Pixar’s “Hoppers” is now in theaters, and soon, everyone will have a fascination with… beavers!

At least, that fascination is what Dr. Emily Fairfax was hoping everyone who watched the new original feature from Pixar would leave the theaters with. Before all that though, she never knew people from Pixar would even take a fascination with her beaver research.

In 2021, Dr. Fairfax gave a talk at the California Beaver Summit (yes, a real thing!) when one of the organizers saw that there were people from Pixar on the registration list. “I thought maybe they finally wanted to see my stop-motion project,” said Dr. Fairfax to us in a Zoom interview. “A few weeks later, I got an email from Pixar asking if I could give them more information on beavers, so while it was no stop-motion showcase, it was a dream come true.”

After getting past the initial idea that she was being pranked, she set up a virtual talk with a filmmaking team and thought that was it. “I really just thought they wanted something small for a side character or environment like that, but then I started getting requests for more talks,” she said.

Eventually, Pixar decided to show their cards to Dr. Fairfax (after she signed a whole bunch of NDAs!) by inviting her to become the official consultant on the movie that would eventually become “Hoppers.” She got to work directly with director Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Grindle and their creative leadership team, and invited them to go out into the field to do more immersive research on beavers and their habitat.

“And I still didn’t know where all this research was going!,” said Dr. Fairfax. It wasn’t until months later, as well as more talks and site visits to beaver ponds that she was invited to the Pixar studio in Emeryville, California where she finally got to see how her research was literally the foundation to their entire movie. And yes, in true Pixar fashion, she cried when she found it all out.

For Dr. Fairfax, it all was overwhelming, both as a fan of Pixar and beavers. Her desire to research beavers and their environment came out of left-field as much as Pixar people attending her lecture. “I was working a corporate job and thought I had it all figured out until I didn’t. In my clouded head, though, was this documentary about beavers and I immediately fell in love and knew where to go next,” she said.

As far as how the “Hoppers” filmmaking team turned Dr. Fairfax’s research into art, it really came down to pretty much everything. “It’s a real testament to the team, to the writing, drawing, animating, and even the sound to listen to what I was saying as a scientist and then translate into art that’s true to the science.”

More specifically, she was really pleased to see that the wildfire research she gave to the team made it into the movie. “I didn’t know they’d make it the dramatic climax of the film, but it really hit home for me because fires really hit home for the beavers,” Dr. Fairfax said. She went on to say that even the solution that the film offers in its fictional world is a real solution to natural disasters like fires: beavers!

And so, that’s where Dr. Fairfax hopes that people who watch “Hoppers” can not only ‘leave it to beavers,’ but learn more about them “so that you can care about them and our world better,” she said.

“I don’t think people realize how close beavers and beaver ponds are to them. If you do end up leaving a screening of “Hoppers” and want to dig into the science, find your local beaver non-profit or advocacy group. They’ll be so excited to show the way,” Dr. Fairfax said, even offering her services and expertise continually to Pixar should a sequel come.

Even then, it has been a full-circle moment for her, with the hope that from this beautiful art that Pixar has created can create more advocates and researchers for beavers. “Beavers are great and goofy stewards of this planet with us. The more we care about them, the more they’ll care for us,” Dr. Fairfax said.

Pixar’s “Hoppers” is now playing exclusively in theaters, and will stream on Disney+ at a later date.

Our special thanks to Dr. Emily Fairfax for contributing to this story! Learn more about her and her work on her website.