{"slug":"hoppers","type":"movie","title":"Hoppers","year":2026,"releaseDate":"2026-03-04","franchise":"pixar","genres":["Animation","Adventure","Comedy","Family"],"creators":["Daniel Chong"],"url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers","hook":"Dr. Sam's chalkboard is a numbered index of seven other Pixar films — and Idea #113 is the talking dog collar from Up.","intro":"*Hoppers* contains what may be the single best-constructed easter egg Pixar has ever built, and it is a **chalkboard**. Late in the film, Dr. Sam's board of numbered project ideas turns out to be a catalogue of the studio's own inventions: **Idea #8** is a sketch of WALL·E annotated *Waste Allocation Load Lifter*; **#12** is M-O; **#43** is scream energy from *Monsters, Inc.*; **#52** is a human brain wired to a car; **#92** is Sox from *Lightyear*; **#206** is dogs flying aircraft. And **Idea #113** — the number Pixar has hidden in every film since 1995 — is the **talking dog collar from *Up***.\n\nThat is the joke stacked three deep. A scientist's whiteboard of unbuilt inventions, filled with things Pixar actually did build, with the studio's own signature number assigned to the invention that most resembles the premise of this film.\n\nThe rest is generous too. **A113** proper is Dr. Sam's office number. A blue hippo head on Mabel's windowsill is **Atlas** from *Toy Story 5*, three months early. Three birds at the animal council are from the short *For the Birds*, placed as a tribute to the late **Ralph Eggleston**. And the three stacked bears on the windowsill are **We Bare Bears** — director **Daniel Chong**'s own show, before he came to Pixar.","identifiers":{"tmdbId":1327819,"tmdbUrl":"https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1327819","imdbId":"tt26443616","imdbUrl":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26443616/"},"counts":{"eggs":11,"confirmed":11,"community":0,"theory":0,"sources":9},"postCredits":{"status":"yes","verdict":"Yes — Hoppers has 1 post-credit scene.","scenes":1,"description":"Yes. After the credits, the man Mabel helped earlier answers a knock at his door and finds the petition page he had scrawled a shopping list on — now with every item ticked off and Mabel's name and a smiley face added. Then he looks down and sees a column of ants carrying his groceries in.","detail":"**Yes, Hoppers has a post-credits scene**, and it pays off a small joke from the first act.\n\nEarlier in the film, Mabel goes door to door with a petition, and one man — rather than signing it — uses the page to write out his **shopping list**. It is a throwaway gag about a person too self-absorbed to notice what is being asked of him, and the film moves on without comment.\n\nAfter the credits, there is a knock at his door. He opens it, and finds his petition page handed back to him: every item on his shopping list is **ticked off**, and **Mabel's name** has been written in as a signature, with a **smiley face**. Then he looks down, and a column of **ants** is filing into his home carrying the groceries.\n\nWhat makes it land is that it settles the film's actual argument. *Hoppers* is about whether the animal world and the human one can be made to negotiate with each other, and the man in the doorway is the film's small portrait of human indifference — not cruel, just uninterested. The stinger has the animals answer him on his own terms: he wanted his shopping done, so they did his shopping, and then they took his signature. It is both a favour and a transaction, which is exactly the relationship the movie has spent ninety minutes arguing for.\n\nThere is nothing else after it, and it does not tease another film. It is a punchline, and it is worth the wait.","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers/post-credits"},"eggs":[{"id":"dr-sams-chalkboard-is-a-pixar-index","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-dr-sams-chalkboard-is-a-pixar-index","title":"The chalkboard of unbuilt inventions is a numbered index of Pixar films","description":"Dr. Sam's board of project ideas is the densest cross-reference in the film and possibly in the studio's history. **Idea #8** is a sketch of **WALL·E**, annotated *Waste Allocation Load Lifter*. **#12** is **M-O**, the cleaning robot from the same film. **#43** is **scream energy** from *Monsters, Inc.