Pixar uncovers the secrets of the animal kingdom
Animal-lover Mabel seizes an opportunity to use a new technology to “hop” her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals. As she uncovers mysteries in the animal world beyond anything she could have imagined, Mabel must rally the entire animal kingdom to face a major imminent human-threat.
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T H E C H A R A C T E R S
King George
King George, a larger-than-life beaver with a jovial personality to match, is the leader of the pond and king of the mammals. Although he didn’t set out to be King, he embraces the role with enthusiasm every day and created some rules to help everyone in the pond get along: Pond Rules! Undeniably optimistic and kind, George is a beaver who loves: leading group aerobics, learning everyone’s names, working together in harmony and, of course, wood. A lifelong bachelor, he’s married to his job–and while anxiety and imposter syndrome have taken a toll on his hairline, there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing. When conflicts arise in his community, George just points to his Pond Rules: “We’re all in this together!”
Mabel Tanaka
As a passionate animal-lover who ferociously follows her heart, Mabel cares for creatures both big and small but can sometimes lose patience with humankind. Spending time with her gentle and beloved Grandma Tanaka, Mabel finds peace in the beautiful tranquility that nature has to offer, until the very glade she grew up caring for is threatened. Though fighting for those without a voice is completely second nature to Mabel, her plan to bring animals back to the glade proves to be more of a challenge than she expected. Scrappy and fearless in her pursuit,
Mabel will use every tool at her disposal–skateboard included–to stop the destruction of animal homes at the hands of Mayor Jerry.
Mabel Beaver
Mabel Beaver has the same passion for animals, but this time–she is one herself! One glance in a reflective pond confirms that Mabel’s consciousness is inside an adorable, small, furry robot beaver. Appropriately disguised, she infiltrates all aspects of the animal world and is PUMPED at the thought of solving the glade’s problem with help from within. Forced to think on her tiny webbed feet, Mabel Beaver quickly learns the ropes of her new world by gaining the trust of a strange animal leader, King George.
Mayor Jerry Generazzo
Running for reelection in Beaverton, Mayor Jerry Generazzo thinks he’s all that. He’s self-obsessed; and yet unbothered when it comes to the moral dealings of his job. Is he painfully self-restrained by red tape and what his constituents think of him? Yes. Will he stop attempting to build a highway through the glade, displacing animals from their homes? No. But under his shiny, perfectly coiffed hair and matching public persona, Jerry is losing his cool over the one thing he can’t control: Mabel.
Dr. Sam
Dr. Sam is Mabel’s biology professor at Beaverton University. Full of nervous energy, she also happens to be the brilliant inventor and scientist leading the top-secret research project: Hoppers. Though she runs her lab full of janky yet powerful technology with precision, when chaos strikes, she becomes easily flustered. Dr. Sam is determined to use her invention only for good because she knows that if it falls into the wrong hands, the result could be total ecological collapse. So, you could say her anxiety runs pretty high…
Titus
Titus is the demanding, spoiled spawn of the Insect Queen. Squish-thirsty and hungry for power, it’s best to stay out of his way while he transforms into an even more entitled version of himself–the Insect King.
Loaf
Loaf is not the smartest beaver in the pond, nor the sharpest stick in the dam. A slow yet staunch protector of “Pond Rules,” even to his own detriment, Loaf is…just trying his best to keep up.
Nisha
Nisha is Dr. Sam’s astute and loyal colleague. She’s second in command at the top-secret lab, and will let you know it. Though Nisha may be on the quieter side, when she does speak, be prepared for her to be brutally and uncomfortably honest with an unamused, deadpan delivery.
Tom Lizard
Though Tom Lizard prefers to avoid drama at all costs and rise above the fray, his insatiable curiosity typically puts him in the middle of it. Tom may be a little green reptile, but he’s got some big animal friends who have his back.
Conner
Conner is a grad student in biology working at Dr. Sam’s top-secret lab. He’s cheerful, gregarious and pretty awkward. He doesn’t really know how he got himself mixed up in this mess, but he would like out–please.
Absurd and Funny
“The thing that always guided us was the comedy and the characters,” explains director Daniel Chong. “That was what we chased the hardest. We knew it was our team’s strong suit, and we made sure early on to establish a unique comedic tone with fun characters to build everything on.”
“A story like this, with characters arguing constantly, has to be funny,” agrees producer Nicole Paradis Grindle. “We wanted it to have emotion and feature a ton of action too. It’s even a thriller when you get to the final scenes. But the humor was the initial key, since it brings people in. It’s an amazing story to tell in animation, this idea that we can see into that animal world and enjoy animals, as animals.”
Lead story artist Hannah Roman says, “It’s a very absurd and fun comedy.”
Ellen
Ellen is a big, menacing, mostly grumpy bear always on the lookout for her next meal. While she lives by the motto “When you gotta eat, eat,” behind that forbidding exterior Ellen is surprisingly community-minded and very loyal to her friends.
