Hoppers Review: A Delightfully Off-Beat Tale of Animal Activism

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In a cinematic world where original ideas seem few and far between one can always bet on the folks at Pixar to be bring something different to the theater. The Disney-owned company has certainly struggled to maintain its supremacy in the animation space, and their last feature, Elio, suffered from a variety of problems both behind and in front of the screen. Their latest feature, Hoppers, though, is Pixar at its best: heartfelt, with memorable, and unafraid to be weird as hell.

Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda) is a young girl desperate to save the idyllic glen where her and her grandmother used to bond. But with the glen set to become part of a highway created by Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), Mabel feels there's nothing she can do. That is until she learns her college professor has crafted a program called "Hoppers," wherein a person's mind can be placed into that of a robot and communicate with the animals. Mabel goes rogue and puts herself into a beaver robot, hoping to convince other beavers to return to the glen and meets and befriends fellow beaver King George (Bobby Moynihan).

Like Elio, and other Pixar characters of late, Mabel – who holds more than a passing resemblance to, and the same last name as, Big Hero 6's lead, Hiro Tanaka – is an extreme loner. Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" plays during her intro which says a lot. We meet her as a little girl, trying to liberate the abused class turtle, along with every other school pet around her. Her mother, whose face is never seen, is content to drop her off at grandma's and not deal with her. This only makes Mabel more isolated. It's never expounded on significantly, but it's clear Mabel has raised herself but animals have always been there for her. Animals don't judge, have ingrained sets of rules that make sense, and aren't out to maliciously hurt others.

Her commitment to save her grandmother's glen is two-fold: to keep her grandmother's legacy alive, and also get more respect for the animals. Curda's voice work is great, giving Mabel an energy and vitality that balances out Mabel's flaws. For all of Mabel's great love for the animals, she often doesn't think about the consequences of her actions, which explodes once Mabel hops into the body of a beaver and meets the pond crew.

Pixar returns to the simplicity of their storytelling. Toy Story asked us, "What happens when toys are left on their own," while Hoppers asks, "What happens if we could talk to animals on their level." Once Mabel enters the forest world, the movie relaxes into a world that has staunch rules, called "pond rules," and celeb anrating why animals are so cool: their mix of wild abandon and death coming around every corner. King George explains there isn't a circle of life so much as the tacit awareness they're all on someone's food chain. "When you gotta eat, eat," he says as a worm we've met for 30 seconds is plucked by a bird.

Where the human characters may feel stock, the various animals all stand out. There's Loaf (Eduardo Franco), a lackadaisical beaver content to be eaten by a bear, and his friend Tom Lizard (Tom Law). Moynihan enters Alan Tudyk territory as the voice of King George, an actor who just seems perfectly suited to the Disney landscape. Moynihan gives off a paternalistic energy to his performance yet is able to flippantly give his character's back story, which sounds a whole lot like The Lion King, for peak laughs. It's these relationships that define Mabel, though it does make the audience feel absolutely nothing towards the other human characters.

Part of Mabel's desire to get the glen back is convincing George to bring together all the animal species for a council meet to take back the forest. The Game of Thrones vibes are heavy here as the other species take their roles as royalty far more seriously than King George. The Insect Queen (Meryl Streep, though it could be anyone thanks to the vocal pitch) and her gummy caterpillar son Titus (Dave Franco) decide it's time to "squish" the humans for all the pain they've inflicted on others which causes Mabel to have to switch sides to save humanity.

This is where the plot truly kicks in, though it's hard to understand Mabel's sudden about face because she has such little community. Her only interactions are with Dr. Sam and Mayor Jerry, one of whom seems like a casual acquaintance and the other someone she strongly dislikes. It seems like Mabel would just be more content staying in the beaver, though returns to Dr. Sam and crew show the process doing more harm on her body the longer she stays in. Regardless, the humor continues at a breakneck pace and remains funny, from Mabel, in her beaver body, typing to Jerry on his iPhone to help him escape, to the variety of different animals tasked with killing him (including a great white shark being taken out of the sea).

The third act becomes an out and out body horror movie involving Titus, becoming a bizarre, anarchic story that is so much fun. Dave Franco gives Titus a manipulative, immature voice to match the character that's incredibly fun. It's enough to make you remember that Mayor Jerry, initially starts out as the villain (and also holds a bit too much similarity in looks and demeanor to Chris Pine's King Magnifico in Wish). The villain switch works, even though it's hard to believe Jerry, as written, would also have as abrupt a personality shift as Mabel.

Hoppers is one of the best Pixar movies in recent years, though the script does feel slight in character motivations. However, the delightful voice cast led by Curda and Moynihan are great, and the movie is at its best when it's weird. Who doesn't love adorable critters? Definitely a return to form, if not an instant classic.

Are you planning to see Hoppers this weekend? Let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

Grade: C+

Hoppers is in theaters Friday

This post is part of The Film Maven free week! All week you'll be reading a mix of posts that include what paid subscribers get regularly!

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