Hopsalot

Hopsalot, also known by his nickname Hops and sometimes known in earlier games as Mr. Hopsalot, is a male rabbit character who first appeared in JumpStart Kindergarten (1994).

In the past, he was often the mascot character for JumpStart's kindergarten media.

Appearance
Hopsalot originally had gray fur and a short, round body. He wore baggy blue overalls with gold buttons. While JumpStart characters have usually been depicted with three fingers and a thumb since then, in his debut, Hopsalot only had two fingers and a thumb.

In JumpStart Reading for Kindergartners, his body became taller and slimmer, and his face, inner ears, hands, and bottoms of his feet became peach-colored. In JumpStart Kindergarten (1998), he had the same body design, but he wore a green sweater and blue pants.

Around the year 2000, Hopsalot's age changed from that of a teacher to a student.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, Hopsalot has light brown fur, a pale cream-colored and tail, light blue eyes, and a reddish-brown nose. He wears a turquoise T-shirt.

In JumpStart 3D Virtual World, Hopsalot has pale creamy-brown fur. He has three forms, one for kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. His kindergarten form has a small body, short straight ears, red glasses, a blue T-shirt, and darker blue shorts. His first grade form has a taller body with slightly longer arms and legs, long floppy ears, orange goggles, orange gloves, and a blue suit. His second grade form is even taller and skinnier than his previous form, and wears a blue suit with blue gloves, and white and blue boots.

Personality and Characteristics
Prior to the JumpStart Advanced era, Hopsalot was usually depicted as a kindergarten teacher with a warm, friendly, and enthusiastic personality.

In later games, he appears to be younger and no longer retains his role as a teacher; rather, his intelligence is channeled into being an inventor who enjoys making all sorts of gadgets. This love of making inventions first appeared sometime in 2000, possibly making its first appearance in JumpStart Artist.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, Hopsalot's learning type is 'The Math Whiz'. The game manual for JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade says, "Hopsalot teaches children using his logical-mathematical learning style. He uses math and logical thinking to explore concepts."

On a now-defunct site for the JumpStart All-Stars, Hopsalot's profile said, "Hopsalot is the genius of the group, always busy inventing gadgets, solving problems, and perfecting the quality of his vegetable garden. You can gauge the difficulty of the problem Hopsalot is tackling by the speed of his toe-tapping. Hopsalot wants to be a great inventor someday--little does he know, he already is!" The JumpStart Blog says, "For Hops, there is nothing more exciting than completing a new gizmo or gadget. He’s always working on some cool device to solve a problem and would love to show you his latest invention."

JumpStart.com has also stated, "Hops is a unique fellow who's very smart on every subject, but especially math and science. He likes teaching others what he knows, and he's always making all sorts of inventions and amazing gagdets. Some work and some don't, but no matter what, Hops just keeps trying!".

Hopsalot's profile in JumpStart World says, "Hops loves to make new toys. He always has something fun to share. Hops is very good at games. Hops loves to play hide and seek. His best friend is CJ."

Hopsalot has often been shown to enjoying gardening. His favorite food seems to be carrots, but he grows a wide variety of vegetables.

Hopsalot has been shown playing the violin in an idle animation in JumpStart Kindergarten (1998) and the video JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?.

Hopsalot has occasionally been depicted as being able to fly using his ears, either by spinning them like a propeller (JumpStart Kindergarten (1998)) or by flapping them (JumpStart Languages). In JumpStart Languages, he can only hover briefly.

JumpStart Kindergarten (1994)
Hopsalot is the kindergarten teacher. He has his own garden in the school's backyard.

JumpStart Reading for Kindergartners (1996)
Hopsalot is on a quest to find the lost Carrot Patch treasure. He visits several of his family members and his friend Bebop to help them.

JumpStart Math for Kindergartners
When Hopsalot discovers a magic bean, a beanstalk carries his schoolhouse up to Cloudtown. There, he meets Guthry the giant, who is sad because he feels that everyone has forgotten his birthday. Hopsalot finds out that the other citizens of Cloudtown are actually planning a surprise party for him, and they ask Hopsalot to help. Hopsalot explores Cloudtown to collect one hundred candles for Guthry's birthday cake.

JumpStart Music (1998)
Hopsalot gets transported to the Land of Music, where the villainous Sir Sournote has ruined the music by souring all of the musical notes. Hopsalot travels through the Land of Music to collect all of the sour notes and make them sweet again.

JumpStart Kindergarten (1998)
Hopsalot is the kindergarten teacher. He has his own garden in the school's backyard.

JumpStart ABC's (1999)
Hopsalot appears at the Bandstand, where the player can view music videos.

JumpStart Learning Games: Phonics (1999)
Hopsalot is the bus driver. He also appears at the Bandstand, where the player can view music videos.

JumpStart Around the World (2000)
Hopsalot is the player's travel buddy in the kindergarten version.

JumpStart Artist (2000)
Hopsalot appears in the activity "Hopsalot's Invention Tent". The player has to use shapes to recreate Hopsalot's inventions.

JumpStart Languages (2001)
Hopsalot appears at the (Mexican) Spanish pavilion, and is associated with Serafina.

JumpStart Dino Adventure: Field Trip (2001)
Hopsalot appears at the beginning of the game. He has built a time machine that will send Frankie to the time of the dinosaurs.

JumpStart Advanced Preschool (2002)
Hopsalot is one of the JumpStart All-Stars, and the player can select him as a partner and call him for help.

JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten (2002)
Hopsalot is one of the JumpStart All-Stars, and the player can select him as a partner and call him for help.

Disc 1: Fundamentals
The player can visit Hopsalot at his home and play an activity, Hopsalot's Bridge Builder, there. In this activity, Hopsalot is shown to have an ample supply of blimps that he can stack on top of each other to make bridges.

Hopsalot is also responsible for creating the devices that enable power-ups to be transformed into gadgets and track obstacles. His power-up is Hyper Carrot Fuel, his track trick is Bumpy Carrot Patch, and his scooter gadget is Carrot Hover Jets. His track is lined by carrots, and the surrounding areas have various tools and machinery.

Hopsalot is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars, and the player can select him as a partner and call him for help.

Disc 1: Fundamentals
Hopsalot is an inventor who works for JumpStart Headquarters. He is in charge of creating machines to fix the problems caused by Dr. O. He wears a different outfit than his normal one in this era, one which consists of a white lab coat and goggles.

Hopsalot is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars, and the player can select him as a partner and call him for help.

In Videos
In JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?, Hopsalot is a preschool teacher.

In JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop?, Hopsalot is a bus driver.

In Books
Hopsalot appears in all the Kindergarten workbooks and Kindergarten Readers, as well as some other Readers.

Quotes

 * "I'm Hopsalot, and I love to solve problems and ask riddles. I think numbers and patterns are really cool. My favorite word is, 'why'." - Hopsalot's self-introduction from JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade
 * "Hops' track is just like Hops: quirky and original." - Frankie in JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade
 * "I don't think you should let a single day go by without learning something new!" - from JumpStart Advanced Preschool: Storyland

Trivia

 * In the 1994 version of JumpStart Kindergarten, Hopsalot has a very strong resemblance to Bonnie Bunny's dad.