Hoppers First Reviews: Pixar’s Best Film in Years
Critics say it's a fresh, energetic, hilarious, and gleefully bonkers offering that feels like classic Pixar in the best ways.
Pixar’s latest animated feature, Hoppers, hits theaters this Friday, and the first reviews are now online and mostly very positive. Directed by longtime Pixar contributor Daniel Chong, who also created the series We Bare Bears, the movie follows a human girl who infiltrates the animal world by way of a robotic beaver avatar. Fans of Pixar can expect great animation, another clever script, and lots of humor — but it’s neither the best nor the worst release from the studio.
Here’s what critics are saying about Hoppers:
Has Pixar made another masterpiece?
It’s top-drawer Pixar, a reminder that when this studio is firing on all cylinders, it will take you places you’ve never imagined.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Pixar returns to vintage form with Hoppers.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
After 30 years and 30 films, Pixar still hasn’t managed to lose its magic.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Hoppers has all the makings of an instant classic for Pixar.
— BJ Colangelo, Slashfilm
Hoppers is such a funny, clever, kind, playfully dark, and wonderfully weird film.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
This latest effort, if not quite returning to the glory days, is certainly a step in the right direction.
— Kevin Maher, The Times
This messy, confused film is a clear illustration of Pixar’s decline from its high-concept glory days.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
Is it one of the best movies of the year?
Hoppers is an absolute delight, setting the bar high for animated films this year…and it’s without a doubt one of the most fun movies to come out in 2026 so far.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
It sets a high bar for this year’s animated films to clear, and it will be exciting to see if anything else can hop that barrier.
— Ezra Cubero, Geek Vibes Nation
I’m sure that this will be among my favorite movies of the year that will make my Top 25 by year’s end.
— Edward Douglas, The Weekend Warrior
How does it compare to other Pixar movies?
Pixar’s freshest, funniest movie in years… its best new release in a solid decade.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
It’s one of the best Pixar films of the current decade.
— Joshua Mbonu, InSession Film
It’s the best Pixar movie since Coco.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Hoppers just might be Pixar’s best original film since 2020’s Soul.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Hoppers is pound-for-pound Pixar’s wackiest movie since Turning Red, and it is all the better for it.
— Shakyl Lambert, CGMagazine
It’s also one of Pixar’s most manic works to date.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
Darker than any Pixar movie in recent memory.
— M.N. Miller, Nerd Alert
I’d rank it ahead of their talking dinosaur movie and one of the talking cars movies, but not the others, or the talking fish movies, or any of the talking toy movies.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Will fans of We Bare Bears like it?
This will absolutely be a delight for We Bare Bears fans, as the vibe and animation style often can’t help but remind one of Chong’s show.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Much of that show’s DNA has carried over to Chong’s feature.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
Fans of Chong’s We Bare Bears will relish in the absurdity, going further than anything Pixar has put out.
— Ezra Cubero, Geek Vibes Nation
Is Hoppers really Pixar’s take on Avatar?
Pitting industrial expansion against the natural ecosystems it threatens to displace, the film is a riff on Avatar by way of Pom Poko.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
The real joke is that Hoppers also shares the sci-fi film series’ heart in delivering a pro-environmentalist message, which is the real reason Cameron made the films in the first place.
— BJ Colangelo, Slashfilm
Hoppers isn’t just James Cameron’s Avatar if it had feelings, it’s also James Cameron’s Avatar if it was good.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Does it offer any surprises along the way?
Hoppers escalates quickly, in imaginative directions. It embraces the wonder of the premise.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Hoppers never stops surprising you in rudely antic ways, and that’s the essence of its delight.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
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.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
As a PG film, Hoppers has a bit more freedom to go down some odd rabbit holes, especially in the third act, and it really takes some chances that are an absolute blast.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
How is the script overall?
Hoppers concocts wild new ways to break its story open, utilizing its sci-fi technology in novel ways and taking advantage of its cartoony style to get weird with the plot points.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
What places Hoppers in the first rank of Pixar movies is that the story, while insane enough to begin with, keeps twisting and turning with let’s-try-it-on surrealist nonchalance.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
It shouldn’t all hang together as well as it does, but the movie’s freewheeling plotting is exhilarating.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
As a story, it’s a bit of a jumble, as if someone took a nature doc and hopped it into a mystery movie that was hopped into a broad comedy.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Chong and Jesse Andrews’s script is hectic, laying on chatty world-building that only becomes less coherent the more of it there is.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
Does it have a good message?
It teaches kids to respect and understand nature, get involved in the community, and protect the vulnerable, even if that means an oily politician.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Hoppers implores audiences of all shapes, sizes, and species to live more kindly and more empathetically, a valuable lesson for everyone in 2026.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Its timely theme is that the only path to salvation is for everyone to work with everyone else, and while that may sound like a “Kumbaya” message, the movie is structured, in the end, as an intricate roller-coaster of togetherness.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
For anyone feeling politically winded or spiritually demoralized, the film offers something dangerously powerful: hope that doesn’t apologize for existing.
