Pixar’s Hoppers is the revolutionary studio’s freshest movie in almost a decade! That’s not just because it’s currently boasting a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of the time of writing this), but also because of how unique the movie feels. That is all thanks to the maestros behind the future masterpiece: director Daniel Chong and Producer Nicole Grindle!
We had the incredible opportunity to speak with Chong and Grindle personally twice. The first of these times was during our visit to Pixar Animation Studios earlier this year, for an early look at the film. There, we were not only able to hear them discuss the film during a press conference with all our peers present, but also had an amazing one-on-one with them as well.
We discussed Chong’s history with Cartoon Network and Grindle’s illustrious career at Pixar, getting to the bottom of how each of their respective experiences helped mold Hoppers into the unique and wild modern classic it is.
GoC: I have to say, this is literally my favorite original Pixar movie since probably Soul. That’s a hard thing to do because they’ve had so many good ones, but there’s something about Hoppers that just feels so, so different, and I love it. Daniel, if I could start with you, I’ve been a fan of yours since We Bare Bears. We were talking a little bit earlier today about how you did in six years, many seasons of We Bare Bears on an accelerated timeline. Then you [spent] the same amount of time here, but on one movie. So can you tell us, which is easier? Dedicating yourself to one movie for six years or dedicating yourself to an accelerated timeline for a TV show for six years?
Chong: Yeah, it’s a great question, because, you know, they’re very different processes. I will say the really great thing about working in TV is you just generate a lot of stuff. It’s almost like you get all these [moments] of creativity. You just keep making, making, making making stuff. And you don’t second guess yourself. And you really get to know your taste and what you find funny. And you just have to make decisions. That’s a really good thing. And that’s challenging.
But I will say the biggest challenge of making a movie that’s very different than TV is because you’re making a movie and you’re making that same movie for six years, as opposed to a TV show where you just keep making new things. It becomes almost existential. You’re almost like sitting there going, “Do I understand what this movie is anymore?” And you start taking apart “why bevers? Why this?” You question everything. Because you just have the time to question it all. And I think you can lose your way very easily.
Luckily, you get a great team around you who can help focus you and ground you. It’s a great studio full of really talented people that can also help give me perspective. So I would say the existential part of it makes the movie process very, very difficult. But, you know, what I love about it is fans of your work come see something new with Hoppers. But then fans who haven’t seen We Bare Bears will see how awesome Hoppers is, and then jump to that, too.
Nicole, for you, you’ve had a wonderful career here at Pixar putting together some of my favorite movies of all time: The Incredibles, for example. But there’s something about Hoppers that feels so different. For you, when you approached this project compared to everything else that you’ve worked on in Pixar, how did this feel different for you?
Grindle: Well, it was really a fresh, different tone, and I ended up feeling a little bit like I had to be the defender of that fresh tone a little bit. To the old guard here. Not that anybody was against it, but that I think people would kind of go, “Oh, that doesn’t make sense.” For instance, logic, story logic, physics were something that we really a part of the movies that we’ve made. And Daniel plays very loosely with that.
For instance, why are these simple animals wearing crowns? It’s not something that we would have done in prior movies, but it’s [Daniel’s] unique sensibility and tone. So it was really fun and and exciting to be defending something new. Something new as Ego would have said in Ratatouille.
It’s so fresh, and I love it so much. My final question to you guys, there’s a scene in this movie without spoiling anything, where a character talks about how angry she is all the time and how powerless she feels sometimes, and that’s something that hit me so hard, you know, especially nowadays. And you guys started this six years ago, when you guys were working on this, were those feelings that you were going through at the same time? And I know audiences are going to relate to it, but were you relating to it all when you guys were making this movie, and did you insert yourselves into that theme?
Chong: I think we all feel that way when we struggle with everything: with our connection with everything that’s going on in the world. I think you tend to really feel like there’s nothing I can do. There’s no effect I can have. But I do think one of the things that we had was this great trust of environmental organizers…And they all told us that one of the things that really helped them get through things was that community…And when we heard that, it kind of just helped give us hope that it’s about connecting with other people and having your people that can be with you. And share the things that you care about, and that really helps you get through things. And I think that was a very helpful thing.
Grindle: We were plugging into the zeitgeist to telling the story. We didn’t know till we got to this point what it meant, what it was all about. But looking backwards, it all makes sense. This is how we’ve all been feeling all along. And we’re just so pleased that we told the story that connects us.
GOC: 100%. Thank you so much for everything. This was absolutely wonderful, not just your time and your wonderful words, but this amazing, moving, hilarious, chaotic, and brilliant original fresh movie.