Pixar is back, and the timing couldn’t be better. By all accounts, Elio was decent but didn’t have enough to wow audiences in 2025. The timing wasn’t the best either, competing with 28 Years Later and How to Train Your Dragon on a fateful midsummer weekend. Steep competition and weak marketing resulted in Elio becoming Pixar’s worst opening weekend ever. But those days are behind us. It’s a new year with a new Pixar film, and Hoppers has already staked its claim as a Pixar classic.
A young girl named Mabel (Piper Curda) has a not-so-subtle obsession with animals. This desire to put animals first keeps her in trouble in school (think class pets). Once she goes to college, she builds a rapport with her teacher, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy), a quirky scientist who has a curious mind, albeit scattered, who appreciates Mabel’s enthusiasm. After our young obsessive do-gooder stumbles upon Dr. Sam’s secret operation, she ‘hops’ her consciousness into a robotic beaver that enables her to communicate with animals. As she discovers this new world presented to her, she encounters more than anything she could’ve imagined.
One thing you have to remember about Disney Pixar is that their go-to source for feelings is death. Oh yeah, somebody’s gonna die. In the good year of 2026, the company finally read the room of this new generation and avoided scarring visuals like the losses seen in The Lion King, Bambi, etc. After growing close to her grandmother, we go from seeing them together, as a young child with her grandmother, to her grandmother’s face in a picture frame. The protagonist still experiences loss and grief, but in a much less drastic way than in past projects.
From childhood to college, her nemesis was the local mayor, Mayor Jerry (John Hamm). His pet project was a highway that cut through a part of the forest that Mabel and her grandmother held dear. Not only that, she learned of all the animals that would be affected by the construction. Desperation for a solution was the fuel behind ignoring Dr. Sam’s warnings and hopping with reckless abandon.
During her time as a beaver, she met a host of characters from King George (Bobby Moynihan) and Loaf (Eduardo Franco) to the viral favorite Tom Lizard (Tom Law). All the animals have varying personalities and exist in a categorical hierarchy of power. King George rules over the area with a friendly paw, but others rule over insects, fish, and the birds of the air. The idea behind the film is truly brilliant. Take a thought every child has had at some point (talking to animals) and run with it. The writing was stellar, and every character showed enough personality to form a bold opinion. Whether it was major or minor characters, humor was infused from every direction.
Hoppers is full of hijinks, laughter, and creativity. The film explores lessons in friendship, conservation, and forgiveness. A hilarious film made for both young and old, there’s no debate on whether to see this opening weekend. The only question should be how many times.
Hoppers gets a 9 out of 10. It’s an animated, fun-filled classic that only Disney Pixar could provide. With all the greatness that exists in the film, it could’ve been better. It takes too long for the inevitable to happen (hop to a beaver), and there are more than a few moments where music should’ve filled a gap of silence. In a film without musical numbers, there shouldn’t be too many scenes with silence. This will be a huge win for Pixar, and I could definitely see this getting a sequel.
‘Hoppers’ is the Great Kids Comedy that’s Been Missing.
Hoppers premieres in theaters on March 6.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Pixar
Genre: Animation
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 45 minutes
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date: March 6, 2026