Pixar is back. Hoppers, the studio’s new animated film, opened Thursday with a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 95 critical reviews, the highest the studio has achieved in nearly a decade.
The last time Pixar came close to this was Inside Out in 2015 and Coco in 2017, both of which landed at 98%.
For a studio that has spent recent years leaning heavily on sequels with diminishing critical returns, Hoppers represents something the industry has been waiting for: a genuine original that delivers.
The film opens in wide theatrical release Friday, March 6.
What Is Hoppers About?
Hoppers follows Mabel, a 19-year-old animal lover who uses technology that transfers human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals to infiltrate the animal kingdom.
What she discovers there challenges everything she believed about nature and civilization.
The premise draws inevitable comparisons to James Cameron’s Avatar, but critics are unanimous that Hoppers executes the concept with more humor, heart, and environmental consciousness than that comparison suggests.
The film was directed by Daniel Chong, best known for creating the beloved animated series We Bare Bears.
The screenplay was written by Chong and Jesse Andrews. The cast includes Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Dave Franco, and Meryl Streep.
Runtime is one hour and 45 minutes. It is rated PG for mild language, action and peril, and scary images.
What Are Critics Saying About Hoppers?
The reviews are not just positive, they are enthusiastic in a way that Pixar films haven’t generated in years.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman called it top-drawer Pixar.
William Bibbiani of TheWrap wrote that the film is “such a funny, clever, kind, playfully dark, and wonderfully weird creation” that it transcends typical family film conventions entirely.
Ross Bonaime of Collider stated it is without question one of the funniest entries in the Pixar canon, with laughs coming constantly throughout. Wilson Chapman from IndieWire praised the animation style as a significant refresh for the studio, balancing Pixar’s reliable realism with more stylized worldbuilding.
Rendy Jones of Rendy Reviews captured the film’s spirit most directly: “Whereas it’s just another Monday for Daniel Chong, Hoppers is exactly what Pixar needs right now: perverse, rebellious, and eccentric.”
Multiple critics named it the best original Pixar film since Soul in 2020. Several called it an instant classic.
Who Is In The Hoppers Cast?
The ensemble is generating significant attention on its own. Dave Franco plays a character named Titus who reportedly enters the film halfway through and proceeds to steal every scene he appears in, delivering what critics describe as a comedic performance that dominates the film’s second half.
Jon Hamm plays Mayor Jerry, a slick politician who gradually unravels into a nervous wreck as wildlife begins pursuing him.
Bobby Moynihan voices King George in a performance critics say brings unusual depth to an animated role.
Meryl Streep plays the Insect Queen, a character described as commanding, authoritative, and exactly what you would expect from Meryl Streep inhabiting an animated villain.
Piper Curda leads the film as Mabel, carrying the emotional weight of the story across its entire runtime.
What Is The Hoppers Animation Style?
One of the most discussed elements in the reviews is the animation itself. Critics noted that Pixar’s team developed a visual approach that shifts specifically when Mabel transfers her consciousness into an animal, the style changes to reflect her new perspective, creating what reviewers found both stunning and narratively meaningful.
The character designs drew particular praise for physicality that consistently amuses. The woodland settings feature lush green backgrounds described as visual treats throughout.
Chapman’s IndieWire review specifically highlighted how the animation pops outside Pixar’s typical in-house model, creating something that feels fresh rather than formulaic.
The texturing and lighting were called technological advancements that don’t sacrifice artistic creativity.
What Makes Hoppers Different From Other Pixar Films?
Several critics pointed to what Hoppers deliberately avoids as much as what it does.
The film skips the villainous authority figure twist that many Pixar films rely on. It also skips the forced best-friend falling-out climax that has become a near-universal template for the studio.
Instead it builds toward something critics found genuinely surprising.
The film escalates quickly, taking what begins as a comedy in rudely antic directions that embrace both wonder and chaos simultaneously.
Critics described it as gleefully bonkers in ways that feel like classic Pixar at its absolute best, while also carrying environmentalist messaging that never becomes preachy.
Hoppers Rotten Tomatoes Score In Context
A 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with 95 reviews is not a small sample. It places Hoppers alongside the most acclaimed films in Pixar’s entire catalog.
The Incredibles from 2004 sits at a comparable score. Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3 all occupy the same critical tier that Hoppers has now joined on opening day.
The score also arrives at a moment when the studio needed it. Pixar has faced criticism for over-relying on sequels, Lightyear underperformed, and several recent releases failed to match the cultural impact of the studio’s earlier originals.
Hoppers is being read by critics and industry observers as proof that Pixar still knows how to make something genuinely new.
Hoppers is in theaters Friday, March 6.
