The 2026 movie slate has been a tug-of-war between the safety of the "Sequel Industrial Complex" and a few genuinely weird, high-risk swings that actually paid off. If you’re looking for the short answer: The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 is the polished victory lap everyone expected, but Pixar’s Hoppers is the movie your kids will actually still be talking about in three years.
TL;DR: So far, 2026 is defined by high-floor sequels like The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 and Toy Story 5—both are great, safe theater trips. For a more original experience, Pixar’s Hoppers is the standout "weird" hit of the spring. Looking ahead, the live-action Moana is set to drop later this month and looks massive. Check our best movies for kids list for the full age-by-age breakdown.
The first half of this year felt like a giant reunion. Hollywood leaned hard into what works, and while that can feel cynical, the execution on these two was high enough to earn the ticket price.
Illumination didn't overthink this. If the first movie was an introduction to the Mushroom Kingdom, the sequel is a deep dive into the "lore" that hits every nostalgia button parents have while keeping the pace fast enough for a five-year-old. It’s loud, it’s bright, and it’s effectively a 90-minute commercial for the next Nintendo World expansion—but it’s a good one. It doesn’t try to be "prestige" animation; it just wants to be fun.
There was a lot of "Do we really need this?" energy leading up to the June release. After the definitive ending of 4, the bar was high. The pivot this time—focusing on the toys’ struggle against the lure of electronics and tablets—is a meta-commentary on the very thing Screenwise parents deal with every day. It’s a bit more somber than the earlier entries, but it handles the "obsolescence" theme with the kind of intentionality that makes for great post-movie car conversations.
While the sequels were raking in the cash, the real creative win of 2026 happened in March.
This is the "brain-swap" movie that could have been a disaster but ended up being a masterclass in high-concept storytelling. The premise—a girl hops her consciousness into a robotic beaver to embed with real animals—is peak "weird Pixar." It’s refreshing because it’s not a franchise. It’s a standalone story about empathy and the natural world that doesn’t feel like it was written by a marketing committee. If your kid is tired of the same three character archetypes, this is the one to seek out.
Released in April, this was the most talked-about movie on the playground for two months. It’s a "live-action" take on a blocky world, which is a choice that still feels jarring to look at.
The movie is essentially a chaos-comedy. Jack Black does his Jack Black thing, and while the plot is paper-thin, it captures the vibe of the game—the randomness, the building, the "why did I just do that?" energy. It’s not "cinema," but it understands its audience. The real value here isn't the movie itself; it's how it feeds back into the Minecraft social world. Kids aren't just watching it; they're going back to their servers to recreate the builds they saw on screen.
Since it’s only July 1, there are a few massive titles we haven't seen yet but are tracking closely based on the first looks.
Dropping July 10, this is the big gamble of the summer. The Rock is back as Maui, and from the trailers, the scale looks enormous. Transitioning the vibrant, fluid animation of the original into a photorealistic live-action setting is a huge technical lift. Based on the footage, they’re leaning heavily into the cultural roots and the scale of the ocean. It’s expected to be the dominant family movie of the next three months.
It releases today, and the hype is inescapable. After a decade-plus hiatus, the original cast is back. The early buzz suggests it’s taking a page out of the Puss in Boots: The Last Wish book—meaning a more stylized animation look and a slightly sharper, more self-aware sense of humor. We’ll see if it can recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle snark of the first two movies without feeling like a "legacy sequel" cash grab.
Don't just let the credits roll and head to the food court. The best part of the 2026 slate is how much it overlaps with what kids are already doing.
- The "Why" of the Sequel: Ask your kids why they think Buzz and Woody keep coming back. Is it because they have more stories to tell, or because we just like seeing them? It’s a great way to start talking about how media is made.
- From Screen to Sandbox: If they loved the Minecraft movie, challenge them to build a "movie set" in their own world. It turns passive viewing into active creation.
- The Originality Test: After seeing Hoppers, ask them what other animals would be fun to "hop" into. It’s a simple imagination exercise that reinforces the movie’s themes of perspective.
Q: Is Toy Story 5 too sad for younger kids? It’s emotional, but not "traumatizing." It deals with themes of being replaced by tech, which might fly over the heads of toddlers but will definitely hit home for elementary-aged kids. It’s less scary than the incinerator scene in 3, but more existential.
Q: Do I need to have played the games to enjoy the Mario sequel? Not at all. The movie is designed to be a standalone spectacle. If you know who Mario and Luigi are, you’re 90% of the way there. The other 10% is just spotting the background cameos.
Q: What age is the live-action Moana for? Based on the original and the trailers, it’s aiming for the same "all-ages" sweet spot. However, live-action "monsters" (like a realistic Te Kā) can sometimes be more intense for preschoolers than their animated versions.
2026 hasn't been a year of massive surprises, but it has been a year of high-quality execution. You can't go wrong with the big sequels, but if you want to be the parent who finds the "hidden gem," make time for Hoppers.
For more ideas on what to watch next, check out our best movies for kids or digital guide for elementary school.