* **#52** pairs a human brain with a car, for *Cars*. **#92** is **Sox**, the robot cat from *Lightyear*. **#206** is dogs flying aircraft, from *Up*. Each is presented as something a scientist merely thought of and never built.","scene":"Dr. Sam's office — the blackboard of numbered project ideas, late in the film","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","visual"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"WDW News Today — Can You Spot These Easter Eggs in 'Hoppers'?","url":"https://wdwnt.com/2026/03/can-you-spot-these-easter-eggs-in-hoppers/"}],"motifs":["recurring-hidden-signature"],"referencesSlug":"wall-e","referencesWork":null},{"id":"idea-113-is-the-up-dog-collar","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-idea-113-is-the-up-dog-collar","title":"Idea #113 on the board is the talking dog collar from Up","description":"The chalkboard's best gag is a number. Among Sam's numbered ideas, **#113** is a device that translates a dog's barks into speech — which is to say **Dug's collar** from *Up*. Pixar's CalArts signature has been a license plate, a room number, a directive and an ear tag; here it is an **index number in a list**, assigned specifically to the one invention on the board that shares this film's entire premise of letting a human talk to animals.","scene":"Dr. Sam's blackboard — the entry numbered 113","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"Creative Bloq — 6 Hoppers Easter eggs that you might have missed","url":"https://www.creativebloq.com/art/animation/6-hoppers-easter-eggs-that-you-might-have-missed"}],"motifs":["a113","recurring-hidden-signature","hidden-math-joke"],"referencesSlug":"up","referencesWork":null},{"id":"a113-is-dr-sams-office-number","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-a113-is-dr-sams-office-number","title":"A113 is Dr. Sam's office number — and there is a poster of it too","description":"Separately from the chalkboard joke, the film plants A113 conventionally: it is the **room number** on Dr. Sam's office. There is a second sighting in **Mabel's bedroom**, where a poster carries the number. Three separate placements of the same signature in one film — a room, a poster and a numbered list entry — is unusually thorough even by Pixar's standards.","scene":"Dr. Sam's office door; and a poster in Mabel's bedroom","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","reference"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"CalArts — Vulture Video Tackles the Meaning of 'A113'","url":"https://blog.calarts.edu/2016/05/24/vulture-video-tackles-the-meaning-of-a113/"}],"motifs":["a113","recurring-hidden-signature"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"atlas-from-toy-story-5","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-atlas-from-toy-story-5","title":"A blue hippo head on the windowsill is Atlas from Toy Story 5","description":"On the opposite end of Mabel's windowsill from the bears sits a **blue hippo head** — **Atlas**, a character from *Toy Story 5*, which would not open until June 2026. Pixar's next-film tease is running about three months ahead here, and it is placed as a piece of a child's toy collection rather than a poster or a screen, which is the studio's most reliable disguise.","scene":"Mabel's bedroom windowsill","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","foreshadowing"],"difficulty":5,"difficultyName":"White Whale","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"WDW News Today — Can You Spot These Easter Eggs in 'Hoppers'?","url":"https://wdwnt.com/2026/03/can-you-spot-these-easter-eggs-in-hoppers/"}],"motifs":["sequel-tease"],"referencesSlug":"toy-story-5","referencesWork":null},{"id":"we-bare-bears-on-the-windowsill","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-we-bare-bears-on-the-windowsill","title":"The three stacked bears are the director's own cartoon series","description":"On Mabel's windowsill stand figurines of a **grizzly, a polar bear and a panda**, stacked one atop the other. That is the signature image of **We Bare Bears**, the Cartoon Network series created by **Daniel Chong** — who directed this film. Bringing your previous show into your first feature as a child's toy is the same move Domee Shi made with the *Bao* restaurant sign in *Turning Red*, and it is becoming a Pixar first-feature tradition.","scene":"Mabel's bedroom windowsill","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","meta"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"Wikipedia — Hoppers (film)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppers_(film)"}],"motifs":["crew-tribute"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"for-the-birds-tribute-to-ralph-eggleston","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-for-the-birds-tribute-to-ralph-eggleston","title":"Three birds at the animal council are a memorial to Ralph Eggleston","description":"Among the animals at the council sit three small birds unmistakably drawn from **For the Birds**, Pixar's Oscar-winning 2000 short about a flock bullying an outsider on a telephone wire. They are placed as a tribute to **Ralph Eggleston**, the short's director and one of Pixar's foundational production designers, who died in 2022. It is the film's only reference that is not a joke.","scene":"The animal council sequences — three small birds among the assembly","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","meta"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"WDW News Today — Can You Spot These Easter Eggs in 'Hoppers'?","url":"https://wdwnt.com/2026/03/can-you-spot-these-easter-eggs-in-hoppers/"}],"motifs":["crew-tribute","in-memoriam-dedication"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"crush-plus-the-ball-and-the-lamp","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-crush-plus-the-ball-and-the-lamp","title":"The turtle is Crush — with the Luxo ball and lamp on the shelf below his tank","description":"The turtle Mabel rescues is **Crush**, the surfer sea turtle from *Finding Nemo*, and the shelf **underneath his tank** carries both halves of Pixar's oldest signature: the **Luxo ball** and a **Luxo lamp**. Clustering the ball, the lamp and a returning character in a single set-up is generous placement — most films make you hunt for one of the three.","scene":"The turtle tank Mabel rescues the animal from — and the shelf beneath it","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["cameo","callback"],"difficulty":3,"difficultyName":"Freeze Frame","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"3DVF — The new Pixar Hoppers hides an unexpected reference to Finding Nemo","url":"https://3dvf.com/en/have-you-noticed-the-new-pixar-jumpers-hides-an-unexpected-reference-to-finding-nemo/"}],"motifs":["luxo-ball"],"referencesSlug":"finding-nemo","referencesWork":null},{"id":"pizza-planet-truck-in-a-display-case","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-pizza-planet-truck-in-a-display-case","title":"The Pizza Planet truck is a collectible in a display case","description":"During the early chase, the film passes a **display case** containing the **Pizza Planet truck**, alongside a **Toy Story 3 train** display. Presenting the studio's most-travelled vehicle as a museum-piece collectible rather than a working vehicle is a small acknowledgement of its own age — thirty-one years on from *Toy Story*, the truck has become memorabilia.","scene":"The early chase sequence — a display case containing the truck and a Toy Story 3 train","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","callback"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"Pixar Wiki — Pizza Planet Truck","url":"https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Pizza_Planet_Truck"}],"motifs":["pizza-planet-truck"],"referencesSlug":"toy-story","referencesWork":null},{"id":"stickers-tartan-and-a-news-feed","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-stickers-tartan-and-a-news-feed","title":"Four more films are hidden on a phone, a pram and a news feed","description":"The background does the rest of the work. **Mabel's phone** carries a **Wilderness Explorers** sticker from *Up* and a **Pizza Planet alien** sticker from *Toy Story*. The blanket on the baby stroller at **Mayor Jerry's** home uses the **tartan pattern from *Brave***. Mayor Jerry's **news feed** scrolls past **Mr. Mittens**, the therapy cat from *Soul*, and a dog from *Up*. And the door-to-door sequence includes a puppy from the *Dug Days* episode *Puppies*.","scene":"Mabel's phone case; the stroller blanket at Mayor Jerry's; Mayor Jerry's news feed; the door-to-door scene","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["reference","visual"],"difficulty":5,"difficultyName":"White Whale","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"},{"label":"With Ashley and Co — All The Pixar Hoppers Easter Eggs You May Have Missed","url":"https://www.withashleyandco.com/2026/03/pixar-hoppers-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":"soul","referencesWork":null},{"id":"mayor-grindle-is-the-producer","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-mayor-grindle-is-the-producer","title":"One