diff --git a/src/components/CustomDropdown/index.tsx b/src/components/CustomDropdown/index.tsx
index f5ab5fbf..4dbe58e9 100644
--- a/src/components/CustomDropdown/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/CustomDropdown/index.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
-import React, { ReactNode } from "react";
+import React, {
+    KeyboardEventHandler,
+    ReactNode,
+    useEffect,
+    useRef,
+    useState,
+} from "react";
 import { Dropdown, DropDownProps, MenuProps } from "antd";
-import { ButtonClass } from "../../constants/interfaces";
+import { ButtonClass, DropdownState } from "../../constants/interfaces";
+import { DROPDOWN_HOVER_DELAY } from "../../constants";
 import NavButton from "../NavButton";
 
 import styles from "./style.css";
@@ -22,16 +29,112 @@ const CustomDropdown: React.FC<CustomDropdownProps> = ({
     placement,
     disabled,
 }) => {
+    const [dropdownState, setDropdownState] = useState<DropdownState>(
+        DropdownState.CLOSED
+    );
+
+    const triggerRef = useRef<HTMLElement | null>(null);
+    const dropdownRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+    const closeTimeoutRef = useRef<NodeJS.Timeout | null>(null);
+
+    /**
+     * Prevents the menu wrapper from capturing focus,
+     * this prevents losing focus to the body
+     * when "Escape" is pressed.
+     */
+    useEffect(() => {
+        const element = dropdownRef.current;
+        if (element) {
+            const menuElement = element.querySelector(
+                ".ant-dropdown-menu"
+            ) as HTMLElement;
+            if (menuElement) {
+                if (dropdownState === DropdownState.FORCED_OPEN) {
+                    menuElement.setAttribute("tabIndex", "-1");
+                } else if (dropdownState === DropdownState.CLOSED) {
+                    menuElement.setAttribute("tabIndex", "0");
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }, [dropdownRef, dropdownState]);
+
+    /**
+     * Manually handling keydown and hover behavior because
+     * our focus management overrides the defaults of the antd components.
+     */
+    const openTriggers = new Set(["Enter", " ", "ArrowDown"]);
+
+    const handleKeyDown: KeyboardEventHandler<any> = (event) => {
+        if (event.key === "Escape") {
+            event.preventDefault();
+            setDropdownState(DropdownState.CLOSED);
+            triggerRef.current?.focus();
+        }
+        if (
+            openTriggers.has(event.key) &&
+            dropdownState !== DropdownState.FORCED_OPEN
+        ) {
+            event.preventDefault();
+            if (closeTimeoutRef.current) {
+                clearTimeout(closeTimeoutRef.current);
+            }
+            setDropdownState(DropdownState.FORCED_OPEN); // Opened by keyboard
+        }
+    };
+
+    const handleMouseEnter = () => {
+        if (dropdownState === DropdownState.CLOSED) {
+            setDropdownState(DropdownState.OPEN);
+        }
+        if (closeTimeoutRef.current) {
+            clearTimeout(closeTimeoutRef.current);
+        }
+    };
+
+    const handleMouseLeaveWithDelay = () => {
+        if (dropdownState !== DropdownState.FORCED_OPEN) {
+            closeTimeoutRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
+                setDropdownState(DropdownState.CLOSED);
+            }, DROPDOWN_HOVER_DELAY);
+        }
+    };
+
+    const buttonClickHandler = () => {
+        setDropdownState(
+            dropdownState === DropdownState.CLOSED
+                ? DropdownState.OPEN
+                : DropdownState.CLOSED
+        );
+    };
+
     return (
         <Dropdown
             menu={{ items, theme: "dark", className: styles.menu }}
             placement={placement}
             disabled={disabled}
+            trigger={["click"]}
+            open={dropdownState !== DropdownState.CLOSED}
+            dropdownRender={(menu) => (
+                <div
+                    ref={dropdownRef}
+                    tabIndex={-1}
+                    onKeyDown={handleKeyDown}
+                    onMouseEnter={handleMouseEnter}
+                    onMouseLeave={handleMouseLeaveWithDelay}
+                >
+                    {menu}
+                </div>
+            )}
         >
             <NavButton
+                ref={triggerRef as React.RefObject<HTMLButtonElement>}
                 titleText={titleText}
                 icon={icon}
                 buttonType={buttonType}
+                clickHandler={buttonClickHandler}
+                onKeyDown={handleKeyDown}
+                onMouseEnter={handleMouseEnter}
+                onMouseLeave={handleMouseLeaveWithDelay}
             />
         </Dropdown>
     );
diff --git a/src/components/NavButton/index.tsx b/src/components/NavButton/index.tsx
index b6e7fe71..f989bbb2 100644
--- a/src/components/NavButton/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/NavButton/index.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-import React, { ReactNode } from "react";
+import React, { ReactNode, forwardRef } from "react";
 import { Button, ButtonProps } from "antd";
 import classNames from "classnames";
-
 import styles from "./style.css";
 import { ButtonClass } from "../../constants/interfaces";
 
@@ -13,32 +12,39 @@ export interface NavButtonProps extends ButtonProps {
     isDisabled?: boolean;
 }
 
