Hoppers
March 3rd, 2026
MOVIE: HOPPERS
STARRING: PIPER CURDA, BOBBY MOYNIHAN, JON HAMM, KATHY NAJIMY, DAVE FRANCO
DIRECTED BY: DANIEL CHONG
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 105 MINUTES
The recent run by Pixar has been underwhelming. Outside of the two post-COVID installments, Luca and Turning Red, the team that brought us classic originals such as WALL-E and Up has fallen back on making sequels (Inside Out 2) or stories that felt like copy-and-paste efforts (Elemental and Soul). Not that every installment has been bad- in fact, outside of the Cars series, it’s rare for Pixar not to make something enjoyable. Hoppers, however, is their biggest swing yet, with a story that feels as zany as a Looney Tunes cartoon and as creative as 1995’s Toy Story. Part environmental message and part science fiction, with an added dash of witty humor, Hoppers is a delightful creation for the entire family to live vicariously through.
Our main character is Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda), a 19-year-old animal lover whose passion was shaped by her close relationship with her late grandmother. Each day, the two of them would sit on a rock by the side of a pond, listening to nature and watching the animals live peacefully in their environment. Those moments brought calm to Mabel’s otherwise hectic world. Now, the city plans to build a highway straight through her beloved pond, scaring the animals away and forcing Mabel to fight against the ambitious Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm). Stopping the construction seems nearly impossible- unless Mabel can bring the animals back to the pond, which would take a miracle of sorts.
That miracle arrives in the form of a science project by her college professor, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy), who has invented a way to place a human’s consciousness into a life-like beaver. When Mabel gets the chance to use this technology, she does so in hopes of befriending the woodland creatures and restoring the pond’s thriving ecosystem. To her surprise- and everyone else’s- the animals already live in harmony under the leadership of King George (Bobby Moynihan), a polite beaver happily guiding the group.
Co-written by director Daniel Chong and Jesse Andrews, Hoppers is such a unique film because of its pure originality and unpredictability. The premise of an Avatar-like adventure is compelling enough, but the animation- filled with adorable critters, including a googly-eyed lizard, a lazy beaver, and one evil caterpillar (voiced by Dave Franco)- heightens both the energy and the hilarity. It’s one of the rare Pixar films that truly feels unlike any of the others.
Hoppers is filled with delightful jokes, reminds us to respect nature, and carries a wonderful message about working together. It has the kind of ingenuity audiences expect from Pixar, and it kept me guessing from moment to moment. It’s that reckless abandon and free-spirited creativity that makes it a “hopping” good time. It also reminded me that beavers might just be the cutest animated creatures of all.
Hoppers is damn good.
3 ½ STARS
HOPPERS IS PLAYING IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE FRIDAY, MARCH 6TH, 2026.
Written by: Leo Brady
