Hoppers director Daniel Chong says Disney passed on the “lizard” gag for D23. Pixar made it on the side, tucked it after Elio’s credits and watched it blow up online.
The most famous lizard of 2025 almost never made it out of Pixar.
Tom the Lizard is the Hoppers character who went viral smacking a “lizard” button over and over. He started as a promo Disney turned down, Hoppers director Daniel Chong said this week.
Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle told the story at View Conference in Turin, Italy, Cartoon Brew reported on Friday, Oct. 16.
“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 said. “And it all started with this little stupid video that we produced.”
Here’s the clip, from Pixar’s own YouTube channel:
Why did Disney pass on the Tom the Lizard clip?
It was pitched for Hoppers’ announcement at Disney’s D23 fan event, and Disney politely passed, according to Cartoon Brew.
Chong gets it.
“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,” he said. “There are no beavers in this. And Tom is not really in this movie a whole lot.”
How did Tom the Lizard end up after Elio?
The filmmakers thought the gag was too funny to drop. Grindle arranged for the team to make it on the side, between work on the movie, Cartoon Brew reported.
When Disney saw the finished clip, it decided to put it at the end of the credits for Pixar’s Elio, which came out in June 2025. The filmmakers figured almost nobody would see it.
Somebody did. A moviegoer recorded it on their phone and posted it to YouTube, and another user reposted it on TikTok, where it took off, Cartoon Brew said.
YouTuber The Pixar Nerd posted the clip on June 20, 2025, according to Know Your Meme, as NBC reported. A green-screen version of Tom showed up on TikTok on July 27 and inspired more than 78,000 videos.
What happens in the Tom the Lizard meme?
The joke is how little happens. Tom stands in a dark room with a dazed smile, smacking a lizard icon on a glowing screen. Every tap, a robot voice says, “Lizard.”
People used it for anything that involves spamming a button, like skipping songs or clicking through work training videos, NBC reported. One mashup set to “Like a G6” got more than 12 million views.
Pixar caught on in August 2025 and posted the clip with the caption “his name is Tom.”
How big did Tom the Lizard get?
Huge, for a side character. Cartoon Brew listed memes, dances, remixes, tattoos, bootleg merch, cosplay and even an official Fortnite skin. One fan built a website that copies Tom’s button-mashing.
Tom even showed up in person. In February, a costumed Tom walked around San Francisco during ESPN’s First Take broadcast, Mickey Visit reported, citing LaughingPlace. His signs read “My name is Tom Lizard” and “Has anyone seen Jon Hamm?”
“This is a marketing dream, guys,” Grindle told the View crowd.
How did Hoppers do at the box office?
Pretty well for an original movie. Hoppers opened March 6, 2026, and made about $389.7 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, according to The Numbers.
That was a big bounce back for Pixar. Elio’s opening had marked a new low for the studio, NBC reported.
In Hoppers, a young woman named Mabel has her mind transferred into a robotic beaver, which lets her talk to animals. Piper Curda voices Mabel, and the cast includes Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep and Dave Franco, according to Mickey Visit.
Can Disney make another Tom the Lizard on purpose?
Grindle doesn’t think so.
“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,” she said.
But she added, “Creating a meme can’t really be planned.” The experience “definitely opened up Disney and Pixar’s marketing eyes to a new possibility on how to build awareness for original films,” Grindle said.
Translation: the next Pixar side character might get a weird little video of its own.
Lizard.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Cartoon Brew, Jamie Lang (Oct. 16, 2026), Chong and Grindle at View Conference
NBC News, via NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (Aug. 10, 2025), the meme’s spread
Mickey Visit, Peyton Ann Hodge (Feb. 5, 2026), Tom’s San Francisco appearance and cast
The Numbers, Hoppers box office
Pixar on YouTube (Aug. 6, 2025), “His name is Tom.”
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