Pixar Reveals ‘Hoppers,’ a Beaver Body-Swap Movie Starring Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, Piper Curda

If you heard loud hooting and hollering from the vicinity of Martinez yesterday it was because of the awesome announcement that Pixar is now revealing a new movie “Hoppers” written and directed by Daniel Chong. It feature a young girl who ,manages to put her brain inside a robotic beaver to stop the evil mayor’s development project.

And, before you ask, no I’m not kidding.

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

Here’s a story board for the evil mayor Jon Hamm

A smarmy mayor who looks like a shiny hero for the cameras and makes devil deals behind off camera? Be still my heart.

The girl winds up befriending a regal beaver, King George, and uniting the animals to fight off the plans of a real estate developer. The movie is targeted for release in spring 2026.

Okay her name is Mabel and not Heidi but do you HONESTLY think that a man working 25 miles away in Emeryville until 2012 never ever heard anything or saw a news clip about the famous Martinez Beavers? Honestly?

Chong, who posted with giddy excitement in the hours before the panel to say he’s “been holding this secret for 4 years,” is no stranger to feature animation. His previous credits include storyboard work on Disney’s Bolt, Pixar’s Cars 2 and Inside Out, and Illumination’s The Lorax. Chong left Pixar to pursue his own projects, creating We Bare Bears and its movie-sized finale for Cartoon Network. Shortly after, the animator moved on from the series to begin work on Hoppers.

Hey you know what is right across the street from Pixar? ,Folkmanis puppet company who has been donating to our beaver festival since 2008. And you know where Daniel Chong went to college? That would be Cal Arts the same school where our buddy Ian Timothy Boone of the famed “Beaver Creek” claymation series went.

So Yeah. It could be a coincidence, And he might not have read Ben’s book either. But I prefer to think otherwise.

Welcome to the beaver believers club, Daniel!

BEAVER POND NEIGHBORHOOD TRADING CARDS

heidi08 Beavers August 10, 2024

How much do I love how these came out? VERY MUCH! Just imagine happy children scurry around the beaver festival trading cards with eachother to get a full pack!

ARE BEAVERS RELATED TO DRAGONS?

heidi08 Beavers August 9, 2024

File this under the Friday morning, “huh” file.

Komodo Dragons Have Iron-Coated Teeth, Study Finds

Komodo dragons, the largest predatory lizards on Earth, have iron-coated teeth, according to a new study. Researchers also looked at other reptiles and found that tooth enamel containing iron tips may be widespread, they reported last week in the journal Nature Ecology.

But the newly discovered feature was most striking in Komodo dragons—their chompers have an orange, iron-enriched coating on their serrations and tips. The adaptation could help maintain the sharpness of Komodo dragon teeth, which only have a thin layer of enamel.

“If they didn’t have this iron coating, I’m sure the enamel on the cutting edges would wear away very quickly and the tooth would dull,” Aaron LeBlanc, first author of the study and a paleontologist at King’s College London, tells CNN’s Jack Guy. “That’s not very good for an animal that relies on having these razor-blade sharp teeth to slice through meat.”

So evolution-wise who was first do you think? I like the idea of beavers being related to dragons. It just kind of works for me. And remember the bipedal beavers living on the moon who discovered fire in that original fake news story “the great moon hoaxe” of 1835,

Researchers had previously observed iron in the enamel of other animals, including beavers, shrews, some fish and salamanders, but it had never been reported in a carnivorous reptile. Its function in these animals has also remained elusive, but the new findings support the idea that the iron could strengthen their teeth.

Yeah, all the best animals have orange teeth. It’s true.

YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’VE SEEN A BEAVER IN THE GHOST WATERSHED

heidi08 Beavers August 8, 2024

This looks like fun, Saturday morning in Alberta. I want to go!

Legacy of beavers being explored in next Walk in the Watershed

Throughout the summer, the volunteers of the Ghost Watershed Alliance Society (GWAS) invite people to enjoy the splendor of the watershed and the challenges it faces though its Walks of the Watershed.

On Aug. 10, they’re offering a chance to walk to a landscape beavers helped shape, accompanied by wildlife biologist Holly Kinas, a Conservation Analyst at the Miistakis Institute.

Even the name is cool! Ghost Watershed! Wow. If you don’t want all your watersheds to turn into ghosts you’ll make sure it has beavers!

Participants will be visiting a large beaver complex in the headwaters. Stitched together over time, these old and new dams provide the perfect place for diverse communities of plants, invertebrates, fish, birds and large mammals. Participants will learn about their behaviour, their biology, and their brilliant way of slowing the flow of water.

The walk goes through open meadows, forests and wetlands, all under the shadow of the mountains. Once at the beaver complex, the group will explore the ponds, eat lunch and then return. The round-trip hiking distance is less than four km on relatively flat terrain, however it’s not on groomed trails and good hiking boots or trail runners are required.

The walk takes place from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

While it’s a free event, registration is required. To avoid disappointment, register soon here. Donations are gratefully accepted to support GWAS programs.

The only thing better than hiking to a secret beaver watershed with a group of believers is hiking to a secret beaver watershed alone!

Have fun and make a lot of converts on the way!