Animal Avatar? Pixar's Next Film Hoppers Unveils First Trailer and Poster!
Pixar's latest film, Elio, was released in Canada last month, and today, the first trailer for their next movie, Hoppers, was released:
“Hoppers,” to be released in North America on March 6th, 2026, is directed Daniel Chong (We Bare Bears: The Movie) and written by him and Jesse Andrews (Luca). The voice cast includes Piper Curda, comedian Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) and Emmy winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men). In this film, scientists have found a way to transfer human consciousness into robotic animals, allowing them to communicate with other animals in animal form. Young nature enthusiast Mabel (Piper Curda) is trying to stop local mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm) from building a highway that will destroy her hometown's forest. Thanks to a secret consciousness transfer experiment, Mabel is able to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver and travels to a pond, where she meets a group of animal refugees affected by industrialization. There, she tries to persuade the animals, led by the majestic Beaver King George (Bobby Moynihan), to join her in stopping the highway construction. The film's technology involving consciousness transfer bears a strong resemblance to the premise of Avatar, so it's no surprise the movie itself jokingly points out that this technology is "nothing like Avatar."
In addition to the trailer, Pixar also released the first official poster:
Pixar's most recent original film, Elio, opened in North America last month with lower-than-expected box office results, taking in only about $20 million on its opening weekend, making it Pixar's lowest-grossing opening weekend film to date. Pixar's previous original film, Elemental, also had a lower-than-expected opening weekend but saw sustained audience attendance, ultimately grossing nearly $500 million worldwide. However, Elio has only reached $120 million at the box office after nearly a month in theaters, and with two superhero films set to release this month, the outlook is not optimistic.
Given this recent box office underperformance, coupled with the immense success of last year's Inside Out 2, which became the highest-grossing film of the year, it remains to be seen if Pixar will further shift its strategy to rely more heavily on sequels to popular franchises. Indeed, Pixar is slated to release several sequels in the coming years, including Toy Story 5 in June of next year, Incredibles 3 in 2028, and Coco 2 in 2029.
If you are interested in upcoming movies to be released in Canada, please visit the Movie Release Schedule page on this website!
Photo and Source: Pixar