Pixar is jumping for joy with their new movie Hoppers.
With a story heavily influenced by the Avatar franchise, the upcoming Pixar film finds a 19-year-old animal lover, Mabel (Piper Curda), who gets transformed into a robotic beaver. However, when a developer plans to destroy the forest to build a highway, she works with the animals to stop it, so that they don’t lose their homes.
With first reviews in, Hoppers debuted with a near-perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While the score will fluctuate since it has 56 reviews at the moment, the current rating would make it one of Pixar’s best since Toy Story 4, which was released in 2019. The film also ties with Monsters, Inc. and Ratatouille.
Two beavers looking happy and one wearing a crown in Hoppers
Many critics are proclaiming that Hoppers is a major comeback movie for the studio, with praise ranging from the wild humor to the classic educational undertone of presenting a theme, which in this case was climate change.
In ScreenRant’s review of Hoppers, Gregory Nussen declares Pixar’s new movie as one of their best in recent years, despite being one of their “most bizarre outputs.” They admit that “Daniel Chong’s lively, fast-paced, comically resplendent climate change allegory is pretty unhinged by children’s film standards,” but that doesn’t take away the fact that the film is “magnanimous” and a “true joy.”
With a rating of 7 out of 10 stars, Hoppers is a “new direction Pixar can be expected to take moving forward,” but “it’s a welcome return to a time of yore, when kids were trusted to pick up on important themes – all while laughing their heads off.”
Hoppers’ near-universal acclaim is a big win for Pixar, given the studio’s hardship with original content in the last few years. While the animated studio has been known for bringing classics like the Toy Story franchise, WALL-E, and Ratatouille, it has suffered challenges since 2020, when the pandemic hit the movie industry.
Films like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red either went straight to streaming or had a simultaneous streaming release, but they were generally well-received by critics and audiences. However, things took a turn when Pixar released the divisive Toy Story spinoff, Lightyear. Not only did it receive a mixed reception from audiences, but it turned out to be a financial bomb after earning $226.4 million.
Pixar Movies Since 2020
Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Score
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Onward (2020)
88%
95%
Soul (2020)
95%
88%
Luca (2021)
91%
85%
Turning Red (2022)
95%
67%
Lightyear (2022)
74%
84%
Elemental (2023)
73%
93%
Inside Out 2 (2024)
91%
94%
Elio (2025)
83%
89%
Hoppers (2026)
96%
N/A
While Inside Out 2 joined the billionaire club and Elemental became a comeback story, the studio’s most recent original movie, Elio, became another commercial failure with just $154 million. Although reviews for the 2025 film were decent, with an 83% score, it didn’t match Pixar’s typical quality and sparked general concerns about whether the studio lost its touch outside franchises.
Now, it seems that Hoppers could be enough to rejuvenate Pixar’s reputation. Early box office projections indicate a potential $40–50 million opening, which is strong for an original film. This could also be a new beginning for the studio, which has a promising slate for the next year. This includes Toy Story 5, which will release this June, alongside the next original feature, Gatto, which is scheduled for 2027.
The Hoppers cast features Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, and Dave France. It marks Daniel Chong’s first directorial Pixar movie after previously working with the studio on Turning Red, Lightyear, and Elemental as a part of the senior creative team. Jesse Andrews, who wrote the screenplay, also has a history with the studio after writing the 2021 movie Luca.
Hoppers will release in theaters on March 6, 2026.
Release Date
March 6, 2026
Runtime
105 minutes
Director
Daniel Chong
Piper Curda
Mabel Tanaka / Mabel Beaver (voice)
Mayor Jerry Generazzo (voice)
Kathy Najimy
Dr. Sam (voice)