Pixar is back. And I mean back.
Hoppers, the studio's latest original film, hit theaters this weekend with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and the kind of critical acclaim that's been conspicuously absent from Pixar's recent output. Directed by Daniel Chong, the film follows a young scientist named Mabel who uses experimental technology to transfer her consciousness into robotic animals—and discovers an ecological conspiracy that threatens the natural world.
It's Avatar meets Inception meets beavers. And somehow, it works.
The Wrap's William Bibbiani called it "Pixar's best film since Coco," praising its willingness to "playfully trash what Disney is doing elsewhere." Roger Ebert's Nell Minow awarded it a perfect four stars, highlighting the film's "empathy for others of all species" and its sensitive handling of grief.
What's most striking about Hoppers is that it feels like Pixar remembering what made it special in the first place: original stories with big ideas and small emotional beats. After years of sequels—Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, Lightyear—the studio finally greenlit something that wasn't designed to sell toys based on existing IP.
And audiences are responding. Slash Film's BJ Colangelo wrote that the film while called it
