The new hit movie “Hoppers” has brought an end to the Disney/Pixar animation drought that stretched for a decade and threatened the long-term development of new rides and lands at Disneyland based on popular new intellectual properties.
“Hoppers” has grossed nearly $300 million worldwide during four weeks in theaters, making it Pixar’s most successful original animated film since “Coco.”
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“Hoppers” follows the adventures of an animal lover named Mabel who uses a glitchy new technology to “hop” her consciousness into a robotic beaver to study wildlife and rally the animal kingdom to save their habitat.
Before the success of “Hoppers,” the Disney and Pixar animation studios had one bonafide blockbuster — “Encanto” — in the decade since “Coco,” “Moana” and “Zootopia” were hits in 2016 and 2017.
Piper Curda attends the world premiere of Pixar’s “Hoppers” at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on February 23, 2026. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney)
The hope is the success of “Hoppers” will spawn a sequel and eventually a franchise after a string of box office flops from the Disney and Pixar animation studios that included “Elio,” “Onward,” “Lightyear,” “Strange World” and “Wish.”
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The creative lull of the past decade followed a steady stretch of animated hits between 2010 and 2015 that included “Inside Out,” “Big Hero 6,” “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Tangled.”
The Olaf self-roaming audio-animatronic figure in the World of Frozen themed land in the Disney Adventure World theme park at the Disneyland Paris resort in France. (Courtesy of Disney)
Pixar has a pair of original animated films in the works with “Gatto” about an unlucky cat in Venice, Italy, and “Ono Ghost Market” inspired by Asian myths about supernatural bazaars, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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While successful animated sequels and franchises have filled Disney’s coffers in recent years, the company’s business model relies on popular new original films to keep the system humming.
Concept art of the Encanto attraction that will be part of the new Tropical Americas themed land debuting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2027. (Courtesy of Disney)
Disneyland’s success over the past 70 years has depended on the Disney Flywheel — the company’s business model that relies on the creative synergy between its movie studios, theme parks, merchandise licensing, television channels and more recently streaming services.
In a nutshell: Successful films drive visitors to theme park attractions that spur merchandise sales, generate revenue and spark interest in new films and TV shows. A series of box office duds throws a wrench into the flywheel and leaves Walt Disney Imagineering with a shortage of new hits to turn into theme park attractions.
A street scene in the Zooptopia-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disney)
The long road from a hit movie to a new theme park ride can take years to navigate.
The newest crop of Disney/Pixar animated films to get attractions include “Moana,” “Zootopia,” “Inside Out,” “Big Hero 6,” “Frozen” and “Tangled” with rides in the works based on “Encanto,” “Coco” and “Wreck-It Ralph.”
But after that, the Disney/Pixar animation well will eventually run dry and the prolonged drought will become evident over the next decade in Disney theme parks.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland. (Courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering)
As a rule, Disney doesn’t make new rides or themed lands based on one-off movies. A movie needs to become a blockbuster hit that spawns a sequel to get an attraction at a Disney theme park. A film trilogy turns the movie into a franchise that’s worthy of a themed land at a Disney park.
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Since 2010, Disney has built themed lands at its global parks based on the Toy Story, Cars, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Frozen, Avengers, Zootopia, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars franchises. Future lands are under development based on the Lion King, Monsters Inc. and Disney Villains.
Concept art of the Pride Rock water ride in the Lion King themed land under construction in the Disney Adventure World theme park at the Disneyland Paris resort in France. (Courtesy of Disney)
It’s been more than a decade since the first “Frozen” film came out in 2013 and set the modern standard by which all Disney animated movies are judged.
Since then, Disney animation has had four bonafide blockbusters that have spawned theme park lands or rides: “Big Hero 6” (2014), “Zootopia” (2016), “Moana” (2016) and “Encanto” (2021).
San Fransokyo Square inside Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pixar has not had a solid hit based on a new intellectual property since the John Lasseter era ended in #MeToo disgrace in 2018. The two biggest Pixar blockbusters of the past decade — “Coco” (2017) and “Inside Out” (2015) — both spawned sequels and theme park rides.
