Pixar and We Bare Bears creators team up on Hoppers, a brain-swapped comedy about beavers

Inside Out 2 has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. That kind of money would put some studios firmly in the sequel/franchise business, and while Pixar will certainly cash in in the future — Toy Story 5 coming in 2026 — the Disney studio remains committed to original stories and new storytellers outside of the core team.

For example, Pixar announced a new film at the 2024 D23 Expo, Hoppersdirected by We give birth to bears creator Daniel Chong, scheduled for release in 2026.

According to Pixar, Hoppers tells the story of a girl who transfers her brain to a robot beaver to live among real beavers. Avatar but with beavers? The film stars Bobby Moynihan, Piper Curda and Jon Hamm, who plays a mayor who tries to destroy the beavers. Lovely.

Chong, who placed with giddy excitement in the hours before the panel to say that he’s “been keeping this secret for 4 years,” is no stranger to the animated film world. His previous credits include storyboard work for Disney’s BoltPixar’s Cars 2 And Inside out, and Enlightenment’s The Lorax. Chong left Pixar to pursue his own projects and created We give birth to bears and the cinematic finale for Cartoon Network. Shortly after, the animator left the series to begin work on Hoppers.

Hoppers is scheduled for release in 2026.