Hoppers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Daniel Chong
Screenplay by Jesse Andrews
Story by
  • Daniel Chong
  • Jesse Andrews
Produced by Nicole Paradis Grindle
Starring
  • Piper Curda
  • Bobby Moynihan
  • Jon Hamm
  • Kathy Najimy
  • Dave Franco
Cinematography
  • Jeremy Lasky
  • Ian Megibben
Edited by Axel Geddes
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh
Production
company
Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures[a]
Release dates
  • February 23, 2026 (2026-02-23) (El Capitan Theatre)
  • March 6, 2026 (2026-03-06) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150 million[2]
Box office $252,178[3]

Hoppers is a 2026 American animated science fiction comedy film[4] produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Daniel Chong and written by Chong and Jesse Andrews, the film features an ensemble voice cast led by Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, and Dave Franco. Its plot follows Mabel Tanaka (Curda), an animal lover, whose mind is transferred into a lifelike robotic beaver to communicate with animals and save their habitat from destruction, inadvertently starting an uprising in doing so.

Chong began working on a new original film at Pixar in December 2020, after returning to the studio. The film was first officially announced as Hoppers in August 2024, along with Curda, Moynihan, and Hamm revealed as part of the cast. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score, and SZA wrote and performed the end credits song "Save the Day".

Hoppers premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on February 23, 2026, and was released in the United States on March 6, 2026. The film received positive reviews from critics.[2]

Plot

In the city of Beaverton, young Mabel Tanaka spends much of her childhood with her grandmother in a nearby forest glade inhabited by many wild animals, particularly a colony of beavers. Inspired by her grandmother's love of nature, Mabel grows up with a deep appreciation for the natural world. Years later, following her grandmother's death, Beaverton's mayor, Jerry Generazzo, announces plans to replace the glade with a freeway, as the animals have all left. Now a college student, Mabel campaigns fiercely against the project, attempting to rally the community through a petition, but to no avail. Her activism causes her to neglect her studies, frustrating her biology professor, Dr. Samantha "Sam" Fairfax.

One night, while trying to encourage the beavers to return to the glade, Mabel discovers that Sam and her colleagues have secretly developed a new technology designed to enhance wildlife research. Known as the "Hoppers" program, it allows a human consciousness to "hop" into a robotic animal and experience life firsthand as that species. Seeing an opportunity to save the glade, Mabel hops into a robotic beaver against Sam's wishes and flees the lab, only to be snatched by an owl and dropped into the glade.

Mabel awakens there and inadvertently agitates the animals, who believe she is a real beaver. She is escorted to meet King George, the leader of the communal "Superlodge." While exploring the area, Mabel discovers an artificial tree emitting a sound audible only to animals—secretly installed by Jerry to drive them away. She destroys the device, prompting George's subjects to begin returning to the glade. As Mabel becomes more familiar with the community's customs, she grows closer to George, and the two bond by sharing stories about their lives. After revealing that his father cast him out when he was young, George asks Mabel to serve as his personal advisor.

Just as Mabel is about to reveal her true identity to George, Jerry—angered by the animals' renewed presence—blows up the beavers' dam and installs additional noise-emitting trees. In response, Mabel and George convene a meeting of the Animal Council in the Superlodge, attended by monarchs representing the Insect, Amphibian, Fish, Reptile, and Bird classes. During an impassioned speech, Mabel inadvertently persuades the Council to assassinate Jerry. When she attempts to stop them, she accidentally kills the Insect Queen, making herself their next target, and she and George flee the Superlodge.

Although initially upset that Mabel undermined his authority, George ultimately agrees to help protect Jerry after Mabel admits she is tired of feeling powerless. With the help of their animal friends, Mabel and George locate Jerry and force him to drive to the glade in hopes of stopping construction. Meanwhile, the Council—now led by the vengeful Insect King Titus, who has succeeded his mother—attempts to assassinate Jerry by dropping a shark onto his car. Mabel and her friends help him narrowly escape, but Sam manages to untether Mabel from the robotic beaver, leaving George confused and heartbroken as he examines the lifeless robot.

The Council then raids Sam's lab, ties up Jerry and Mabel, and forces the scientists to build a robotic clone of Jerry for Titus to inhabit. Titus plans to impersonate the mayor and use the audio frequencies of the noise-emitting trees at a political rally to destroy the brains of the humans in attendance. Realizing that her anger had clouded her judgment, Mabel reconciles with Jerry. Jerry then hops into the robotic beaver to free them both, allowing Mabel to intervene at the rally.

