the robot from Andrew Stanton's sci-fi animated movie WALL-E (2008) can be seen in the office of the character voiced by Katie Najimi.
- In early versions of the film, Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda) did not have a grandmother. She was conceived and added to the script to provide more volume and depth to the main character's image. According to producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, this decision was made when audiences openly disliked the scene where Mabel yells at Jerry (voiced by Jon Hamm). Everyone decided she was "yelling too much," so the filmmakers added the grandmother and several new scenes to soften that impression.
- The final film of Isaiah Whitlock Jr. The film is dedicated to his memory.
- According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, he drew inspiration, in particular, from old educational wildlife documentaries.
- In one of the scenes, the blue birds from the short film 'About the Birds' can be seen. This is a tribute to director Ralph Eggleston, who passed away while work on this project was underway.
- In one of the scenes, the blue birds from the short film "The Birds" (2000) can be seen on screen. This is a tribute to the short film's director, Ralph Eggleston, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 28, 2022, while this project was in production.
- The filmmakers brought in a beaver specialist from the University of Minnesota as a consultant.
- According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, the visual difference between the animal and human worlds was inspired by the anime 'Pom Poko'.
- The lizard was not in the original script. According to Daniel Chong, the character 'somehow slipped into the plot on its own.' The conclusion that this character was popular with the audience was drawn based on the results of test screenings.
- Mabel was modeled after the mother of director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, who, according to him, had a very strong sense of duty.
- The creators of the robot beaver strove to ensure that all of their creation's movements looked natural.
- A reference to the 'Cars' movie franchise can be seen on the professor's chalkboard. In the upper right corner of the board, there is a diagram of a human brain with an arrow pointing to a car.
- One of the characters was based on Meryl Streep (although none of the filmmakers expected her to take on the voice role). According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, he finally called her via video chat to discuss the matter, and Streep was very receptive to the proposal to work on the project.
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Isaiah Whitlock Jr.
- According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, he once came across an article about Yellowstone National Park, where wolves were being reintroduced to the wild and beavers were present in the ecosystem.
- Near the end of the film, an image of the robot from the movie 'WALL-E' can be seen in the professor's office.
- An "easter egg" can be spotted on the chalkboard of the character voiced by Katie Najimi. It is a reference to the Cars franchise. In the top right corner of the board, there is a diagram—a human brain with an arrow pointing to a car. It seems to imply a human consciousness inside a car.
- The filmmakers were also influenced by classic horror movies, such as 'The Birds,' 'The Exorcist,' and 'Gremlins.' Due to the reactions of children during preview screenings, not all of the horror elements originally planned for the film were included.
- The character voiced by Katie Najimi wonders if sound can be converted into energy. This same question is central to the Monsters, Inc. franchise.
- Initially, it was envisioned as a film about a human consciousness inside a robotic penguin. When director and screenwriter Daniel Chong presented the script to Pixar executives, specifically Pete Docter (who became one of the producers), the management liked the script. They only suggested replacing the penguins in the concept with something else, stating that there were already too many animated films about penguins. The script was rewritten twice more until it was finally decided that the robot would be a beaver instead of a penguin. Additionally, Chong discovered that beavers act as a kind of ecosystem engineer and decided that a movie about a beaver would be a hit.
- At the very last moment, the opening scenes were significantly altered. New dialogue and additional footage were added to further develop the story of the main character, voiced by Piper Curda. According to director and screenwriter Daniel Chong, this was necessitated by the protagonist's own nature—unbridled and somewhat chaotic. It was necessary to add more humanity to Mabel's image so that the audience would empathize with her, understand her feelings, and specifically her anger, as well as the reasons behind the struggle she is waging.
- Old horror films also influenced the creators—for example, "The Birds" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963), "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973), and "Gremlins" (Joe Dante, 1984). They created the project's frightening final scenes under the influence of these and several other films. Due to children's reactions during preview screenings, not all the horror elements originally intended by the filmmakers were included in the final cut.
- The filmmakers brought in a beaver specialist from the University of Minnesota as a consultant. They first contacted her in 2021.
- The character voiced by Bobby Moynihan was based on director and screenwriter Daniel Chong. He has admitted himself that "a great deal of this character is taken from me personally."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
