Pixar has spent the better part of the 2020’s in a steady decline–despite releasing seven original movies and only one spinoff and one sequel since the start of the decade, the former paragon of the animation industry is being criticized for failing to put full faith into its newer ideas, and pumping out unnecessary sequels to pick up the slack. For this reason, public opinion on “Hoppers” (2026) began low after a quiet promotional run. And, yes, this movie is not perfect. However, it certainly an improvement upon the faults of “Lightyear” (2022) and “Elemental” (2023), and even has the potential to become as much of a classic as any other pre-pandemic Pixar hit.
“Hoppers” follows a zealous college student named Mabel (Piper Curda) who feuds with the mayor of her hometown, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) over the construction of a highway through a river where which she has fond memories of growing up with her grandmother (Karen Huie). In an attempt to repopulate the river’s ecosystem and stop Jerry from getting re-elected, Mabel hijacks the advanced technology created by her professor (Kathy Najimy) to masquerade as a beaver and convince the leader of the mammals, King George (Bobby Moynihan) to return.
Mabel uses her newfound ability to talk to animals to get into all sorts of hijinx throughout the film, which makes the quirky cast of characters the focal point of the film. The casting was on point; big names and relative unknowns alike, Curda, Moynihan, and even Hamm do a great job balancing the cartoony whimsy of each of their characters with a certain level of depth. Furthermore, Dave Franco and Eman Abdul Razzak also do a great job of giving an unnerving edge to the otherwise incredulous personality of their shared character, Titus the Insect Prince. And surprisingly, other stars make appearances as minor characters, such as Meryl Streep as the Insect Queen, and SNL alumna Ego Nwodim as the Fish Queen.
Even then, the characters are not perfect. While the dynamic relationships between Mabel, King George, and Jerry are executed well and hold the plot together in quite the touching way, much of their interrelational developments are told, rather than shown. Although each of the three main characters were wonderfully developed on their own, it was even more of a shame to see such compelling personalities just barely miss the mark in some of their key scenes together later in the film. So, while the writing isn’t bad enough to actively detract from the experience, which is more than can be said for other recent Pixar films, “Hoppers” falls short of the other films that put the studio on the map at the turn of the century.
One thing that definitely isn’t lacking, however, is the quality of the animation. Pixar already established a high standard for portraying nature scenes over ten years ago in “The Good Dinosaur” (2015), and this movie exceeds it on almost every level. Whenever the cartoony characters are out of frame, each rock, tree, and blade of grass looks like it was ripped from real life, and every vibrant, artistic hue makes each frame of the movie appear to be its own masterful painting. The sheer amount of details poured into the surrounding elements of the film is stupefying; in close-up shots, one can even see peach fuzz on the characters’ faces.
While not the perfect movie, critics and casual moviegoers have reached consensus that “Hoppers” is superior to Pixar’s previous endeavor, “Elio” (2025), in every way. While the film isn’t bound for awards season and would certainly not find itself at home among an audience of cinephiles, it rekindles the embers of Pixar charm that made people love 21st century animation.
