'Hoppers' Is Completely Absurd. It’s Also One of Pixar’s Best.

Nothing will prepare you for Hoppers, Pixar’s latest film about lifelong animal activist Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) whose mind gets transferred into a lifelike, robotic beaver that enables her to communicate with animals. The trailers are right when Mabel says it’s kind of like James Cameron’s Avatar, including the destruction of natural habitats thanks to human greed. But any similarities end there, because Hoppers takes off in such unexpected directions that it’s probably one of Disney’s most unhinged animated features. This all makes sense when you find out that the film’s writer and director (with a screenplay by Jesse Andrews) is Daniel Chong, creator of We Bare Bears. This also means that Hoppers is one of Disney’s funniest, cutest movies and an absolute must-watch with the family despite the criminal lack of marketing. 

Mabel is a spunky Asian-American girl who was essentially raised by her nature-loving grandmother, spending most of her time as an activist opposing Beaverton’s greedy Mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). Jerry is building an elevated beltway around the city that will destroy the glade where Mabel grew up and which used to be the habitat for a plethora of species. It’s pretty standard fare so far, although Hoppers goes through this preamble in a snappy, hilarious manner that’s very distinct from other Pixar films. Hoppers leans in heavily on the humor and it’s an incredible mix of verbal jokes, visual gags, slapstick humor, and a plot that’s so unexpectedly off the rails that it will catch you by surprise. But as funny and crazy as it gets, the story never strays from its main focus, which is why it all works. Hoppers has all the elements that make the best Pixar stories great, including genuine connections between the main characters whom you’ll simply fall in love with.

King George (Bobby Moynihan, who also voices Panda from We Bare Bears), for one, will almost make you want to adopt a beaver. You can’t, of course, since beavers are undomesticated wildlife and most states in America prohibit ownership of one. This is mostly because beavers are one of the most critical species in an ecosystem, and their dam-building behavior cascades to a number of ecological benefits such as increased biodiversity, improved water quality in wetlands, flood control (too bad we don’t have beavers in the Philippines), the creation of habitats for other species, and something called carbon sequestration, which helps limit the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. All this to say that beavers like King George, whom Mabel befriends, are extremely important to the environment.

The film’s message about the environment is great, but it isn’t even the best one. There’s a lesson about how people should come together in times of crises to combat a common enemy. We live in an age where we know this is much easier said than done, but it’s always nice to be reminded of how we can be better as a species. This is part of what makes Hoppers so great — characters aren’t paper thin and there’s always room for change. Mayor Jerry is a self-described coward driven by dubious interests but this career politician differentiates himself from his real world counterparts by his actions when faced with an unusual threat. We know enough now that most politicians will never do anything that puts their power at risk, so even though Mayor Jerry is no Vico Sotto, he’s almost certainly a better option than most.

It’s also a surprisingly pragmatic film that teaches children that death is simply a way of life. The trailers show this in one scene where the sleepy-eyed beaver, Loaf (Eduardo Franco), is ready to accept his fate as a snack for an always-hungry bear named Ellen (Melissa Villaseñor). These are just the ‘pond rules’. Those who need to eat must eat. It’s an early lesson about the food chain, but it also ventures into the slightly murky waters of capital punishment, or as the animal kingdom dubs it, the ‘squish’. It’s a ridiculous term that is simply perfect for Hoppers and to try and explain why would just give too much of the fun and hilarity away. The film’s most shocking moment is also its funniest and you might feel a little embarrassed for laughing so hard at something so dark.

But the story keeps rolling along because that’s just nature, which brings us to one of Pixar’s best villains yet. Because Hoppers is best enjoyed when it sucker punches you, let’s just say that the dark and funny moments get even darker and funnier when the film’s ultimate bad guy enters the story. Mayor Jerry is a bad guy, for sure, but he’s not the bad guy. Hoppers has some of Pixar’s cutest characters, from adorable animals — who all have beady, black button eyes when there’s a communication barrier but full, expressive cartoon eyes without — to a strong, principled hero involved in activism at a young age, to complex villains you can’t help but love.

Hoppers is one of the very best Pixar films with a distinctive visual language and outrageous storytelling flair, a film the whole family will enjoy, and that fans of Pixar will appreciate for the little Easter eggs. Disney hasn’t given the film the marketing push it deserves aside from a brief Super Bowl spot, and it’s a real shame that there are very few Hoppers merchandise beyond a pair of hard-to-find beaver plushies and a PVC figurine set (you’ll find more toys of A Bug’s Life’s villain Hopper with a quick web search). Hoppers is crazy, funny, and refreshing; a brand new idea in Pixar’s stable of IPs that deserves a box office fate different from last year’s truly wonderful but underperforming Elio.

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