Hoppers

[PatchofBlue]

Unfortunately, PIXAR don't really make those calls themselves, they and WDAS both answer to larger Disney. I don't think they really see any of the recent originals from WDAS or PIXAR that have been hit hard since the pandemic/streaming took over as "successful" aside from Encanto. The differences between their performances is negligible.

I think your conclusion is largely, regrettably, accurate. (Regrettable just because the conclusion itself is unfavorable.)

But something like the false start of this movie poses some questions. "Hoppers" had a better than expected blast-off, which both Pixar and journalists keyed on, around the time that figures like Docter were sort of publicly washing their hands of movies like "Elemental," like Pixar had finally cracked the code and "Hoppers" was going to lead them out of the pits of their mistakes.

And so the fact that their golden boy is actually going to land behind that movie puts them in kind of an awkward position. Like, they counted their chickens before they hatched. But it could also present a lesson.

There have been consistent ceilings to how well their post-pandemic films have performed. So either, they've all been just rotten films. Or, there's some kind of error with the method of delivery that they need to evaluate if they want their films to perform better. And as someone who has generally liked the output of both Pixar and WDAS since Disney+ launched, I have definite opinions about what the answer is.

[Disney's Divinity]

I use the world "negligible," because ultimately it is understandable PIXAR's performances are a tad higher than WDAS' temporarily because WDAS is the one that took the bullet for Chapek's PR issues with Strange World's entire creation (and lack of push) being built around him. Because of that, their originals will take a touch longer to grow back up than PIXAR, but ultimately the difference is minimal.

I think the company is much kinder to Raya, Encanto, Luca, and Turning Red than later originals because they were more directly hit by the pandemic--Raya worst of all. Leaving aside Encanto, which already grabbed attention back then, I think those films have grown more goodwill over time than most of the originals that followed (partly, imo, because they overdoing the course-correcting by dumbing things a little too much). We know a sequel to Encanto is a lock, and hopefully when its performance shows a similar massive jump in petformance between original and sequel at the box office that Moana and Moana 2 did (from 600 million to a billion), they'll experiment with a sequel to one of those others, giving them an opportunity at redeeming a property or two that they put a lit into. Raya makes the most sense with the world being built with a franchise in mind to begin with and feeling like most of those 2010s Revival films. I could see a sequel to Turning Red that ages the characters to teenagers possibly working, but it's not the type of film where external conflict can easily be introduced to create new story like with Raya, it's more of an internal conflict type of story. Luca, sort of the same. I guess that ties into a lot of PIXAR's recent stories being labeled "too personal" behind the scenes--they feel small and internal, which is not conducive to sequels and franchise-building which was the whole purpose Disney moved into 3D from 2D. They like that easy franchise money that comes from remakes and sequels.

[PatchofBlue]

I don't know that the personal-ness of 2020s Pixar movies would have done much to inhibit follow-ups. I'd agree that "Turning Red" and maybe "Luca" could have had a harder time. But with something like "ONWARD," they would hypothetically have no problems landing on some kind of fantasy-quest incentive tied into, I don't know, Ian applying for college. "Elio," all they need is some reason for them to beam him back up to the spaceship. And a sequel for "Elemental" was explored with Ember and Wade having a steam-baby.
https://thedirect.com/article/elemental ... -exclusive

[Sotiris]

Disney has praised Hoppers in their second-quarter earnings report.

Even as we invest in existing franchises, we know the importance of taking creative risks to build new ones. Hoppers, from Pixar, is a strong example of our focus on original IP, and we are pleased with its critical reception and the enthusiasm with which fans have embraced the story and characters.

Source: https://s206.q4cdn.com/979796730/files/ ... rnings.pdf

[PatchofBlue]

https://screenrant.com/pixar-hoppers-mo ... june-2026/

Landing on Disney+ on June 3rd

After they announced a six month window for "Fire & Ash," I was hoping this movie would have a longer window also. Maybe not even as long as "Fire & Ash," but longer than their usual 3 month span. Yet here it comes right on schedule. Oh, well.

[Disney Duster]

I waited to see this movie on Disney+ because I don’t have much money to spend on movies. I was interested in this movie from the first trailer. I loved this movie! It was very fun and funny and cute! It was not really profound like Pixar’s top tier movies, but I count it perhaps just under their very best because it is such a feel good movie. A movie that makes you feel joy can be important, too.

I was worried with the part where all the animals were together and working out with the beaver king the film would be dumb and not make sense, but everything after that made perfect sense to me. Also, I did find there to be moments of pathos, namely when George wonders what happened to beaver!Mabel after he saw her hop back into her human body for the first time, and the end with them on the rock and the “red heart”s! Also, I thought Mabel killed the moth queen accidentally, Farerb? And I had no idea that was Meryl Streep till I read it here!

I thought this was a great movie. Yes, it is different from Pixar’s usual, but a good movie is a good movie, I say.