Disney Didn’t Want Tom The Lizard Promoting ‘Hoppers,’ But A Pixar Side Project Turned Him Into The Film’s Viral Spokesanimal

TURIN, Italy – A throwaway gag initially rejected by Disney became an unexpected viral PR asset for Pixar’s Hoppers, teaching the studio a possible new, although largely unpredictable, way to market original animated films in a franchise-dominated industry.

Speaking at View Conference, Hoppers director Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle reflected on the film’s production. After wrapping up a standard PowerPoint-style presentation but before opening the talk up to audience questions, the duo teased something different before launching into the charming, unlikely story behind Hoppers’ now-famous reptile side character, Tom the Lizard.

“Months before Hoppers came out, one of our characters from the movie, Tom the Lizard, went viral with a little clip and it became a meme,” Chong recalled. “And it all started with this little stupid video that we produced.”

The clip, featuring Tom repeatedly smashing the “lizard” emoji button on a mobile phone and a robotic voice saying the word, was originally pitched for the film’s announcement at Disney’s D23 fan convention last year. Disney politely passed.

“I kind of don’t blame them because if you’re trying to sell this movie, I mean, I don’t want to use a lizard to promote it,” Chong admitted. “There are no beavers in this. And Tom is not really in this movie a whole lot.”

Nevertheless, the filmmakers found the gag too funny to abandon. Grindle arranged for the team to produce it on the side, between work on the feature. When Disney later saw the finished clip, it decided to attach it to the end credits of Pixar’s Elio. The filmmakers assumed almost no one would see it.

 

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But someone did stay until the end, recorded the clip on their phone, and uploaded it to YouTube. Another user then reposted it on TikTok, where it exploded.

What followed was an avalanche of memes, dances, remixes, tattoos, bootleg merchandise, cosplay, and even an official Fortnite skin. One fan even created a website that mimicked Tom’s mobile phone lizard-button spamming experience.

“This is a marketing dream, guys,” Grindle told the audience with a chuckle.

Disney eventually incorporated Tom’s popularity into its promotional campaign, giving Hoppers a major online awareness boost ahead of its release.

“In a world of known IP and franchises, we found a little hack to help Hoppers, our original film, boost its profile with audiences before it came out,” Grindle explained.

She cautioned that a marketing department couldn’t manufacture the phenomenon.

“Creating a meme can’t really be planned,” she said, but added that the experience “definitely opened up Disney and Pixar’s marketing eyes to a new possibility on how to build awareness for original films.”

Sometimes, the best strategies can’t be planned for or focus-grouped. Sometimes they’re just stupid, silly, and strike a chord.