Pixar’s New Movie Debuts With Studio’s Best Rotten Tomatoes Score In 11 Years

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Pixar is jumping for joy with their new movie Hoppers.

The new Pixar film, starring Piper Curda, tells the story of Mabel, a 19-year-old who loves animals and is unexpectedly turned into a robotic beaver. When a developer threatens to destroy the forest to make way for a highway, Mabel teams up with the animals to save their homes.

Early reviews are overwhelmingly positive for Hoppers, giving it a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Although the score may change as more reviews come in—currently based on 48 reviews—this puts it among Pixar’s highest-rated films since 2015’s Inside Out. It’s currently tied with classics like Toy Story 3 and Up.

Critics are widely calling Hoppers a significant success for the studio. They’ve praised its energetic humor and the way it subtly teaches an important lesson – in this case, about climate change.

I was so excited to read Gregory Nussen’s review of Hoppers on ScreenRant, and it didn’t disappoint! He actually calls it one of Pixar’s best films in years, even though he admits it’s wonderfully weird. He says Daniel Chong’s direction is energetic, funny, and tackles climate change in a way that’s definitely outside the norm for kids’ movies. But that doesn’t make it a bad thing – in fact, he describes the film as generous-spirited and genuinely delightful. It sounds amazing!

Rated 7 out of 10, Hoppers feels like a fresh step for Pixar, but it’s also a delightful throwback to classic storytelling. It confidently trusts kids to understand meaningful themes while still being incredibly funny.

As a huge Pixar fan, I’m absolutely thrilled with how everyone is loving Hoppers! It’s such a relief to see them back on top. Pixar has given us so many incredible films – Toy Story, WALL-E, Ratatouille – but things have been tough since 2020 when the pandemic really impacted the movie business. This success feels especially good after a difficult few years.

As a huge Pixar fan, I really enjoyed movies like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red – even though they came out on streaming or went straight to streaming. Everyone seemed to love them! But things got a little rocky with Lightyear, the Toy Story spin-off. It just didn’t connect with audiences the way Pixar usually does, and sadly, it didn’t do well at the box office, only making around $226.4 million.

Despite the success of films like Inside Out 2 and the surprising comeback of Elemental, Pixar’s latest original movie, Elio, didn’t perform well at the box office, earning only $154 million. While Elio received fairly positive reviews (scoring 83%), many felt it didn’t live up to Pixar’s usual high standards, leading to concerns that the studio may be losing its creative edge.

The movie stars Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, and Dave France. Hoppers is Daniel Chong’s first time directing a Pixar film, having previously contributed to Turning Red, Lightyear, and Elemental as a creative team member. The screenplay is by Jesse Andrews, who also wrote Pixar’s 2021 film, Luca.

Hoppers will release in theaters on March 5, 2026.

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2026-03-02 21:11