Pixar’s Elio features sneaky Easter egg for the studio’s next movie

Elio is a new sci-fi movie from Pixar, which features a secret reference to the studio’s next movie, Hoppers.

Pixar has enjoyed success with a science-fiction adventure thanks to Wall-E, and the studio is returning to the genre this summer, for a film that focusses on a boy rather than a robot.

Title character Elio is a lonely child unhappy on earth, whose high-flying dream comes true when he’s abducted by aliens and whisked off into space.

They beam Elio to an interplanetary organization called the Communiverse, where he interacts with planetary leaders from all over the galaxy, and during the curse of that story, eagle-eyed fans might spot a character from the studio’s next movie.

Elio features a Hoppers reference

While speaking at an Elio presentation in London today, producer Mary Alice Drumm revealed that the film will feature multiple hidden references, including a nod to the studio’s 2026 release.

“The lizard in the movie is an Easter egg from Hoppers,” said Drumm. “The next original movie, which will come out in the Spring.”

If you don’t know Hoppers, here’s how Pixar describes the movie via the film’s official synopsis: “What if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying? In Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film Hoppers, scientists have discovered how to “hop” human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.”

There’s also an allusion to the studio itself through something Elio draws in the sand, with Drumm revealing that: “The design when he lays back on the beach, that design is a rough estimate of the Pixar campus, with the amphitheater.”

While when asked to pick her favorite Easter egg, Drumm selected a reference to two of Elio’s directors – Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian.

“When you’re making a movie,” Drumm explained, “You start to be really busy, and time is so precious, and so you’re constantly like ‘go talk to this person, we need this from you,’ and then we had a Slack channel, which I’m sure many of you do, and you’re tracking the directors all the time.

“It was like ‘Where’s Domee and Maddy? Where’s Domee and Maddy?’ Then it started being ‘Where’s Domad?’ So the radio at the beginning – I don’t know if you could see it – it’s a ‘Domad’ radio.”

Elio hits screens worldwide on June 20, 2025, while you can head here to find out which two movies Pixar plans to reboot.