Hoppers, 2026.
Directed by Daniel Chong.
Featuring the voice talents of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Eduardo Franco, Aparna Nancherla, Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Eman Abdul-Razzak, Tom Law, Sam Richardson, Melissa Villaseñor, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Steve Purcell, Ego Nwodim, Nichole Sakura, Demetri Martin, Karen Huie, and Vanessa Bayer.
SYNOPSIS:
A 19-year-old animal lover uses technology that places her consciousness into a robotic beaver to uncover mysteries within the animal world beyond her imagination.
When young adult animal rights activist Mabel (voice of Piper Curda) first stumbles across the secret high-tech “hopping” device (transferring one’s consciousness to a robotic replica of an animal) in director Daniel Chong’s Hoppers and exclaims that it’s just like Avatar, which comes across as an organic joke for Pixar to make, given that both properties are owned by Disney. The longer this imaginative and unexpectedly moving (realistically, Pixar had lost their touch for years now so it’s reasonable to have been skeptical if they still had emotional gravitas in them) tale of a human infiltrating as, communicating with, and working together with real animals to save a glade that shortsighted, smarmy, and self-centered Mayor Jerry (voice of Jon Hamm) is tearing down to construct a highway, the film actually does indeed come to resemble a marvelous take on James Cameron’s passion saga but for younger viewers, working in its own specific themes while also not alienating the proceedings from adults. One could say that classic Pixar glimmer has returned.
Even as a child, Mabel has loved animals, as a prologue depicts her trying to free all the classroom pets, stuffing them in her backpack, and trying to make a great escape, presumably to drop them off in the wild. Apparently, she has tried this numerous times to no avail. Feeling down that her parents don’t quite understand her and that she is letting these critters down, she begins spending time with her grandma (voice of Karen Huie) at the glade mentioned above, who teaches her that inner rage can be quieted by silence and by becoming one with her surroundings. Mabel takes this advice, and the animation floods her and us with a vision of animals living in harmony. All is right in the world, and the glade becomes a sentimental spot for her to demonstrate her passion for animals and continue bonding with Grandma.
Now 19 years old and still grieving grandma, Mabel doesn’t understand why all the animals have left the glade and is doubly angry at Mayor Jerry for using that as a prime reason to build his environment-destroying highway. More rebellious than ever, she doubles down on her activism before coming across a more useful tool in the form of hopping, which her university professor (voice of Kathy Najini) has worked hard on perfecting away from public eyes. In her mind, the experimentation is more about observation and studying animals. To Mabel, it’s a problem solver so long as she can pose as a beaver and convince another beaver to live in the dam, therefore bringing back the entire ecosystem of glade animals.
Rather than using this for the usual cheap storytelling and humor typically mined from anything to do with talking animals of any type, Daniel Chong (working from the screenplay by Jesse Andrews) uses Mabel’s ingratiating herself into this environment as an opportunity for the intricate, detailed world-building that once populated all of Pixar’s towering achievements in animation. Meeting not just any beaver, but the timid yet hard-working Mammal King George (voice of Bobby Moynihan), Mabel is given a crash course on the contradictory “pond rules”, which state that all animals are instructed to look out for one another, although they are allowed to eat whatever they want whenever hunger strikes. It’s an amusing, more honest riff on The Lion King‘s Circle of Life (also not the only reference to that landmark film, as one character certainly has some winking allusions to it).
Mabel inadvertently breaks these rules when she attempts to stop a bear from eating a relaxed, docile beaver who actively encourages his death, as these are the rules. It is also here that the filmmakers lean into clever humor and interactions among the various species without resorting to tired clichés. Even the song-and-dance routine the animals perform when constructing and repairing their habitat feels inspired, not merely cashing in on laziness.
Nevertheless, George isn’t the most effective leader. If anything, he is a pushover to the other animal kings (which come into play in a huge way and stacked cast ranging from the voices of Meryl Streep to Dave Franco and more), meaning that Mabel will be stuck inside the robot beaver vessel for longer than anticipated, encouraging him to rally the animals to fight back once it becomes clear that there is some political foul play that drove them away from the glade. She is also in that robot against the wishes of her scientific superiors, who are hunting her within their own robot-animal suits.
As the film goes on, Hoppers explores every creative avenue of this concept, doing so logically with each leg of the story building on Mabel’s relationship and trust (the latter of which is, of course, broken at some point) with the animals. Speaking of trust, there is also an unforgettably beautiful line here about the ebbs and flows of trust within every dynamic, making for a powerful message alone worth the price of admission for children and adults. The film is also not without a relentless string of silliness, including a ridiculous animal antagonist alongside the human politician one. Surprisingly, the writing is also blunt, implying that even if coexistence is necessary for humans and animals to survive, sometimes someone (whether they be human or animal) simply isn’t a good person and jeopardizes that cause at every turn. There are even a couple of debts that are genuinely hilarious while being playful, so as not to upset children.
Admittedly, sometimes the serious-minded plea to rebel and fight to save the environment at a cost becomes a bit too at odds with the cartoonish nature of the plot and more lighthearted comedy. There is a second villain here that the film doesn’t necessarily need, though it is hard to argue against the need to maximize younger viewers’ engagement. Other times, the clashing tones gel wondrously with huge emotional payoffs. Hoppers hops high into the upper tiers of Pixar works regarding its stunning animation, layered yet fittingly fun animal life world-building, and emotionally heavy story of a young woman not only fighting for what she believes in, but never letting that spark die as a means to carry on the essence of and stay spiritually connected with her grandma.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
