Topline
Pixar’s new film, “Hoppers,” is earning raves from critics as the animation studio seeks a return to box office success with original stories, as most of Pixar’s post-pandemic efforts—save for the anticipated sequel “Inside Out 2”—haven’t matched its previous track record of success.
“Hoppers” opens in theaters Friday.
Disney/Pixar
Key Facts
“Hoppers” has a near-perfect 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes as of Monday afternoon, making it Pixar’s best-reviewed movie since “Coco” also earned a 97% in 2017 and “Inside Out” achieved a 98% score in 2015.
The film, which boasts a voice cast including Piper Curda, Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, Kathy Najimy and Dave Franco, opens in theaters Friday.
“Hoppers” follows a young student who uses her professor’s newly developed technology to transfer her consciousness to a beaver, after which she must rally animals to stop a developer seeking to build a highway that may threaten wildlife.
“Hoppers” is Pixar’s first film since “Elio” flopped in theaters last year, earning the lowest-ever opening weekend gross for a Pixar film and barely outgrossing its $150 million budget.
Early projections suggest “Hoppers” could double what “Elio” made in its first weekend, with film industry trade publication Boxoffice Pro projecting it could make between $40 million and $50 million in its first weekend.
How Have Pixar’s Latest Movies Fared At The Box Office?
Pixar’s releases since the Covid-19 pandemic upended moviegoing have largely earned either middling box office results or were outright flops, with the exception of “Inside Out 2,” the highly anticipated sequel to one of its biggest hits. Though “Inside Out 2” grossed nearly $1.7 billion in 2024, briefly becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, Pixar has struggled to attract audiences to its original, non-sequel stories. “Elio” grossed just $154 million last year on a $150 million budget, earning an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, a strong result but far from the highs of Pixar’s best-rated films. Pixar’s 2023 movie, “Elemental,” grossed nearly $500 million on a $200 million budget, thanks largely to an enduring performance at the box office; its opening was described by Variety as “disastrous,” as it grossed under $30 million in its first weekend. “Lightyear,” released in 2022, was considered a box office bomb, grossing just $226 million on a $200 million budget. Deadline estimated “Lightyear” lost $106 million for Pixar. “Onward” grossed only $141 million in 2020, though its theatrical run was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic, while a handful of movies—“Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red”—debuted on Disney+ while theaters were mostly shut down. Pixar releases pre-pandemic regularly grossed upwards of $500 million. “Incredibles 2” (2018) and “Toy Story 4” (2019) cleared $1 billion each, while non-sequels like “Coco” (grossed $814 million in 2017) and “Inside Out” (made $857 million in 2015) also found major success.
Why Are Pixar Movies Struggling To Find Audiences?
Studios at large have struggled to make original movies, not tied to existing franchises, click with audiences in the post-pandemic moviegoing era. David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research told Variety the “bar has been set higher for a number of genres, including family films,” after the pandemic, adding, “It’s been hard to create something new with animation. Audiences want more of the same, or something very different.” Some analysts have said Pixar’s failure to launch a successful new franchise in recent years could be bad for the studio moving forward. “You need to be launching new franchises to keep the pipeline fresh,” Doug Creutz, senior media and entertainment analyst at TD Cowen, told the Los Angeles Times, noting “original animated films have just been getting killed at the box office” since the pandemic, regardless of quality. “If you’re trying to grow the business, you need new content, you need new franchises, you need new things for people to be excited about,” Creutz said.
Tangent
As original films have struggled to make a dent in the box office, movies based on familiar intellectual property have thrived. Nearly all of the biggest movies of 2025 were sequels, remakes or movies based on popular IP, including all of the five highest-grossing releases: “A Minecraft Movie,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Superman,” “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and “Zootopia 2.” “Sinners” is the only movie in last year’s top 10 grossing films to not be tied to an existing franchise.
What Are Critics Saying About “hoppers”?
Several critics have called “Hoppers” the best Pixar movie in years. Wilson Chapman, critic for IndieWire, said “Hoppers” is Pixar’s “best new release in a solid decade,” citing an improved animation style over the studio’s previous films and “pitch-perfect comic timing.” William Bibbiani, a critic for The Wrap, called it Pixar’s best release since “Coco” in 2017. Bibbiani praised the movie as “funny, clever, kind, playfully dark and wonderfully weird,” with an imaginative plot that “concocts wild new ways to break its story open.” Variety critic Owen Gleiberman said “Hoppers” is “in the first rank of Pixar movies,” praising the movie’s twists and “surrealist” plot.
What To Watch For
Pixar could soon score a hit with “Toy Story 5,” which opens in theaters in June. The last two installments—“Toy Story 3” in 2010, and “Toy Story 4” in 2019—both grossed more than $1 billion each worldwide.
Further Reading
Pixar needs original animated hits. They’re much harder to come by at the box office (Los Angeles Times)
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