Pixar is back, and “Hoppers” could make a big leap into the year’s best films.
(L-R): Ellen Bear (voice of Melissa Villaseñor), Dragonfly, Loaf (voice of Eduardo Franco), Mabel Beaver (voice of Piper Curda), Tom Lizard (voice of Tom Law), King George (voice of Bobby Moynihan), Lucy Deer, and Barbara Duck in Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers,” releasing in U.S. theaters March 6, 2026.
The studio debuted a new trailer during Super Bowl LX, teasing a full buffet of forest-critter chaos ahead of its theatrical release on March 6, 2026. It’s also set to premiere at the New York International Children’s Film Festival on February 28, giving audiences an early chance to catch Pixar’s latest original before it hops into wide release.
Hoppers takes place in a world where scientists have figured out how to “hop” human minds into robotic animal bodies. The story follows Mabel (Piper Curda), a teenage animal lover who hops into a beaver body to team up with local wildlife and stop a construction project before it wipes out their home. It’s a classic Pixar setup with a wonderfully unhinged sci-fi twist: one part nature-doc curiosity, one part identity crisis, and one part “why is this so emotionally serious for a movie about a robot beaver.”
Curda leads as Mabel, with Bobby Moynihan and Jon Hamm in key roles as the crown-wearing beaver King George and Mayor Jerry, respectively. And yes, the cast has real “wait, they got who?” energy. Meryl Streep headlines as the Insect Queen, while Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Aparna Nancherla, and Sam Richardson round out the film’s marquee supporting voices.
There’s also a fun SNL-adjacent pocket of the ensemble, including Ego Nwodim, Melissa Villaseñor, and Vanessa Bayer, plus additional voice work from Isiah Whitlock Jr., Eduardo Franco, Steve Purcell, Nichole Sakura, Karen Huie, Tom Law, and Demetri Martin.
The timing is notable for Pixar. “Hoppers” arrives after “Inside Out 2” became a major box office win for the studio and after “Elio” struggled theatrically, signaling just how much Pixar’s “originals vs sequels” conversation still hangs over each new release.
