After years of working for Pixar as a story artist and creative team member, Daniel Chong (We Bare Bears) finally takes the lead on his own written and directed movie with Hoppers. Pixar’s reputation over the years has certainly faltered from its once great name, but I think they’ve created something special with this one, let’s talk about it!

Plot

The basic plot of Hoppers revolves around the outspoken rebel college student Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) and her unwavering love for nature, which she gained from her grandmother at a young age. When the childhood pond that the two would visit is in the midst of being torn apart for a new highway by Mayor Jerry (John Hamm), Mabel takes it upon herself to find a way to bring beavers back to the pond, as it is said that is the way wildlife returns. 

The story then takes an interesting turn when it seems that a beaver is finally returning to the pond, only to be stolen by a mysterious van. Upon chasing after the vehicle, Mabel discovers that her college professor, Dr. Fairfax (Kathy Najimy) has created a technology in which humans can have their minds transferred into a robot animal… but definitely nothing like Avatar. Dr. Fairfax does this in hopes of studying animals more closely. However, Mabel decides to use the technology for herself to convince the animals to take back what is rightfully theirs. 

The movie has a great mix of sci-fi, comedy, and most importantly, as Pixar films always have, deeply emotional storytelling. While you may find yourself laughing at one scene, you are tearing up at another 5 minutes later. 

All Hail King George

There are some great stand out characters in Hoppers such as Titus (Dave Franco) and Conner (Sam Richardson). However, none stand out more than the top beaver himself, King George (Bobby Moynihan). While Mabel is a character that believes in taking down the establishment by any means necessary, King George stands on the opposite end of the spectrum, believing that “everyone has some good in them.” The two are perfect foils for each other and both have to battle with their hard-lined belief system. Putting themes aside for a second (I’ll talk about those later on) Moynihan does a fantastic job at bringing King George to life with his comedy chops. He was the perfect pick for this easy going, born into it, leader of the animals. 

Animation

It seems that Pixar is not going away from the “bean mouth” animation style that has been prevalent in their recent releases such as Luca, Turning Red, and Elio. I think the thing that bothers me most about the style is that it doesn’t feel like Pixar to me. For some reason, it has a more kid-like feel to it than the traditional style of Pixar movies like Brave and The Incredibles. However, I am able to understand that that is the Pixar that I grew up with and animation styles are constantly changing. So, in a way, this new “bean mouth” style does have a Pixar feel to it, just not the one that I was raised on. 

Themes

The thing that I love most about Pixar films is the numerous themes that they deal with. It is the reason why I feel that Pixar stands at the top of children’s film companies. They give us laughs while also teaching us valuable lessons. Per usual with Pixar, Hoppers’ major themes revolve around nature, the greed of humans, sticking up for what is right and togetherness. 

As for nature, Hoppers succeeds in its ability to make you care about animals. Whether it be the cute animation, the silly antics, or a little bit of both, you leave the theater wanting there to be real change for our environment. In a world where it seems that no one listens, or cares, about the climate crisis, Hoppers leaves its viewers with at least a little bit of hope that someone out there wants something to be done, and that you could be the person to do it. 

This perfectly leads into sticking up for what is right. Mabel is the embodiment of what a deeply passionate person is. She goes through lengths, sometimes a little extreme, to have her voice be heard. She isn’t someone that stands on the sidelines watching the world burn, she is on the frontlines yelling for someone to listen. One of the lines that really stuck out to me was when she says she is “tired of feeling like everything is broken and I can’t make a difference.” If that isn’t the same feelings of a lot of people right now, I don’t know what is. You are desperately hoping for Mabel’s plan, as crazy as it may be, to work out for her, because we probably all see a little bit of ourselves in her. 

What is the thing that Mabel and the other animals are sticking up against? The greed of humans. This is a theme that Pixar is constantly covering; if you’re a big Pixar fan (shoutout TheSuperCarlinBros and the Pixar Theory) you know all about BnL and Allinol. It is even more obvious in Hoppers as the animals are literally standing up to humans and their total lack of care for anything but their own selfish gains. 

Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, Hoppers deals with togetherness. That’s right, the thing that all of us need in these weird times, each other. From King George’s great quote of “Trust is like a dam, it’s going to leak sometimes but we just have to patch it up” to Mabel’s belief that she is all alone, Pixar ties everything up with the message of “figuring this out together.” The movie teaches us about understanding where others have come from, as well as the dire need to rely on others. These are the Pond Rules, we all need each other to survive, and we can’t do that if we’re constantly at odds with one another.