Hoppers is a wonderful case of a big idea utilized in a small scale story. In the new Pixar movie, a trio of scientists discover the ability to transfer their consciousness into robot animals (allowing them to communicate with animals as well), and while that is a massive breakthrough, the plot sees the technology used to preserve a local glade. A bit part of the film’s goofy charm can be found in this approach, and I love it even more knowing that the original pitch for the film was totally different and much larger in scope.
As featured in the video at the top of this article, I had the sat down with Hoppers director Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Grindle late last month during the film’s Los Angeles press day, and in addition to discussing spoilerific subjects like a scene in the third act that was originally deemed too scary and the most shocking death in Pixar movie history, we also talked about the version of the movie we didn’t get to see. After Grindle revealed that a key part of the creative process was the filmmakers just getting together and spitballing ideas, Chong revealed the original vision for the feature and why it was changed. The director explained,
I think the hardest thing when you have a bunch of people that are just coming up with crazy ideas and laughing is that the movie gets a little untenable, size-wise. It gets too big. So originally the concept of this movie that I imagined, you know, it was gonna be like a Mission: Impossible spy thriller where it's, you know, globetrotting: you just go around the world, and we're going to this country, now this country. And we realized very quickly, like, 'Oh, that movie is hard to write.'
When the action is constantly flinging characters across the world, big plot machinations are required, and that can all be a disservice to the message that the filmmakers actually wanted to get across and the characters they wanted to develop. Chong continued,
Article continues belowYou can't ground yourself in a place. So once we scaled that down, we were able to focus everything into one place and then have fun with the characters. I do miss the thought of like, oh, 'What if it was that big and we were going everywhere?' But I think maybe not for this one.
Hoppers ultimately features a story that doesn’t leave the city limits of Beaverton, Oregon, but it does at the very least have some fun action. Specifically, there is a big car chase that plays out when Mabel (Piper Curda), King George (Bobby Moynihan) and their animal friends try to save/protect Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) – and it reaches maximum fun when their pursuers utilize an apex predator: a shark named Diane (Vanessa Bayer).
The action is delightful, but the filmmakers did lament one idea not making the final cut of the movie:
- Nicole Grindle: There was a scene with the animals in a helicopter, with an animal flying the helicopter. I kind of miss that.
- Daniel Chong: I was convinced the movie needed a helicopter 'cause almost every Mission: Impossible movie had one.
- CinemaBlend: And the helicopter exploded, right?
- Daniel Chong: Of course!
- Nicole Grindle: I think they jumped out.
While it lacks any helicopter action scenes, Hoppers is nonetheless an absolute must to see on the big screen – and many did this past weekend as it had the biggest opening weekend for an original Pixar movie since 2017's Coco. The small-scale animated blockbuster is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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