When scientists discover a way to transform human consciousness into robotic animals, Mabel uses the new technology to uncover mysteries of the animal world that are beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Director: Daniel Chong
Cast: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Dave Franco, Jon Hamm
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Metacritic: 78 / 100
Some Reviews:
This is Pixar's best film since 'Coco'. It’s smart, it’s wacky, it’s morally complex, and we need more films like it. Not just great Pixar movies, but great Pixar movies that playfully trash what Disney is doing elsewhere.
PoppedNews - Josh Martin-Jones - 4.5 / 5
Hoppers thrives on its varying elements of creativity, sincerity, and chaos. A very rare occasion where I find myself laughing out loud at several of a film’s jokes in the cinema. The narrative feels inventive, and at its heart sits a surprisingly tender story about connection. Mabel’s drive, her grandmother’s legacy, and the absurd revolution of the insects all tie back to a simple idea about coexistence… and it is nothing like Avatar! There are moments where the film moves a little too quickly, but it never loses its charm. In a landscape increasingly defined by franchises and sequels, Hoppers stands as a confident original that proves Pixar can still balance big ideas and small emotional beats, giving us one of their best in a while.
RogerEbert - Nell Minow - 4 / 4
At its very big heart, the film is about empathy for others of all species, underscored by a welcome diversity of its characters. The film is sensitive in its handling of Mabel’s grief (watch what happens to her grandmother’s jacket), her falling back into anger when she is scared, and how that impairs her ability to find a solution. We get to rethink our original ideas about Jerry and his commitment to his community, too.
Slash Film - BJ Colangelo - 9 / 10
Some critics will inevitably roll their eyes and call it overly optimistic, but we have to fight cynicism and remember that a bright-eyed vision of hope is an investment strategy. We pour everything into younger generations because they are the torchbearers for ideals we're too battle-worn to carry alone. Optimism, in this context, is just another form of infrastructure, not unlike the lodges built by beavers to shape our world. We should never let the world convince us it's not worth trying to make better, and "Hoppers" is here to help.
Collider - Ross Bonaime - 8 / 10
Hoppers is an absolute delight, setting the bar high for animated films this year, while creating a film that reminds us just how amazing Pixar still is at making new, exciting worlds and stories, without relying on sequels. Hoppers manages to do everything you'd want and expect from Pixar, but in a packaging that's funnier than most, leans into strangeness, and has a blast in the process. Hoppers just might be Pixar's best original film since 2020's Soul, and it's without a doubt one of the most fun movies to come out in 2026 so far. After 30 years and 30 films, Pixar still hasn't managed to lose its magic.
Next Best Picture - Daniel Howat - 8 / 10
Is “Hoppers” Pixar’s best film? Probably not. But it’s easily their most amusing ever, and an absolutely delightful fun time. It’s exactly the kind of solid entertainment, with the right mix of laughs and tears, that reminds us of the genius-level storytelling the good folks over there are capable of. It’s precisely what the animation studio needed at this time and fits comfortably alongside some of their upper-tier offerings.
The Independent - Clarisse Loughrey - 4 / 5
And while, ultimately, the film remains fairly naive when it comes to the changeability of a hardcore capitalist’s heart, if anyone should be encouraged to be that idealistic, it’s the incoming generation. The world, in due time, will make them bitter – better for now that Pixar condenses the complex notions of intersectionality and solidarity with an extended gag about an animal repeatedly smashing emojis on a text-to-speech app.
IndieWire - Wilson Chapman - 'B+'
Avatar’ + Beavers = Pixar’s Freshest, Funniest Movie in Years. Daniel Chong's nimble comedy about an environmental activist infiltrating the animal kingdom feels like the first Pixar movie since "Turning Red" that's offering something new from the studio.
The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw - 4 / 5
Daniel Chong brings us a witty, sprightly family animation, co-produced by Pixar veteran Pete Docter and co-written by Jesse Andrews, who may conceivably have supplied quite a bit of the punching-up and the funny incidental lines. In its modest, insouciant way, it is about protecting the environment, and riffs amusingly on films such as Avatar (there’s some amusing preemptive material about it not being like Avatar, but it is, especially at the end) as well as Inception, The Lion King and Dr Dolittle. It’s also about Disney anthropomorphism generally: the great mystery of what it must be like to be an animal and the human yearning to communicate and empathise with them.
The Hollywood Reporter - David Rooney
This is not a movie that feels fine-tuned to death in studio meetings. There’s a crazy, almost anarchic narrative logic that keeps it zigging and zagging unpredictably from the high-speed chase around precarious mountain roads to the suspenseful near disaster of the climax, in which nature gets angry, and the triumphant eco solution that saves the day. Teaching kids that we are all part of a complex universe in which everyone contributes and everyone deserves respect seems a pretty cool lesson.
Without spoiling too much more, the power of this film lies in the fact that the villain or antagonist is a combination of technological advancement and the motives behind it, as well as the divisiveness between humans and animals. The misuse or malintent of certain inventions lead to drastic consequences, especially when shortsightedness and efficiency are valued over longevity.