There’s no shortage of movies to get excited about this year, especially the highly-anticipatedToy Story 5. Yet, in a sea of sequels, the studio is also giving fans something fresh with an original, Pixar's Hoppers. One thing any original film needs, and something Pixar Animation is arguably one of the best at, is compelling characters. Thankfully, Hoppers has these in spades, though the story behind how Jon Hamm came on board in a bigger role is an intriguing one.
In Pixar's upcoming flick Hoppers, we follow a teenage girl named Mabel as she steals experimental hopping technology from her college professors and transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver (yes, a bit like Avatar) to spend time with the animals living in a shared pond and help save their homes from human development. One of those humans just happens to be Mayor Jerry, played by the aforementioned Jon Hamm.
CinemaBlend was invited to spend the day hopping into this world with its creators at Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California, and we gained insight into the upcoming 2026 movie. Jon Hamm's a big get for an animated movie, but apparently his big role wasn't always a given. Storyboarder and story lead Margaret Spencer, who helped shape the film’s visual narrative, gave us the skinny about the big character switcheroo:
I mean, we always had to find the balance of like, this is Mabel's story, and so what does Mabel need for this story to be compelling? And Jerry, early on, was pretty cold cut, an antagonist who just had this like political plan that was gonna be a problem for Mabel. And so we started to pull him in more. Soon, he had a relationship with Mabel, like he'd seen her protesting before. She was always in the way, and there was a lot of comedy in that relationship.
After screening the film at Pixar the night before, I can say one hundred percent: Hoppers needs as much Jerry as it can possibly get. His and Mabel's relationship grows in fun, surprising ways and lands as a perfect mix of comedy and heart, and I am so glad the Mayor had a good campaign manager advocating for him.
Of course, in a 90-minute film, there comes a cut-off point for “more Jerry,” even if you want it. In the trailer, we see the Mayor getting ready in front of a mirror, and Margaret told us that scene could have been much longer:
There was a scene where Jerry's just getting ready for his big rally. And that scene was like four times as long when I first storyboarded it. It was way more abstract out there, and it just, you know, we had to cut it down.
I have a not-so-secret hope that Pixar turns Jerry Gets Ready For His Big Day into a twenty-minute short now that I know there’s more. As I said, I'll take as much from Jon Hamm as I can get.
Regardless of how much screen time Jon Hamm gets, I’m glad the creative team expanded his role to strengthen Mabel’s journey. The movie also includes Meryl Streep as an insect queen. In addition, some big names like Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan, Dave Franco, Demetri Martin, Ego Nwodim, and more lent their wings, hands, and paws to bring this original story to life. I hope all this means Hoppers earns a place among Pixar’s best movies.
Tickets are on sale now at AMC and other theaters, and you can watch Mayor Jerry in all his glory starting March 6th.