— BJ Colangelo, Slashfilm
The moral it eventually draws from the human vs. nature debate… isn’t necessarily surprising, but it’s poignant all the same.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
Is it funny?
Very, very funny.
— M.N. Miller, Nerd Alert
Dam funny.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
This is, without a doubt, one of the funniest films Pixar has made yet.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Hoppers packs more laughs than any Pixar film in recent memory.
— Ezra Cubero, Geek Vibes Nation
There’s a display of mammal-on-insect violence so abrupt and visceral that it’s both a little horrifying and also maybe the single funniest scene Pixar has ever animated.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
A lot of Pixar movies are funny, but I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud as much as I did.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
Will it make us cry, in typical Pixar fashion?
Be sure to have your tissues ready because Hoppers is something truly special.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
Its most audacious feat is that, by the end of its adorable, non-stop lunacy, it still manages to summon a few heart swells and perhaps a tear or two.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
There are a couple giant scoops of tear-inducing heart (a Pixar staple that will never go out of style).
— Jay Ledbetter, AwardsWatch
It has its moments of sweetness and emotional resonance, but isn’t looking to force tears out of you.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
Does it ever get scary?
In Hoppers, all the killing and violence inherent to the animal kingdom is right there in gloriously casual display.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
What I didn’t expect was how dark and creepy it gets at times. When you stop to think about the sci-fi horror of putting a human brain into a machine, it’s a heavy concept. Some genuinely tense, almost scary moments lean into that uncanny valley of the robotic bodies.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
The themes are heartfelt but buried underneath a wicked sense of irreverent humor and scary tropes that I am not sure children will grasp.
— M.N. Miller, Nerd Alert
Will adults find anything to enjoy?
It will thrill the core audience of kids while keeping the grown-ups entertained.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
The adults will catch the sharper, more satirical wit.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
The film’s hour and 45 minutes of sustained color, noise, and low-hanging jokes about animals behaving like people aren’t the worst time [the] accompanying adults could have at the theater.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
Do any of the voice actors steal the movie?
Bobby Moynihan… His performance here stands out from the pack.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Jon Hamm might be the standout, playing a slick and punchable politician who steadily unspools into a nervous wreck as the wildlife he’s attempting to displace start pursuing him.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
Dave Franco as Titus. He doesn’t show up until about halfway through, but man, does he steal the show.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
The film’s biggest scene-stealer comes courtesy of Dave Franco as Titus.
— Shakyl Lambert, CGMagazine
Aparna Nancherla as Nisha steals some scenes with some great zingers.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
How is the animation?
Pixar’s animation style, which has veered toward the gorgeous but generic in recent years, gets a refresh here.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
The high level of craftsmanship that anyone expects from a Pixar film is still here…the gorgeous animation falls somewhere between the studio’s reliable realism and a more stylized world.
— Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture
The character designs are delightful, the physicality of the animals a constant source of amusement, and the lush green backgrounds of the woodsy setting make Hoppers a treat for the eyes.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Visually, the film is stunning, but there’s one specific detail that absolutely blew me away. I truly love how the animation style of the animals changes once Mabel is one of them.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
There is always something visually engaging on-screen, disregarding groundedness for aesthetic pleasure. It is an intersection of animation styles that pops the bubble of Pixar’s in-house model.
— Jay Ledbetter, AwardsWatch
Pixar, the top 3D animation studio in the world, must simultaneously show off its technological advancements in texture and lighting, leading to the uncanny image of broadly caricatured cartoon animals and people with lifelike fur and flesh, like an antique doll with detailed skin—too real to be an evocation, too crude an abstraction to seem real.
— Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
Does it have any problems?
If there’s a chief flaw to Hoppers, it’s that it has so much plot for its 100-minute running time that you wish it could settle down in one place for longer.
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
Because the plot is so silly, the movie rushes through major plot moments, preferring to get right into the action rather than making everything make sense.
— Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture
Logistical character motivations are abandoned from time to time.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Not everything Chong attempts works, but the ambition and effort are to be admired and respected.
— M.N. Miller, Nerd Alert
Should Pixar be making more films like this?
It has the type of innovative energy that the studio needs more of.
— Joshua Mbonu, InSession Film
We need more films like it. Not just great Pixar movies, but great Pixar movies that playfully trash what Disney is doing elsewhere.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
This influence of an artist outside of Pixar’s inner circle may have been exactly what the studio needed, as Chong’s work on Hoppers offers a jolt of creativity the likes of which has not been felt at The House That Woody Built in a good while.
— Jay Ledbetter, AwardsWatch
It’s precisely what the animation studio needed at this time.
— Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture
Hoppers opens in theaters on March 6, 2026.