Bird King
Bird King, with his horrible temper and flighty, flippant attitude, is not afraid to loudly HONK and interject his opinions where he sees fit. Like most geese, he’s jumpy, paranoid and loud. Bird King likes to look down upon his fellow Council members, figuratively and literally–as he flies away.
Amphibian King
Amphibian King is as cold and slimy as his skin. A frog of few words, he’ll slowly croak out bad ideas that are routinely ignored by fellow Council members. He’s heartless, but too dense to be malicious.
Fish Queen
Fish Queen is a boisterous, stern and formidable member of the Council. As leader of the fish kingdom, she always has a long-winded speech prepared–but will make everyone wait with a dramatic pause while she goes down for water.
Reptile Queens
Reptile Queens are a terrifying trio of almost identical snake sisters, ready and willing to bite your head off. Their interests include gossiping, mockery, trying to end Council meetings early because they’re boring and stupid, and making fun of other animals for having legs.
Insect Queen
Insect Queen is the most respected and feared member of the all-seeing and all-powerful Council. She rules over her subjects and her spoiled, bloodthirsty son with a tiny iron fist, and the grandeur of a human royal. Her subjects are the most numerous on Earth, and the fact that they are constantly getting eaten by literally everyone else has shaped her bitter, hard-won wisdom and given her no illusions about the nature of power.
Grandma Tanaka
Grandma Tanaka has always been a calm, empathetic, consistent presence in Mabel’s life, and understands her granddaughter when others don’t. From a young age, she teaches Mabel about the importance of protecting the beauty and innocence of nature. As a member of the Beaverton Wildlife Society, Grandma Tanaka believes that as long as you take care of those around you, you’ll be making a difference.
Diane
Diane the shark is the apex predator summoned to help the Council carry out their mission to stop Mayor Jerry. Though Diane is one of the animal world’s most feared assassins, she’s actually super sweet, with a flawless bedside manner and a commitment to absolute professionalism. Nothing fazes her–even when she feels like a fish out of water.
T H E W O R L D
Nature
“I was warned early on that nature is really hard to depict in CG,” Chong says. “If you take a picture outside, it’s quite busy–there’s a lot of information, a lot of visual noise. There’s no order, and it’s not always easy to look at. But we needed to simplify things so we can focus on the characters. The question became, ‘How do you calm down nature and depict it in a way that looks beautiful and recognizable but isn’t distracting?’ There was a lot of coordination across departments to stylize and simplify the shapes and the overall look while making it feel natural.”
“We didn’t want the visual style to be different between the environments and the characters,” says visual effects supervisor Beth Albright. “And there was a question of what to lean into in terms of style, because the tone of the movie was always a little unconventional. We were creating an unpredictable absurdist comedy that’s also a spy thriller with a science fiction undertone. And ultimately, we wanted to immerse the viewer in the beauty of nature. Daniel was super focused on the story he wanted to tell, the tone that he wanted to tell it with, and also gave us a lot of room for exploration.”
Pond Rules
As Mabel is introduced to the beautiful chaos of the animal world as a beaver, King George explains the simple rules that he and his subjects abide by to help keep nature in balance:
Rule 1: Don’t be a stranger
Rule 2: When you gotta eat, eat
Rule 3: We’re all in this together
When it came to the filmmakers’ planned approach for production on “Hoppers,” Grindle and Chong decided to establish their own set of values–also called Pond Rules–to help shape how the production team would work together.
“I give so much credit to Nicole and her suggestion that we create Pond Rules for our team,” Chong says. “We both wrote out the things we value as leaders, and what we expect from our leadership. We made sure that we lived by them, and it helped set the tone. Everybody knew how to keep us accountable.”
“Daniel and I both have a very similar set of values,” Grindle says. “For us, it was really important to build a community where creators feel safe to bring their best work. Having fun is part of that foundation–you don’t want people to be afraid about their performance or worry about being judged. Daniel and I are less hierarchical in our values, and we wanted to celebrate that as well. We promoted that idea, that people at any level in production should feel free to speak up and give their opinions. That worked really well. And Daniel is very accessible, which also helped.”
The Superlodge
The team drew inspiration from nature in many forms–including research trips to Yellowstone, to Colorado with beaver expert and “Hoppers” consultant Dr. Emily Fairfax, PhD, to Fort Collins, and even to the Oakland Zoo.
“We did a lot of field trips,” Chong says. “Early on, our team went to Yellowstone National Park. We spent a week there and had the chance to really immerse ourselves in nature. We had amazing guides who helped embed us in that space. I remember them telling us when we got there, ‘You are now entering the animals’ homes. You are a visitor here.’ That was a really great reset in perspective, where most of the time we feel the opposite in relation to nature being in our spaces.
“We even got to go inside an abandoned beaver lodge,” Chong continues. “It was a tight squeeze! But once you’re in there, you see all these intricate corridors and areas–almost like separate rooms. I think beavers also let other animals chill with them in the lodge if they want. In addition to Yellowstone, our art team also went to Colorado with our beaver specialist, Dr. Emily Fairfax, and had the chance to swim in actual beaver ponds.”
