'Hoppers (2026)' takes a little while to get going, but it's eventually a really fun, cute and even fairly emotional adventure that's actually a tiny bit unconventional in its plotting. Perhaps it's minor Pixar, particularly in terms of its humour-to-heart ratio, but it's potentially more straightforwardly enjoyable than a lot of their more recent efforts (the difference between it and 'Elio (2025)' is night and day). The animation is lively, colourful and peppered with anime-inspired flair (most notably the protagonist's hair and its ability to flex itself when she gets angry), and the voice work is as solid as you'd expect from an ensemble put together by this studio. The world is refreshingly realistic in its approach to the harsh circle of life inherent to nature's ecosystems, and some of its plot beats are surprisingly bold in their bluntness and their almost brutality. It's also rather funny at times, and should keep you in good spirits even during its least laugh-out-loud segments, and its emotional resonance works nicely potentially precisely because it's more subdued and naturalistic than customary for the studio. It's well-paced, well-designed, well-intentioned, and, well, just quite lovely. Like I say, there's a sense that this is minor Pixar, but it's quite major in terms of modern animated family films. There arguably isn't all that much more to say, but that doesn't mean the picture isn't worth your time. It's entertaining from start to finish, and I had a really good time with it.

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