Triumph of the toons: How animation came to rule the box office

Beaverton is home to a thriving colony of the furry, wood-chewing creatures. The mayor, however, doesn’t give a dam: He decides their forest habitat should be dislodged to make room for a freeway. Mabel, a teenage environmental activist, is outraged by these plans but faces apathy from the locals. After she discovers an experimental science project – one that allows her to “hop” her consciousness from her body into that of a robotic beaver – she befriends the animals and galvanises them to fight tooth and claw.

This is the zany premise of Hoppers, a new film which was released on March 6. It is one of a string of highly anticipated animated movies coming soon to cinemas: Indeed, an unlikely coalition of beasts, toys and Italian plumbers may make 2026 the genre’s best-ever year. This summer there will be new instalments in the lucrative Despicable Me and Paw Patrol franchises, not to mention The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Toy Story 5 (both of which are expected to exceed US$1 billion – S$1.28 billion – in ticket sales). Goat, which imagines what would happen if various hoofed animals were allowed to play professional sport, has made US$130 million since its February release, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year so far.