of the '17 Mayors We're Obsessed With' is the film's producer","description":"In the article headlined **17 Mayors We're Obsessed With**, the name listed after Mayor Jerry is **Grindle** — a nod to the film's producer, **Nicole Paradis Grindle**. Pixar has a long habit of hiding crew surnames in background text, and a listicle of mayors is a particularly good hiding place, because nobody reads past the second entry.","scene":"The '17 Mayors We're Obsessed With' article, in the name listed after Mayor Jerry","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["visual","meta"],"difficulty":5,"difficultyName":"White Whale","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia — Hoppers (film)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppers_(film)"},{"label":"LaughingPlace — The Easter Eggs of 'Hoppers'","url":"https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-entertainment/hoppers-easter-eggs/"}],"motifs":["crew-tribute","blink-and-miss-signage"],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null},{"id":"mabel-was-going-to-be-a-penguin","url":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers#egg-mabel-was-going-to-be-a-penguin","title":"The robot was originally an Adélie penguin — Pete Docter said no","description":"The film's central conceit nearly took a different animal. **Daniel Chong**'s original pitch had a human piloting a lifelike **Adélie penguin** robot. Pixar's leadership liked the script but asked him to change the animal, on the reasoning — attributed to **Pete Docter** — that animation has no shortage of penguin films. Two rewrites later the robot was a **beaver**, and the film was greenlit. It is a rare case of a note about set dressing reshaping an entire production.","scene":"Not on screen — the development history behind the beaver","timestamp":null,"episode":null,"types":["trivia"],"difficulty":4,"difficultyName":"Deep Cut","verification":"confirmed","spoiler":false,"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia — Hoppers (film)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppers_(film)"},{"label":"Disney Wiki — Hoppers","url":"https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Hoppers"}],"motifs":[],"referencesSlug":null,"referencesWork":null}],"faq":[{"question":"How many easter eggs are in Hoppers?","answer":"We have catalogued 11 documented easter eggs and hidden details in Hoppers, including Dr. Sam's chalkboard indexing seven other Pixar films, A113 as her office number, Atlas from Toy Story 5 on Mabel's windowsill, We Bare Bears figurines from director Daniel Chong's own series, a For the Birds tribute to Ralph Eggleston, and Crush from Finding Nemo in the turtle tank."},{"question":"What is on the chalkboard in Hoppers?","answer":"Dr. Sam's board of numbered project ideas is a catalogue of Pixar's own inventions. Idea #8 is WALL·E, annotated 'Waste Allocation Load Lifter'; #12 is M-O; #43 is scream energy from Monsters, Inc.; #52 pairs a brain with a car for Cars; #92 is Sox from Lightyear; #113 is the talking dog collar from Up; and #206 is dogs flying aircraft."},{"question":"Where is A113 in Hoppers?","answer":"Three times. It is the room number on Dr. Sam's office, it appears on a poster in Mabel's bedroom, and it is the index number of the talking-dog-collar entry on Sam's chalkboard — the one invention on the board that matches this film's own premise."},{"question":"Does Hoppers have a post-credits scene?","answer":"Yes. The man who used Mabel's petition page to write a shopping list answers his door after the credits and receives the page back with every item ticked off and Mabel's name signed in, while a column of ants carries his groceries inside. It does not tease another film."},{"question":"Is there a Toy Story 5 tease in Hoppers?","answer":"Yes. A blue hippo head sitting on Mabel's windowsill is Atlas from Toy Story 5, planted roughly three months before that film's June 2026 release. Pixar disguises it as an ordinary piece of a child's toy collection."}],"publishedAt":"2026-08-19","updatedAt":"2026-08-19","source":{"name":"The Things You Missed","page":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/movies/hoppers","api":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/api/titles/hoppers","methodology":"https://thethingsyoumissed.com/about"}}