-const NavButton: React.FC<NavButtonProps> = ({
-    className,
-    titleText,
-    buttonType = ButtonClass.Action,
-    icon,
-    clickHandler,
-    isDisabled,
-    ...props
-}) => {
-    // NavButtons default to action button styling, provide secondary or primary to override
-    const buttonClassNames = classNames(
-        className,
-        styles.navButton,
-        styles[buttonType],
-        { [styles.disabled]: isDisabled }
-    );
+const NavButton = forwardRef<HTMLButtonElement, NavButtonProps>(
+    (
+        {
+            className,
+            titleText,
+            buttonType = ButtonClass.Action,
+            icon,
+            clickHandler,
+            isDisabled,
+            ...props
+        },
+        ref
+    ) => {
+        const buttonClassNames = classNames(
+            className,
+            styles.navButton,
+            styles[buttonType],
+            { [styles.disabled]: isDisabled }
+        );
+
+        return (
+            <Button
+                {...props}
+                ref={ref}
+                className={buttonClassNames}
+                onClick={!isDisabled ? clickHandler : undefined}
+            >
+                {titleText} {icon}
+            </Button>
+        );
+    }
+);
 
-    return (
-        <Button
-            {...props}
-            className={buttonClassNames}
-            onClick={!isDisabled ? clickHandler : undefined}
-        >
-            {titleText} {icon}
-        </Button>
-    );
-};
+NavButton.displayName = "NavButton";
 
 export default NavButton;
diff --git a/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/index.tsx b/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/index.tsx
index 294e1141..056a5c8d 100644
--- a/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/index.tsx
@@ -63,14 +63,14 @@ const RecordMovieComponent = (props: RecordMovieComponentProps) => {
      * In this icon we are stacking glyphs to create multicolor icons via icomoon
      */
     const startRecordingIcon = (
-        <span className={styles.iconContainer}>
+        <div className={styles.iconContainer}>
             <span
                 className={classNames("icon-moon", "record-icon-circle")}
             ></span>
             <span
                 className={classNames("icon-moon", "record-icon-ring")}
             ></span>
-        </span>
+        </div>
     );
 
     const activeRecordingIcon = (
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ const RecordMovieComponent = (props: RecordMovieComponentProps) => {
         if (!isRecording) {
             return startRecordingIcon;
         } else if (isHovering) {
-            return "stop-record-icon";
+            return classNames(
+                styles.iconContainer,
+                "icon-moon",
+                "stop-record-icon"
+            );
         } else return activeRecordingIcon;
     };
 
diff --git a/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/style.css b/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/style.css
index 660501af..660d5161 100644
--- a/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/style.css
+++ b/src/components/RecordMoviesComponent/style.css
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 }
 
 .icon-container {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
     height: 100%;
     width: 100%;
 }
@@ -22,18 +24,18 @@
 }
 
 @keyframes pulse-red {
-  0% {
-    transform: scale(0.95);
-    box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 #FF5252B3;
-  }
-  70% {
-    transform: scale(1);
-    box-shadow: 0 0 0 10px #FF525200;
-  }
-  100% {
-    transform: scale(0.95);
-    box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 #FF525200;
-  }
+    0% {
+        transform: scale(0.95);
+        box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 #ff5252b3;
+    }
+    70% {
+        transform: scale(1);
+        box-shadow: 0 0 0 10px #ff525200;
+    }
+    100% {
+        transform: scale(0.95);
+        box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 #ff525200;
+    }
 }
 
 .status-container {
diff --git a/src/components/SideBarContents/style.css b/src/components/SideBarContents/style.css
index 8f286278..62a43230 100644
--- a/src/components/SideBarContents/style.css
+++ b/src/components/SideBarContents/style.css
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
     display: flex;
     flex-direction: column;
     height: 100%;
-    overflow-y: auto;
 }
 
 .container label {
diff --git a/src/constants/index.ts b/src/constants/index.ts
index 273bf714..9e57f406 100644
--- a/src/constants/index.ts
+++ b/src/constants/index.ts
@@ -69,3 +69,4 @@ export const MAX_CONVERSION_FILE_SIZE = 2e8; // 200 MB
 export const CONTROLS_MIN_WIDTH = 650;
 export const CONTROLS_MIN_HEIGHT = 320;
 export const SCALE_BAR_MIN_WIDTH = 550;
+export const DROPDOWN_HOVER_DELAY = 300;
diff --git a/src/constants/interfaces.ts b/src/constants/interfaces.ts
index 1abd73b2..16e71b44 100644
--- a/src/constants/interfaces.ts
+++ b/src/constants/interfaces.ts
@@ -92,3 +92,9 @@ export interface ColorChange {
     agent: SelectionEntry;
     color: string;
 }
+
+export enum DropdownState {
+    OPEN = "open",
+    CLOSED = "closed",
+    FORCED_OPEN = "forced_open",
+}
diff --git a/src/util/index.ts b/src/util/index.ts
index 7ef53da9..83a1f9b7 100644
--- a/src/util/index.ts
+++ b/src/util/index.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,14 @@ export const roundToTimeStepPrecision = (
     return Math.round(input * multiplier) / multiplier;
 };
 
+/**
+Compare two instaces of UIDisplayData to see if they have the same agents
+and display states.
+This data structure is used to store different color settings. 
+We don't want to ever try and apply the color settings from one trajectory
+to another, even if by chance they shared the same file name, or other
+metadata.
+*/
 export const isSameAgentTree = (a: UIDisplayData, b: UIDisplayData) => {
     if (a.length !== b.length) {
         return false;