By George & Josh Bate
Despite earning continued critical acclaim for its myriad of films, Pixar has faced uncharacteristic hiccups in recent years. The juggernaut of animated filmmaking known for emotionally rich and universally beloved movies like Toy Story, Up, and The Incredibles has dwindled in the eyes of some, who claim that a dependence on sequels, more thematically routine original films, and increased output have damaged the once-pristine image of the Pixar brand. Hoppers, the studio’s latest effort, aims to ameliorate for these perceived missteps and triumphs overwhelmingly with a heartwarming, witty, and inventive tale championing found family and a strong environmental message.
From director Daniel Chong (We Bare Bears) and writer Jesse Andrews (Luca), Hoppers follows ferociously passionate animal-lover Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda). After the death of her beloved Grandma Tanaka (voiced by Karen Huie), Mabel finds peace in the beautifully tranquil glade she spent much of her upbringing immersed in with her grandmother. That is, until plans to build a new highway cause the animals who once occupied the glade to flee ahead of construction beginning. While trying to save the glade, Mabel stumbles upon a new technology that allows her consciousness to “hop” into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate freely with other animals. Now, Mabel has to team up with other members of the animal kingdom, including the endearing beaver leader King George (voiced by Bobby Moynihan), to prevent the destruction of the nature that she and her grandmother bonded so closely over.
Somewhat akin to the emotionally devastating prologue of Up, Hoppers begins with a similarly touching yet gut-wrenching beginning. The ferocious young Mabel immediately earns the audience’s sympathy as she is introduced amidst a botched attempt to rescue a variety of captive animals from her school. Saddened by her failure to care for the creatures, Mabel is consoled by her grandmother, who mindfully teaches her to find peace and calm through nature – by reminding oneself that they are a part of something far bigger than themselves. A montage that flashes through the years sees Mabel find solace in the glade near her grandma’s home, until she is eventually alone, now bearing the jacket her grandma always wore. The film doesn’t need to spell it out to convey that Mabel has lost her grandmother and, in turn, hooked the viewer almost instantly with a character we deeply care for and emotionally connect to.
Throughout the frenetic journey that ensues, Mabel remains a compelling and genuinely likable protagonist. Piper Curda brings remarkable passion and nuance to her voice performance, capturing Mabel’s kindness to creatures and frustration toward humans with emotional depth and subtlety. Pixar has a penchant for developing strong lead characters to get behind, but Mabel may be our favorite in recent years. She’s combative, impatient, and a bit abrasive at times but also unconditionally warm and packing a jovial personality. This combination of traits could easily go out-of-balance and resulted in a character too outrageous and intense. Thankfully, that’s not the case as Curda deftly navigates the multitude of Mabel’s personality traits and ensures that you never stop loving her more and more.
With investment in Mabel’s arc easily affirmed, Hoppers propels into a delightfully weird and original story. The premise borrows from other body-swapping movies like Freaky Friday and Avatar, but does so in a decidedly original manner by having our lead character’s consciousness transfer into the body of an animal. This jumping-off point leads to countless laughs as Mabel becomes accustomed to the hilarious idiosyncrasies of the animal kingdom. She learns “pond rules” (the lite Pixar equivalent of the rules in Fight Club), she becomes privy to conversations between species, and she grows close to the very creatures she and her grandmother found solace in for so long.
Director Daniel Chong, writer Jesse Andrews, and the entire team find a creative way to quickly and visually convey this gargantuan transition for Mabel. To regular humans, all the animals have little black pupils and make cute squealing noises. But to Mabel, whose consciousness is now in a robot beaver, all the animals now emote fully with expressive, wide eyes and more human features. It’s a seemingly menial call from the filmmakers, but one that deftly portrays how the hopping technology operates and the distinction between the animals’ actual behavior and humans’ perception of them.
Chong, Andrews, and company also excel in being unafraid to bask in the bizarre. They wholeheartedly embrace the sheer strangeness of Mabel’s situation and all of the weird character interactions that follow, in particular those between Mabel and King George, voiced by Bobby Moynihan. King George is the leader of the pond and the king of the mammals, who oversees all those who have been displaced by Mayor Jerry’s (Jon Hamm) highway project. A lifelong bachelor sporting a receding hairline, chubby belly, and undeniable optimism, King George makes the perfect companion for Mabel’s pursuit of environmental justice and brings incredible charm, humor, and oddity to the film.
Hoppers accompanies its original narrative with subtle reverence for tons of other movies. The Birds, Jaws, Avatar, Mission: Impossible, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are just some of the classic pieces of cinema that the new Pixar movie pays homage to, but never in an overbearing or overly simplistic way. This reference speaks to the film’s originality more broadly – it, of course, features similarities to other films and yet it feels so creative and distinctly Pixar. The kind of film only Pixar could make.
The film also commendably champions an important environmental message. Contrary to a report in The Hollywood Reporter that filmmakers were told to “downplay” the film’s “planned message of environmentalism,” Hoppers doesn’t flinch in its willingness to condemn humanity’s encroachment of the natural world. Mabel herself harbors a distrust of humans for their abuse of animals, which feels earned and never cynical or misplaced. The film may not do anything particularly unique or nuanced with its environmentalist commentary, although it should be applauded for couching such commentary in a tentpole, big studio release.
Unfortunately, Hoppers loses its way somewhat in a third act that adds new characters and story elements to the mix. While the intent – to escalate tension and stakes – is clear, it comes at the cost of a more localized, small-scale, and intimate story. There’s simply a few too many components, secondary antagonists, and body hopping introduced, which, collectively, threaten to overstuff an otherwise streamlined tale and create questionable villains out of several characters. Chong’s film doesn’t entirely collapse under the weight of these third act ambitions, even if they cause the emotional throughline and potent environmental message to step aside for a while.
Hoppers eventually recovers from its third act stumbles with a powerful resolution, however. As a meditation of grief and recovering from loss by forging new families, the Pixar release strikes a strong emotional chord and bookends its primary character arc in touching fashion. And, ultimately, that’s what viewers want from a Pixar movie – to laugh, be in awe of animation, and to shed a tear or two, all of which Hoppers excels triumphantly with.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
Hoppers is the best Pixar original film in nearly a decade, since 2017’s Coco. The new film from director Daniel Chong and screenwriter Jesse Andrews quickly earns audience investment with a powerful beginning that evokes the emotions of Up’s prologue and introduces us to the ferocious, passionate, and infinitely likable Mabel, one of our favorite new Pixar characters in years. Piper Curda brings remarkable charm and personality to Mabel, capturing her intensity and desire for justice without ever losing sight of an unconditional kindness that underlies it all. With an established protagonist to easily root for, Hoppers propels forward with a delightfully weird and frenetic narrative that makes creative use of its body-swapping premise and champions an important environmental message. Although the film loses its way in a third act overstuffed with too many new characters and story elements, it recovers for a resounding conclusion that strikes a strong emotional chord. Ultimately, Hoppers delivers everything you want from a Pixar movie – there’s wit, vibrant animation, and more than a few opportunities to shed a tear or two. Even the most cynical of recent Pixar naysayers will have a difficult time disliking the immensely likable Hoppers.