‘Hoppers’ Production Designer Bryn Imagire Addresses Nature’s Impact on Visual Development

Disney and Pixar are fast approaching the release date for Pixar’s 30th theatrical release, Hoppers, which is due to hit theaters in March. After recent films took place in locations like a fictional metropolis (Elemental), inside a teenager’s mind (Inside Out 2), and the vast reaches of outer space (Elio), this new outing will take a much more modest approach by taking place mostly in the wild on Earth. This marks the latest Pixar film to be set mostly in nature, joining films like A Bug’s Life and The Good Dinosaur.

Hoppers offered Pixar plenty of challenges visually, as the studio had to explore the inner workings of beavers’ natural habitats along with other woodland creatures. Courtesy of an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, production designer Bryn Imagire addressed those challenges, noting how “nature is so inherently messy” thanks to the detail seen in “things like dams and lodges.” While she and her team wanted to showcase the “essence of nature,” they also hoped to make it simple throughout the movie “so it wasn’t so overwhelming” looking at the visuals:

“Well, it’s complicated because nature is so inherently messy, and there’s so much detail, and especially with things like dams and lodges, because they’re made out of a million sticks, that it could become very visually busy and confusing. So, I think that one of the challenging things was to keep the images feeling like it was the essence of nature so that the audience would feel familiar and also drawn into the story, but also tamping some of that down so it wasn’t overwhelming every time you look at a film frame.”

Nature’s Important Impact on Disney & Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’

a beaver wearing a gold crown in ‘Beavers’ trailer

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Pixar is no stranger to using nature in its movies, but as movie-making technology and techniques have advanced over the years, expectations continue to rise for what fans want to see in animation. With so much detail in the materials that make up beavers’ home environment, such as grass, logs, water, and trees, Pixar had plenty of specific visuals to work into a massive story.

Considering how much greenery has already been seen in the first few looks at Hoppers, audiences can already see the results of what was a lengthy production process for Pixar’s first movie of 2026. Although similar looks at this kind of scenery have been used in past Pixar films, Hoppers will use animals and interactions never seen before, specifically when looking at the film’s massive cast of beaver characters.

Kicking off with a story that will show scientists studying the nature of different animals, later stages of the plot will pit the wildlife population against the humans in a battle for power. This should set the stage for some exciting visuals as that battle evolves, although fans are still waiting to find out how the conflict will come to a head behind Mabel and her companions.

Hoppers will debut in theaters on Mar. 6, and tickets are now available for purchase online.