Hoppers (2026)
Parents are still taking their kids to the movies, incredible news.
There’s something always comfortingly familiar about a new Pixar release, and Hoppers is no exception. It’s bright, busy, heartfelt, and yes, built around a very familiar moral lesson, but it delivers it with enough charm and humour that you don’t really mind.
Hoppers follows a young scientist who finds herself inhabiting the body of a beaver, navigating both the natural world and the human one she’s temporarily left behind. As she grapples with identity, connection, and responsibility, the film is always building toward a typically oversized Pixar finale.
Everything we’ve come to expect with Pixar is here. The animation, particularly that of the animals, is genuinely delightful, full of personality and small, expressive details that often carry entire jokes without a word being spoken. The sci-fi concept is fun and engaging.
Voice performance-wise, Dave Franco absolutely steals the show as the movie’s main villain Titus, a caterpillar turned evil butterfly. His voice work is totally chaotic and funny; he along with the rest of the cast slips into the exact tone this kind of film needs.
Narratively, it’s classic Pixar, but I don't mind if they keep delivering generic formulas under the mask of bright new ideas as long as they keep being as funny and heartfelt as this film. Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel if it still spins this smoothly.
The best part of this experience wasn’t even on the screen. It was a packed Sunday morning session, full of kids absolutely losing it with laughter (and parents for that matter, Pixar still caters to all generations so incredibly well). There’s something to cherish about that shared movie-going experience, and if films like Hoppers are what keep it alive, then Pixar, keep fighting the good fight.