At the rally, Mabel attempts to reason with Titus, but he refuses to relent and reveals his ambition for insects to rule over all animals, shocking the rest of the Council. As Mabel's animal friends disable the noise-emitting trees, she pursues the increasingly deranged Titus up the last remaining one. During the struggle, the robotic Jerry's face is torn off, preventing him from activating the attack. The tree collapses, destroying the robotic body and igniting a massive wildfire that consumes the glade and rapidly spreads toward the city. George chooses to help Mabel, while Titus is devoured by the Amphibian King. Realizing there is no other way to save Beaverton, George orders his subjects to dismantle the remains of the dam, flooding the glade and extinguishing the fire.

Since then, Jerry and Mabel have reached an understanding. Jerry reroutes his freeway plans, helps restore the glade, and designates it a protected wildlife preserve. Mabel refocuses on her studies and graduates from college. Although the Hoppers program is discontinued, she is hired as Sam's assistant. While they can no longer communicate verbally, Mabel and George's friendship endures, with George using text-to-speech software and emojis to communicate.

Voice cast

  • Piper Curda as Mabel Tanaka, an animal-loving Japanese-American student whose mind is transferred into a robotic beaver[5][6][7][8]
    • Lila Liu as young Mabel[citation needed]
  • Bobby Moynihan as King George, a beaver monarch[5][6][7]
  • Jon Hamm as Jerry Generazzo, a greedy mayor[5][6][7][9]
  • Kathy Najimy as Dr. Samantha "Sam" Fairfax,[10] Mabel's biology professor who created the hopping technology[9]
  • Dave Franco as Titus (Insect King),[10] a butterfly and the Insect Queen's son[9]
    • Eman Abdul-Razzak as Young Titus (Insect Prince), a caterpillar[11]
  • Eduardo Franco as Loaf,[10] a slow yet staunch beaver[9]
  • Aparna Nancherla as Nisha,[10] Dr. Sam's astute colleague[9]
  • Tom Law as Tom Lizard,[10] a lizard who prefers to avoid drama[9]
  • Sam Richardson as Conner,[10] a graduate student working under Dr. Sam[9]
  • Melissa Villaseñor as Ellen,[10] a big, menacing, mostly grumpy bear always on the lookout for her next meal[9]
  • Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Bird King,[10] a goose monarch[9]
  • Steve Purcell as Amphibian King,[10] a frog monarch[9]
  • Ego Nwodim as Fish Queen,[10] a fish monarch[9]
  • Nichole Sakura as Reptile Queens,[10] a trio of snake sister monarchs[9]
  • Meryl Streep as Insect Queen, a butterfly monarch who is the most respected and feared member of the all-seeing and all-powerful Animal Council[12][10][9]
  • Karen Huie as Grandma Tanaka,[10] Mabel's grandmother[9]
  • Vanessa Bayer as Diane,[10] a shark assassin[9]
    • Heidi Klum voices the character in the German dub of the film[13]
  • Demetri Martin as flock of birds[14][non-primary source needed]
  • Joe Spano as an elderly Beavertonian[citation needed]
  • Eric Edelstein as an additional voice[15][non-primary source needed]
  • Lori Alan as Mabel's mother[16]

In the United Kingdom release, Alan Carr and Amanda Holden voice Alan the Squirrel and Amanda the Spider, respectively.[17]

Production

Development

In December 2020, Daniel Chong revealed on Twitter that he had returned to Pixar following the completion of his Cartoon Network television series We Bare Bears (2015–2019) and the release of We Bare Bears: The Movie (2020) and that he was developing an original feature film.[18] At the D23 fan event in August 2024, Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter announced that the film would be titled Hoppers.[5][6][7] Shortly after, Jesse Andrews (writer of Luca) revealed on his Twitter account that he had been working on the film for three years.[19] As part of the film's announcement at the D23 event, Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, and Jon Hamm were revealed to be part of the voice cast.[5][6][7]

In an interview with D23, Chong said that one of his inspirations for the film were the nature documentaries in which robot animals are placed in the animal world; "It felt like it was ripe for comedy, this idea of how humans try so hard to fit into the animal world and the weird things that happen through that." He additionally stated, "obviously there are Avatar influences, [...] But there's also this Mission Impossible spy-thriller quality to the movie too, because Mabel's kind of infiltrating the animal world."[20]

Chong initially pitched the film with penguin protagonists. However Docter disapproved, arguing that penguins had been protagonists in several other animated films, so Chong changed the protagonists to beavers after doing research on how they affect the environment; "These animals can be these ecosystem engineers and help everyone else survive; I think that just made me go, 'Oh man, beavers are crazy cool.'"[21]

Writing

In December 2024, The Hollywood Reporter stated that, according to a former Pixar artist, the filmmakers were told to "downplay" the film's "planned message of environmentalism."[22] However, in a July 2025 interview with Screen Rant, Chong denied that the film's themes were censored, stating, "If anything, I felt a lot of alignment. [...] The honest truth about the process, though, is that every movie here goes through so much iteration and changes a lot, and I can see, maybe, to some other people's eyes within the studio, [how] they might see [that] it looks like things are being censored. But, really, [the movie is] just going through its natural course of iteration and stuff–at least for our movie."[21]

