Pixar Studios has a reason to celebrate the original animated film Hoppers with an $88 million global opening. Sitting in the number one spot, it is the biggest opening for an animated film and a Pixar original since Coco in 2017.
Hoppers earned $46 million in the United States and $42 million overseas. It also garnered stellar reviews from audiences, with a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A on CinemaScore.
The original Pixar animation is set to be the studio’s first original hit in nearly a decade. In 2017, Coco opened with $50 million and earned a total of $823 million worldwide.
Other Pixar Hits
It seems audiences have turned out in full force for Pixar sequels. Inside Out 2 grossed $1.68 billion in 2024, and Zootopia 2 has racked up $1.86 billion since Thanksgiving, but originals have not done so well.
Pixar’s 2025 attempt, Elio, made $154 million at the box office against a $150 million budget. However, PG films seem to enjoy remarkable staying power, according to Variety. Zootopia 2 ranked among the top 10 on box office charts for 14 weekends.
David A. Gross is head of the movie consulting firm Franchose Entertainment Research, and he says, “When Disney and Pixar have a picture that delivers, they set it up for the long run. It gives positive word-of-mouth time to circulate… families and groups have a chance to plan a visit, and kids return for repeat viewing. With spring holidays rolling out over the next few weeks, this should be a good run.”
Pixar spent $150 million to create Hoppers, which is more expensive than rivals that are created overseas. Hoppers is directed by Daniel Chong and follows animal lover Mabel, whose mind is transferred into a lifelike robotic beaver to communicate with fellow creatures and save their habitat from destruction,” according to Variety.
‘Hoppers’ Storyline
Piper Curda is the voice of Mabel Tanaka, who is a 19-year-old college student, misfit, and environmental activist living in the woodsy suburban town of Beaverton.
Mabel prefers animals to people and inherited her love of nature from her late grandmother. All Mabel wants to do is protect the forest glade, he favorite place.
Jerry, the mayor, voiced by Jon Hamm, wants to put a highway through the area.
Mabel is alarmed when she discovers all the animals have vanished from the area, including the beavers who made the glade a haven for wildlife.
She investigates the situation and discovers a high-tech experiment conducted by her biology professor, Dr. Sam, voiced by Kathy Najimy.
Dr. Sam’s experiment is called Hoppers because it allows a human mind to enter into the body of a robot animal that can pass itself off as an actual animal and communicate with real creatures.
Mable hops into a robot beaver and heads off deep into the forest, hoping to convince the animals to return to the glade.
She encounters a community comprised of birds, rabbits, raccoons, a grumpy bear, and beavers. Naive beaver King George, voiced by Bobby Moynihan, has no idea Mabel is not a real beaver and quickly takes a shine to her.
Her efforts to discover why the animals left the glade continuously find Mabel and the animals in sticky situations.
As the movie continues, NPR reports it becomes even funnier and more surreal with the mind-bending, body-swapping premise with obvious shades of Avatar.
Additionally, there are references to The Birds and Jaws. NPR says Hoppers asks the question: “What would happen if animals were fully aware of what humans have done to the planet — and suddenly in a position to do something about it?
‘Hoppers’ Comments
Disney Entertainment’s co-chairman Alan Bergman says, “This is a fantastic original film from the incredible team at Pixar, and it’s wonderful to see audiences coming out with their friends and families to enjoy it together.”
“Sources:
Deadline: Pixar Originals Rebound With ‘Hoppers’ At $88M WW, Audiences Divorce ‘The Bride’
Boxoffice Pro: Weekend Box Office: HOPPERS Jumps to Biggest Original Animated Opening Since COCO
Variety: Box Office: ‘The Bride!’ Bombs With $7 Million Opening Weekend, Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ Scores $46 Million Debut
Featured Image Courtesy of Richard Towell’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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