The review embargo for Hoppers has just lifted, and the first reviews point to Pixar being back on top form after a handful of recent movies that didn't resonate with audiences in quite the same way as classics like Toy Story, Up, and Wall-E.
As we first reported on Toonado.com, with 53 verdicts counted on Rotten Tomatoes, a 96% score has been generated.
That ties it with Toy Story 4 and Monsters Inc. In fact, Hoppers is only beaten by Coco (97%), Inside Out (98%), Toy Story 3 (98%), Up (98%), Finding Nemo (99%), Toy Story (100%), and Toy Story 2 (100%). That's some pretty great company to be in.
"It shouldn’t all hang together as well as it does, but the movie’s freewheeling plotting is exhilarating, even more so when a frantic chase accelerates the action," writes The Hollywood Reporter, with Variety adding, "'Hoppers' never stops surprising you in rudely antic ways, and that’s the essence of its delight."
Empire notes, "Don’t call it a comeback -- but this is really strong stuff from Pixar: funny, thoughtful, sweet, making for a heartfelt paean to nature, and beavers in particular. Dam good." According to The Times, "There’s lots of fun here, some of the one-liners are exquisite and the helter-skelter finale is delightfully overstuffed." However, they later point out, "Frustratingly, it’s still second-grade Pixar."
io9 counters by explaining, "It does everything you could possibly want from an animated film and then goes above and beyond. The type of film you can easily see yourself watching again and again."
In our ComicBookMovie.com review, we concluded, "Hoppers is another perfect Pixar film that's laugh-out-loud funny and wonderfully heartfelt, boasting a strong, moving message that will stick with you long after the credits roll. Or, to put it another way, ❤️🦫🪵."
All signs point to Pixar being back on top form, though an argument could be made that the studio never really lost its winning ways after Elio, Inside Out 2, and Elemental all scored positive reviews.
In Disney and Pixar's Hoppers, animal lover Mabel (voice of Piper Curda) seizes an opportunity to use a new technology to ‘hop’ her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals.
As she uncovers mysteries in the animal world beyond anything she could have imagined, Mabel befriends charismatic beaver King George (voice of Bobby Moynihan) and must rally the entire animal kingdom to face a major, imminent human-threat: smooth-talking local mayor Jerry Generazzo (voice of Jon Hamm). The all-star voice ensemble also features Meryl Streep, Dave Franco and Kathy Najimy.
Hoppers is directed by Daniel Chong and opens exclusively in theaters on March 6, 2026.