Music

In August 2025, it was announced that Mark Mothersbaugh would compose the film's score, marking his first composition for a Pixar feature film after composing for the Toy Story Toons short Hawaiian Vacation and several Cars Toons shorts for the studio.[23] In addition, the film features an original end credits song written and performed by SZA titled "Save the Day", which was released on February 20, 2026.[24]

Release

Hoppers premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on February 23, 2026,[25] and was screened at the New York International Children's Film Festival on February 28, 2026,[26] which was then followed by a theatrical release in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 6, 2026.[27]

Marketing

A first-look image of the film was publicly shown at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2025.[28] Later that month a short teaser, featuring a lizard repeatedly typing the lizard emoji into a phone, played in theaters after the end credits of Pixar's Elio.[29][30] In August 2025, Pixar revealed that the lizard's name is Tom and that he would appear in the film.[31]

Yogurtland promoted the film with a limited edition sugar-free frozen yogurt flavor known as Mabel's Nutty Adventure.[32]

In the month of the release of the film, the free-to-play kart racing game Disney Speedstorm introduced Mabel as a racer, which was released on March 6.[33] Likewise, a cosmetics bundle for Fortnite, including a Tom Lizard player skin, was released on March 5.[34]

The city of Beaverton, Oregon declared March 5 "Hoppers Day" in honor of the film's release.[35] Piper Curda and Bobby Moynihan visited the city as part of the film's world tour on March 5, 2026. During the proclamation ceremony, Mayor Lacey Beaty presented the two cast members with a handmade wooden key to the city. In exchange, the actors gifted the city a custom piece of artwork created by Pixar.[36] Beaty moderated a Q&A between the cast and students from the local school district.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Hoppers was released alongside The Bride!, and is projected to gross $40 million from 4,000 theaters during its opening weekend. This would make it the best opening for an original Pixar film since Coco (2017) and in the post-pandemic era. The film is also projected to reverse Pixar's low opening streak for its originals, overtaking the lukewarm openings of Elemental (2023), which became a sleeper-hit, and Elio (2025), which became a box-office failure.[37][38] The film collected $3.2 million from Thursday previews.[39]

Critical response

Hoppers received positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, story, and humor.[2] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 137 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "An eager beaver for endearment that has the charm to back it up, Hoppers is a sprightly riot that might just be the funniest entry in the Pixar canon yet."[40] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[41]

Several critics called the film a "return to form" for Pixar.[42] Nell Minow from RogerEbert.com gave the film 4 stars out of 4, saying the film is "Pixar at its very best. It has charm and a touch of magic but it is grounded—literally."[43] Wilson Chapman of IndieWire gave it a "B+", stating that "there's not enough time to deepen the sweet friendship between Mabel and George into something as powerful as, say, Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo. Still, what we do get is pretty uniformly delightful."[44] William Bibbiani of TheWrap explained that "Hoppers isn't just James Cameron's Avatar if it had feelings, it's also James Cameron's Avatar if it was good."[45]

Notes

  1. ^ Distributed under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.