While “Hoppers” hasn’t reached blockbuster status, the critically-acclaimed popular hit movie represents Pixar’s best hope for a sequel and potentially a franchise based on an original animated film since Pete Docter took over as Chief Creative Officer in 2018.
A Mabel figure atop a beaver dam from Mabel’s Seek & Find treasure hunt in Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at Disney California Adventure. (Courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering official Instagram account)
The Disney and Pixar animation houses have cranked out a string of sequels over the past decade based on the Finding Nemo, Cars, Wreck-It Ralph, Incredibles, Frozen, Toy Story, Inside Out, Moana and Zootopia franchises with follow-ups to “Coco” in the works.
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Recent box office flops for both animation studios have piled up with “Onward” (2020), “Soul” (2020), “Luca” (2021), “Turning Red” (2022), “Lightyear” (2022), “Strange World” (2022) and “Wish” (2023) failing to live up to expectations.
A scene from Pixar’s 2025 “Elio” animated film. (Courtesy of Disney/Pixar)
“Elio” became the latest misfire in June when it suffered the worst opening weekend for a Pixar film.
The animated tide of box office busts doesn’t bode well for Disneyland and other Disney parks around the world.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant at Fantasyland inside Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, in 2024. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Disneyland was built on classic Disney animated films like “Snow White,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” “Dumbo” and “Pinocchio.”
Over the ensuing decades, Disneyland’s success has ebbed and flowed with the success of Disney animated films.
Star Tours at Tomorrowland inside Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, in 2024. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Disneyland turned to filmmaker George Lucas for rides based on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises during the Dark Age of Disney Animation that started after Walt Disney’s death in 1966 and stretched into the late 1980s.
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Disneyland’s fortunes improved with the Renaissance Age of Disney Animation that kicked off in 1989. The popular slate of animated films brought a Broadway-style “Beauty and the Beast” live show and “Lion King” parade to Disneyland and eventually a “Little Mermaid” dark ride to Disney California Adventure.
Cadillac Range serves as a backdrop for Radiator Springs Racers at Cars Land inside California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, in 2024. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The meteoric rise of Pixar Animation starting in 1995 brought Buzz Lightyear and Finding Nemo rides to Disneyland and eventually the Cars Land and Pixar Pier themed lands to DCA.
Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012 led to the development of Avengers Campus at DCA and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland during the past decade.
Chewbacca greets visitors at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge inside Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort Anaheim, CA, on Friday, January 16, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Marvel and Star Wars catalogs should help Disneyland and other Disney theme parks weather the Disney/Pixar animation drought.
Disney parks have introduced new rides in recent years based on Spider-Man, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Concept art of the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run makeover tied to the release of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” coming to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disneyland)
The Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run rides in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme lands at Disneyland and Disney Hollywood Studios will venture to Tatooine, Endor and Bespin on a new adventure with the Mandalorian and Grogu.
The refreshed Smugglers Run mission will be tied to the release of the new “The Mandalorian and Grogu” film coming to theaters on Memorial Day Weekend.
You shouldn’t be surprised to see characters from the “Ice Age” franchise popping up at Disney parks in the not-too-distant future. (Photo by 20th Century Fox)
Mickey Mouse has yet to tap a third animation avenue that has been available at his white gloved fingertips since Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The $71 billion deal brought thousands of new television shows and movie titles into the Disney catalog that can be used to create rides, shows and lands at the company’s theme parks around the world.
Fox’s animated lineup includes “The Simpsons,” “Ice Age,” “Rio,” “Anastasia,” “Family Guy,” “American Dad,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Futurama.”
The Simpsons ride at Universal Studios Hollywood replaced the Back to the Future attraction that had been part of the park’s Upper Lot, which has been transformed over the last decade. (File photo by Andy Holzman, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Universal has Simpsons themed lands at its California and Florida parks and has the theme park rights tied up in a long-term contract. The Ice Age and Rio franchises have been used for attractions at theme parks around the world.