Among numerous things, Pixar movies are known for their humor, and yet I couldn’t have been prepared for just how dark one recurring bit was in Hoppers. I’m about to talk about one particular “Pond Rule” explained and demonstrated in the new 2026 movie, and I need to get into some spoilers in order to discuss it, so if you haven’t seen Hoppers, you may want to scamper off. Come back once you’ve seen it! (And I do recommend you see it. It definitely deserves the praise from critics, a strong opening weekend box office, and a spot among the top 10 Pixar movies.)
Ok, so, not long after Mabel (Piper Curda) takes over the body of a robot beaver and starts interacting with the local wildlife, she comes to the aid of Loaf (Eduardo Franco), a beaver she’s trying to recruit to help save the glade, but in this moment, is about to be lunch to a brown bear named Ellen (Melissa Villaseñor). When Mabel tries to rescue her new Beaver pal from certain death, both Ellen and Loaf are completely put off by the fact that this newcomer would dare interfere. Pond Rule #2, as Mabel soon learns, is “When you gotta eat, eat,” and by intervening, she’s committed an egregious pond faux pas, which leads to Mabel having to see the King.
You can watch the clip below where King George (Bobby Moynihan) further explains the Pond Rules to Mabel, and both the first and second are demonstrated to her almost right away:
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That Pond Rule #2 — which is basically carte blanche to eat whatever’s beneath you on the food chain — is nestled between the more neighborly rules of “Don’t Be A Stranger” and “We’re all in this together,” is exactly what gets me laughing. It perfectly sets up the way that joke fits into the vibe of the story, where animals are working together to save their home, (but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to eat when they have to eat.)
I’m still laughing at how darkly funny this rule plays out in the movie. From Ellen and Loaf’s awkwardness once the rule had been broken and Ellen can’t go through with eating him, to friendly-fish Steve getting unceremoniously gobbled up during George’s explanation, to Titus’s abrupt ending at the hands (or tongue) of the frog monarch during his tantrum — It’s a level of morbid I didn’t see coming in a Pixar movie, and I’m not complaining. In fact, I laughed out loud every time it came up.
This bit became even funnier to me later, when I consider all of the animated Disney movies involving animal characters that I’ve seen in my lifetime, where the food chain is occasionally or entirely ignored. Disney has asked us to suspend our disbelief numerous times when it comes to a situation where animals of different species and diets mingle. How long would Zazu — a bird — really last amidst a pride of cats in The Lion King otherwise?
Hoppers undoubtedly requires suspension of disbelief, as any Pixar movie does — we’re watching a human woman fully converse with animals, after all, and that’s just the start in terms of animated shenanigans. So the movie going out of its way to have a code of etiquette related to animals eating other animals in this world is just hilarious. Is it kind of twisted? Yup, but I like my humor with a twist, and the overall spirit of the movie is celebrating animals and nature, so I get it. Nature is beautiful, but she’s also sometimes brutal. As much as I laughed, the ending of the movie also had me tearing up. That pretty much puts a stamp on this new Pixar movie as a winner for me.