References

  1. ^ "Hoppers (U)". BBFC. February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Masunaga, Samantha (March 4, 2026). "With 'Hoppers,' Pixar looks for a boost to its original animated films". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2026. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  3. ^ "Hoppers". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  4. ^ Travis, Ben (December 17, 2025). "Hoppers: Pixar Action Comedy Puts Beavers In A 'Perilous Mission: Impossible Spy Thriller Situation'". Empire. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Unveils New Film At D23: Hoppers With Jon Hamm & Bobby Moynihan". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e Moreau, Jordan (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Reveals Hoppers, a Beaver Body-Swap Movie Starring Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, Piper Curda". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Drew (August 10, 2024). "Pixar Reveals New Original Film Hoppers Featuring Jon Hamm and Robotic Beavers". TheWrap. The Wrap. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Travis, Ben (July 16, 2025). "Hoppers Trailer Breakdown: Inside Pixar's Most Bonkers Premise In Years". Empire Online. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o ""HOPPERS" ADVANCED PRODUCTION INFORMATION" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Becker, Amy (November 20, 2025). "Pixar's 'Hoppers' trailer: Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Jon Hamm star in animated comedy". abc7. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  11. ^ @pixar (February 6, 2026). "The insect dynasty is here. See #Hoppers only in theaters March 6!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Pixar (November 20, 2025). "All hail the (insect) queen 🦋👑 Meryl Streep joins the cast of #Hoppers". YouTube. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  13. ^ Allison, Paige (January 22, 2026). "Heidi Klum Voices A Shark Named 'Hai-Di' In New Disney Pixar Film 'Hoppers'". Celebrity Insider. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  14. ^ Daniel Chong [@threebarebears] (July 17, 2025). "SAME VOICE" (Tweet). Retrieved July 17, 2025 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ^ @threebarebears (February 26, 2026). "Bears reunion at the HOPPERS premiere 🐻🐼🐻‍❄️ (and they're all in the movie)" (Tweet). Retrieved February 26, 2026 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @lorialan1 (March 3, 2026). "Thrilled to be Mabel's Mom in #Hoppers ! 🐾 As an animal advocate, this story about protecting our furry, scaly & feathered friends means so much to me. Thank you @Pixar for storytelling with so much ♥️ Waddle, fly or scurry to theaters Friday! @CinemaBlend #Pixar #Animation" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2026 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Chase, Stephanie (February 11, 2026). "Celebrity Traitors icon Alan Carr lands "dream come true" role: "I couldn't be happier"". Digitalspy. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  18. ^ Daniel Chong [@threebarebears] (December 10, 2020). "WELP guess there's no hiding it now- Happy to be back and developing something @Pixar!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
  19. ^ jesse andrews [@_jesse_andrews_] (August 9, 2024). "[lifts helmet, wipes sweat off face] i've been working on this movie for three years" (Tweet) – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
  20. ^ Stateman, Alison (July 17, 2025). "Exclusive Q&A with Hoppers Director Daniel Chong". D23. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Danoff, Owen (July 16, 2025). "Director Of Pixar's Next Movie Explains Why It's So Much More Than "Animal Avatar"". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  22. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (December 27, 2024). "Ex-Pixar Staffers Decry 'Win or Lose' Trans Storyline Being Scrapped: "Can't Tell You How Much I Cried"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  23. ^ "Mark Mothersbaugh to Score Pixar's 'Hoppers'". Film Music Reporter. August 29, 2025.
  24. ^ "Listen to SZA's New Song from Pixar's Hoppers". Yahoo Entertainment. February 20, 2026. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  25. ^ Shotwell, Richard (February 23, 2026). "LA Premiere of 'Hoppers'". The Lufkin Daily News. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  26. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (January 30, 2026). "Disney Pixar Film 'Hoppers' To Preview At New York Children's Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  27. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 13, 2024). "Frozen 3 Gets Official Thanksgiving 2027 Release; Pixar's Hoppers Sets Spring 2026". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  28. ^ Taylor, Drew (June 13, 2025). "Pixar Unveils Hilarious First Footage From 'Hoppers', Featuring Robotic Beavers and Jon Hamm". TheWrap. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  29. ^ Edwards, Belen (June 20, 2025). "'Elio's end-credits scene teases Pixar's next movie. Here's how". Mashable. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  30. ^ Graves, Sabina (June 23, 2025). "'Elio' Has a Bizarre Post-Credits Scene That's Not About 'Elio' at All". Gizmodo. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  31. ^ Woodroof, Cory (August 9, 2025). "How Pixar is behind the 'Lizard' meme taking over social media". usatoday. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  32. ^ "Hop On This Limited-Time Flavor Which Has Arrived to Celebrate Disney and Pixar's Hoppers". PR Newswire. February 23, 2026. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  33. ^ "PISTON CUP". disneyspeedstorm.com. Gameloft. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023.
  34. ^ Warby, Nathan (March 5, 2026). "Fortnite reveals Hoppers Tom Lizard skin & fans are already obsessed". Dexerto. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  35. ^ "Disney Pixar stars visit Beaverton before release of film set in fictional version of city". KPTV. March 5, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  36. ^ "Disney-Pixar's 'Hoppers' Honored in Beaverton, Oregon with 'Hoppers Day'". Animation Magazine. March 5, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  37. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 4, 2026). "'Hoppers' To Pop $88M WW Debut, Best For Pixar Original Since 'Coco'; 'The Bride!' Eyes $40M WW – Box Office Preview". Deadline. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  38. ^ "Weekend Preview: HOPPERS Expected to Lead the Pack in Solid March Weekend". Boxoffice Pro. March 4, 2026. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  39. ^ "'Hoppers' Snaps Up $3.2 Million From Thursday Box Office".
  40. ^ "Hoppers". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  41. ^ "Hoppers". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  42. ^ Campbell, Christopher (March 2, 2026). "Hoppers First Reviews: Pixar's Best Film in Years". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  43. ^ Minow, Neil (March 2, 2026). "Hoppers review: Pixar's latest doubles down on "friends not food"". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  44. ^ "'Hoppers' Review: 'Avatar' + Beavers = Pixar's Freshest, Funniest Movie in Years".
  45. ^ "Hoppers Review: Pixar's Beaver-Centric Sci-Fi Comedy Is Dam Good".