‘Hoppers’ Promises to Be the Heartwarming Movie We All Need Right Now: “We’re All in This Together” [Exclusive]

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As a critic, I’m already anticipating 2026’s animated offerings, and Disney and Pixar’s Hoppers—their 30th original film—is definitely on my radar. The premise is fascinating: a young girl named Mabel teams up with scientists who’ve created a way for people to experience the world as animals, by transferring their consciousness into robotic bodies. Announced at last year’s D23 Expo, this one boasts a seriously impressive cast, including Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep, and Dave Franco, all bringing these unique characters—both human and animal—to life. It sounds like Pixar is really pushing boundaries with this one, and I’m eager to see how it all plays out.

Like all Pixar films, Hoppers was a huge collaborative effort involving a large team of talented people – from the voice actors to the animators, writers, directors, and producers. In a recent interview with MovieWeb, art director Anna Scott discussed how the movie’s central theme – “We’re all in this together” – also guided the production process. She’s eager for audiences to experience that same sense of unity when the film comes out and believes they’re going to love it.

You know, someone just said that this film is going to really stick with people, and it just hit me how cool that is. I’ve been so focused on making the movie, I hadn’t really thought about how it will land with audiences. I truly think people are going to love it. It’s genuinely funny, but beyond that, I think it has a really important message. The core idea is that we’re all connected – humans, animals, everyone – and I’m really hoping that’s what people take away from watching it.

Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ Hopes to Bring People Together


Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

When Hoppers hits theaters in March, it will face strong competition from Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. However, Pixar hopes to attract audiences by focusing on themes of unity and connection through the characters of Mabel and her friends.

Pixar consistently creates films that are both emotionally impactful and commercially successful, as demonstrated by the huge success of Inside Out 2 in 2024, which earned almost $1.7 billion worldwide. Their next challenge is to achieve similar results with entirely new characters. However, Pixar has a strong track record of making audiences love fresh heroes – like Woody, Buzz, Mike, Sully, Dory, and Wall-E – so there’s good reason to believe Hoppers will continue that tradition.

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Beyond the technical achievements, Scott is beginning to realize the huge impact of her work on this film, a project she and her team have dedicated years to developing. The emotional weight of that journey will likely make Hoppers connect deeply with audiences, particularly young viewers who will identify with the lead character, Mabel. Pixar is aiming for this new movie to reach the same level of success it’s enjoyed for the past thirty years. Hoppers opens in theaters on March 6th, and tickets are on sale now.

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2026-01-30 18:32