Pixar’s New Sci-Fi Movie Gives Huge New Evidence to the Biggest Fan Theory, 13 Years Later

March 8, 2026, 3:23pm

More than a decade ago, one of the most compelling pieces of Pixar lore was put together, and Pixar had nothing to do with it. Not really, anyway. The Pixar Theory was proposed by Jon Negroni, and claimed that every Pixar movie hid connective tissue (sometimes obviously, sometimes in very subtle ways) that proved they all coexisted in a shared universe. Even the more complex ones like Cars and Brave. The ubiquitous appearance of the Pizza Planet car is child’s play compared to some of the hidden details, and now Pixar’s latest movie has just added the most compelling new evidence that backs the theory up in years.

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That new movie – the excellent ecological sci-fi Hoppers – has the usual staple references: the Pizza Planet truck can be seen when Mabel attempts to free the animals from school (including a tortoise called Crush, in honor of the Finding Nemo icon), and Dr. Sam’s lab room is A113. Sadly, John Ratzenberger is no longer a mandatory cameo, and he sits Hoppers out. But there are a lot of references to other Pixar movies, and one in particular feels very much like major proof of the famous Pixar Theory. WARNING: This post contains SPOILERS for Hoppers.

How Hoppers Proves The Pixar Theory

As Hoppers comes to a close, we learn that the university’s Hopper program has been closed down thanks to concerns over harm to humans and animals alike. It’s hard to argue with that, but it comes with a silver lining as Dr Sam (Kathy Najimy) reveals she’s now able to concentrate on some of her other projects. She rolls out a chalkboard with those experiments scrawled on them, and three are major nods to other, older Pixar movies.

The sketches include (right in the middle) a “talking dog collar,” a “cat companion,” and a “cleaning robot of some kind?”. The robot is obviously Wall-E, who also appears in crude sketch form on the board, and the cat companion is a reference to Lightyear’s robot cat companion Sox. And of course, the dog collar is a reference to Up, and Dug (Bob Peterson) and Charles Muntz’s other dogs (led by Alpha, who was also voiced by Peterson). All of the canine companions wear dog collars that translate them into broken human speech. That’s also the second reference to Up, as earlier a Wilderness Explorer badge appears (in a nod to Russell’s troupe). Interestingly, this would suggest Up is set further in the future than expected, but that doesn’t entirely line up with Carl Fredricksen being young in the late 1930s. But as I’m sure everyone is saying already, it’s an animation, stop being pedantic.

Either way, it’s a great little visual joke that feels like it ties the universe even closer, and fits with the Pixar Theory as it was presented in 2013. And it’s just one of the reasons Hoppers is a great addition to the wider Pixar catalog. Have you seen it? What did you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!