Pixar's Hoppers Draws Rave Reviews as Studio's Strongest Original in Years
Pixar's Hoppers opened in theaters on March 6, 2026, and the animation giant is riding a wave of enthusiastic critical praise. With a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" CinemaScore from audiences, the studio appears to have delivered its most celebrated original film in nearly a decade.
Hoppers Draws Rave Reviews Across Major Publications
Critics at major outlets called the film a vintage return to form. Variety described it as "top-drawer Pixar," while The Hollywood Reporter said the studio had returned to its classic form. Collider declared it one of the most enjoyable movies of 2026 so far.
Empire praised it as Pixar's funniest film in years, noting it threads the needle of being "delightfully silly, sweetly emotional and also About Something" — a balance the studio has not always achieved recently.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 152 critics gave positive reviews. The site's consensus calls Hoppers "a sprightly riot that might just be the funniest entry in the Pixar canon yet."
The Story Behind Hoppers
The film is directed by Daniel Chong and follows Mabel Tanaka, a 19-year-old college student and environmental activist voiced by Piper Curda. She discovers a secret experiment that allows human consciousness to "hop" into lifelike robotic animals.
Mabel hops into a robotic beaver to infiltrate the local forest, where she meets beaver king George, voiced by Bobby Moynihan, and attempts to restore a threatened woodland glade. Jon Hamm voices Mayor Jerry, the politically motivated antagonist pushing to build a highway through the habitat.
The film tackles themes of technology, environmental responsibility, and human-animal trust, drawing comparisons to James Cameron's Avatar — a reference the screenplay itself acknowledges directly in dialogue.
Box Office: Hoppers Sets a New Pixar Record
Hoppers opened to $46 million domestically and $42 million overseas, totaling $88 million worldwide in its opening weekend. That marks the highest opening weekend for an original Pixar film since Coco in 2017.
The strong performance was fueled by positive word-of-mouth and the film's well-timed release into a slow market for family entertainment, reversing a difficult run for Pixar originals that included the underperforming Elio in 2025.
What Critics and Audiences Are Saying
Several reviewers placed Hoppers among Pixar's best originals in recent memory. TheWrap called it the best Pixar movie since Coco, while Collider ranked it just behind the studio's celebrated 2020 release Soul.
Variety noted that while Hoppers does not quite reach the level of Inside Out or the Toy Story franchise, it remains a reminder that "when this studio is firing on all cylinders, it can take you someplace you've never imagined."
A Star-Studded Voice Cast Powers Pixar's Hoppers
The voice cast includes Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Vanessa Bayer, Aparna Nancherla, Ego Nwodim, and Meryl Streep, who voices a butterfly in a late-film appearance.
The film's score was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, and singer SZA contributed an original end-credits song titled "Save the Day," released ahead of the theatrical debut on February 20, 2026.
With Pixar's Hoppers drawing rave reviews from critics and generating strong audience turnout, the studio looks poised for one of its most successful original runs in years — a timely signal that its creative ambitions remain very much intact.
