‘Hoppers’ review: Nature goes wild in fun flick from Pixar
“Hoppers” isn’t afraid to get a bit weird, the latest offering from Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios sporting an irreverent streak we’ve not seen in a while from a major-studio animated release.
This colorful, nature-forward adventure directed by Daniel Chong and penned by Jesse Andrews tells a tale of humans using a highly advanced technology — “hopping” — to transfer their consciousnesses into lifelike animal robot bodies to communicate with those on four limbs. That tech brings them and, by extension, us into a very colorful world.
The human who spends the most time among the critters — as, if you will, a beaver-bot — is 19-year-old animal lover, environmental crusader and Beaverton resident Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda), a memorable character and the hard-beating heart of “Hoppers.”
The film begins by introducing us to a younger version of Mabel (Lila Liu), in the middle of what is only her latest attempt to leave school with a backpack stuffed with class pets she intends to set free. When faculty members try to apprehend her, she resists, leading to an adult’s hand being bitten and the sprinkler system being activated.
She is, understandably, in hot water at school and with her mom.
She receives solace from her grandmother (Karen Huie), who shows Mabel her favorite nearby slice of natural beauty, a tranquil glade where the animals, given time, reveal themselves.
The viewer then braces for emotional impact as “Hoppers” serves up what feels like an “Up”-esque montage that features the two Tanaka females spending time there over the years. But while it ends as you feared it would, rest assured that while it is effective, it is not soul-crushingly devastating.
Now a student at Beaverton University who isn’t above skipping class to defend the environment, the skateboarding Mabel is pouring all her energy into stopping Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) from building a highway that will run through the glade.
Legally, Jerry is free to move forward with the project because all animal life has seemingly vacated the glade. (How suspiciously lucky!)
When Mabel learns her biology professor, Dr. Samantha “Sam” Fairfax (Kathy Najimy) has developed the Hoppers program, she helps herself to the tech to investigate the situation on the ground level.
Hoping to rally the animals to her cause, she quickly learns they have relocated to a now-overcrowded pond, ruled by King George (Bobby Moynihan), a benevolent beaver who has instituted “pond rules,” which state both that you watch the back of another animal but also that when you gotta eat, you gotta eat.
Completely fooled, George is immediately impressed by Mabel Beaver and quickly comes to rely on her, eventually bestowing on her an important (and “Game of Thrones”-inspired) designation.
However, in her zeal to stop Jerry, she unintentionally makes him a target of the larger animal world, after a council meeting involving the Bird King (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), the Amphibian King (Steve Purcell), the Fish Queen (Ego Nwodim), the Reptile Queen (Nichole Sakura), the Insect Queen (Meryl Streep) and her maniacal son, Titus (eventually voiced by a memorable Dave Franco).
Meanwhile, Dr. Sam, along with colleagues Nisha (Aparna Nancherla) and Conner (Sam Richardson) are desperately trying to convince Mabel to return to her human form — before it’s too late.
Chong, who joined Pixar as a story artist in 2009, and Andrews, who co-wrote Pixar’s “Luca” (2021), share credit for the story. They’ve crafted a narrative that, while putting the wild in “wilderness” — expect a flying shark named Diane (Northeast Ohio native Vanessa Bayer) before the action concludes — never forgets that the heart comes first with a movie like this one.
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Yet, note that while this movie has some valuable messages for the young viewer, especially when it comes to the environment, the PG-rated “Hoppers” may simply be too intense at times for a little one. Let’s just say things get pretty hot and, well, downright Frankenstein-y as Mabel and friends desperately try to save the day.
If the kids can handle the heat, though, they’re likely to love “Hoppers.”
It benefits from strong voice work from Curda (Disney Channel endeavors “A.N.T. Farm,” “I Didn’t Do It” and “Teen Beach 2”), Hamm (“Mad Men,” “Your Friends and Neighbors”) and the ensemble as a whole.
Like most of what Pixar has put out in recent years, this doesn’t reside with its best work — “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” the aforementioned “Up,” etc. — but it sits comfortably in that next, altogether respectable tier.
If nothing else, it’s a nice warm-up for “Toy Story 5,” which hits theaters in June.
‘Hoppers’
Where: Theaters.
When: March 6.
Rated: PG for action/peril, some scary images and mild language.
Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes.
Stars (of four): 3