Hoppers’ 13 Easter Eggs & Pixar Movie References (Including All On Dr. Sam’s Chalkboard)

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Pixar is known for hiding fun Easter eggs and references to its past films in each new movie, and their latest film, Hoppers, is no exception. This sci-fi story centers on Mabel, who uploads her mind into a beaver robot in an effort to restore a unique forest habitat by bringing animals back to the area.

I was blown away by how fresh and unique this movie is! It’s completely original, but it’s not like it exists in its own little world. The filmmakers cleverly included little nods and references to other Pixar and Disney films I’ve loved over the years. There’s even one scene that really seems to confirm what fans have been suspecting for ages – that all the Pixar movies are connected!

It can be tricky to find them all the first time you watch, but the movie is full of hidden details, or ‘Easter eggs,’ for attentive viewers. Here’s a list of all the Easter eggs discovered in Hoppers so far.

13. Crush From Finding Nemo

The Pixar short Hoppers quickly references another popular Pixar film. The story opens with a young Mabel attempting to rescue her class turtle, along with several other animals. During this scene, viewers discover that the turtle’s name is Crush.

That turtle in Hoppers is definitely a nod to Crush from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. Crush is a popular character – a sea turtle who becomes friends with Marlin, and it’s easy to see where the name came from, man.

12. Pizza Planet Truck

Since it first appeared in Toy Story, the Pizza Planet truck has become a familiar sight in Pixar films. It often shows up in the background of scenes, or is cleverly redesigned to fit the unique settings of each movie.

In Hoppers, fans can spot a hidden reference to the Pizza Planet truck. While Mable is making her escape with the animals, a miniature version of the truck appears in a display case. Pixar deliberately made this appearance subtle, choosing not to feature the full-sized truck elsewhere.

11. Mable’s Phone Case References Up & Toy Story

Mabel mostly appears as a robot beaver in the show Hoppers, but before becoming a robot, there are two nods to other Pixar films. Her phone case features designs referencing Up and Toy Story.

The balloon features a Wilderness Explorers Badge, a nod to Russell’s role in the movie Up. It also includes one of the little green aliens from the Toy Story films.

10. We Bare Bears

One of the hidden details in Hoppers isn’t related to Disney or Pixar, but to the film’s director, Daniel Chong. Before making this movie, Chong worked on the Cartoon Network animated series We Bare Bears, which ran for three seasons.

Okay, so I just spotted something really cool while rewatching! Apparently, the director is a big fan of We Bare Bears. The creator, Chong, let me know there are actually three bears modeled after Grizz, Panda, and Ice Bear hidden in Mabel’s bedroom! They pop up for just a second on a windowsill – a total blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment – and were put in as a fun little Easter egg for the director. It’s those kinds of details that really make a movie special, you know?

The connections to We Bare Bears don’t end there. The three main actors from that show also lend their voices to Hoppers. Bobby Moynihan, who plays Panda, voices King George, and Demetri Martin, the voice of Ice Bear, voices a group of birds. Eric Edelstein, who plays Grizz, contributed extra voices, though it’s currently unknown which characters he voiced.

9. A113

Pixar is famous for hiding inside jokes and references to its other movies – these are called Easter eggs. But the studio also likes to subtly acknowledge its own history. A recurring element viewers often spot in Pixar films is “A113.” This is a nod to the classroom at the California Institute of the Arts where many of Pixar’s key animators – like John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and Brad Bird – first learned their craft.

Room A113 is famously used in the animated series ‘Hoppers’ as the number for Dr. Sam’s laboratory. Since the show is set at Beaverton University, the reference to a college room number is a clever touch. It’s come full circle, returning to its origins as a university space.

8. Avatar

One of the most obvious references in Hoppers is to Avatar. Mabel directly compares Dr. Sam’s “Hoppers” technology to the world of Avatar as she begins to understand how it works. However, Dr. Sam quickly dismisses the comparison, insisting it’s completely different.

Even though Dr. Sam disagrees, the connections between Hoppers and Avatar are obvious. Both stories center around a human character having their mind moved into a new body to connect with another species – the Na’vi in Avatar, and all animals in Hoppers. They also share similar messages about protecting the environment and questioning capitalism.

Even without mentioning Avatar, people would have made comparisons, but it’s good that Hoppers is now acknowledging them and trying to respond.

7. Thumper & Flower From Bambi

Once Mabel transforms into her robot beaver and reaches the forest, she’s surprised to find she can understand all the animals she meets. In a funny moment, Hoppers makes a quick reference to the movie Bambi.

While there are deer in Hoppers, they don’t resemble Bambi. We did spot a skunk and a rabbit together, which feels like a reference to the characters Flower and Thumper from the classic 1942 Disney movie.

6. Up’s Talking Dog Collar

The final scene of Hoppers includes a fun hidden detail: a chalkboard in Dr. Sam’s lab displays her plans for other inventions once the Hoppers program ends.

One of the most noticeable details is a reference to the talking dog collar from the movie Up. Right in the center of the chalkboard, circled prominently as “Idea #113” (which might be a nod to the code A113), is a drawing of Sam’s invention: a collar that lets you understand what dogs are saying. It looks exactly like the collars Dug and the other dogs wear in Up.

If the idea that all Pixar movies exist in the same universe is correct, then Sam likely played a role in developing the technology behind the talking dog collars. While Dug says Charles Muntz invented the collar in Up, it’s possible Muntz wasn’t fully aware of how it was created, or that his story wasn’t complete.

Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle told ScreenRant that the connection between Hoppers and Up is genuine, as fans suspect.

Daniel Chong: I mean, the movie certainly suggests it.

Nicole Paradis Grindle: She did the basic research, necessary. We can say that.

5. WALL-E

The first idea Dr. Sam wrote on the chalkboard was #8: a cleaning robot. Its design is remarkably similar to the robot in the movie WALL-E.

Considering the idea that Pixar movies all exist in the same universe, it’s likely that Dr. Sam from Ratatouille is the inventor of WALL-E. She may have designed him and then sold the plans to the Buy n Large corporation for them to build many of them.

Another robot, labeled as Idea #12, features a polishing bar. Although it serves a different function, its design bears a slight resemblance to the character EVE.

4. Sox From Lightyear

Following the success of the Hoppers robotic animal project, Dr. Sam is continuing to explore similar concepts. His 92nd idea, sketched on the chalkboard, is a robot cat designed to look exactly like Sox, the character from the movie Lightyear.

In the movie, Sox is Buzz Lightyear’s robotic cat companion. Interestingly, the film suggests a possible origin story where Dr. Sam actually created a real Sox first, and that creation later inspired the toy – and ultimately, the character we see in the movie.

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2026-03-10 21:24