One of the best Pixar films of all-time and one of the most fun, family-friendly and hilariously relatable heartfelt animated movies you will ever see. Disney and Pixar’s newest sure to be box-office smash hit animated comedy film adventure, Hoppers, is one everyone old, young and of all ages will really enjoy. That is easily an early front-runner for best animated film at next year’s Oscars, I would be very surprised if another movie outside of maybe another Pixar film, Toy Story 5, due later in the year. I see being a real possible contender for that title.
Hoppers is a really cute, funny and truly enjoyable film that has such stunning animation and is a really strong film that is Pixar’s best film since the masterpiece of a film that is, Turning Red. The themes of saving animals, the forest and environment of most of nature is done in such a truly prescient, yet nuanced way where both adults and kids will still be able to understand what is going on. Even if young kids and children are only able to understand it to a certain degree and how it somewhat veers into the themes of how corrupted certain politics can be. There is quite a bit of very emotional and truly heartfelt scenes throughout the film that most everyone can relate to as well. Such as the main character, Mabel, and her relationship to her since passed grandmother. That along with the stronger themes and mostly cute, fun and mostly laugh out loud comedy throughout Hoppers, is truly well-balanced in such a poignant way by director, Daniel Chong, in his first truly major motion picture animated film released for theaters.
Broken down so beautifully into three different parts the first part of, Hoppers, establishes a young 19-year-old Mabel Tanaka in her hometown of Beaverton where she is trying to actively campaign against the Mayor of the town, Jerry Generazzo, from replacing the glade with another highway for the city. Mabel, who is so brilliantly voiced by former Disney Channel star, Piper Curda, and is a huge animal-lover we learn developed a deep love of the natural world and forest from spending many of her younger years as a child with her grandmother by a particular local forest glade which used to be home to many animals and more specifically a particular colony of beavers that all left it. Which is why Mabel through her mostly engaging activism is now forced to unsuccessfully try to rally the locals through a petition to stop Jerry, who is also so brilliantly voiced by Jon Hamm, from destroying the glade to build yet another highway that he has promised the people as one of his key points for his re-election campaign for mayor. Mabel’s activism much to the dismay of her college biology professor, Dr. Sam, has her continously failing and falling behind on her studies for school too. That Dr. Sam feels has a lot to do with the recent passing of Mabel’s grandmother too.
Ever determined to still get things done, one night while trying to encourage and persuade the beavers to return back to the glade, Mabel accidentally falls into a secret study room where Dr. Sam and her colleagues are developing a new technology of the animal world that is dubbed the “Hoppers” program. With the device enabling humans to consciously “hop” into a lifelike robotic beaver and get up close to its respective species to communicate directly with the animals. Mabel then seeing this as an opportunity to save the glade by any means possible, “hops” into the robotic beaver despite Dr. Sam’s urging to not do so to try to help save the glade. Before getting snatched up by an owl and actually dropped into the glade. Where she wakes up and a bunch of the true wackiness of the movie really begins. As she starts to uncover a lot of the true mysteries of the animal world beyond anything she or anyone ever imagined. Mabel Beaver disrupting the nature of the animal world that gets a beaver named, Loaf and a bear named, Ellen mad and then in turn taken her to meet the very charismatic and engaging head beaver of the communal “Super Lodge”, King George. Who is so astutely charismatic, engaging and hilariously voiced by the great, Bobby Moynihan. Mabel and King George eventually developing a really close friendship with each other as she tries to work with and unite the whole animal kingdom in a twist-turning comedy adventure to get the beavers and rest of the animals to move back to and save the glade. The dam building and dam demolishing they show by the animals and in particular the beavers is so beautifully well done and detailed. Especially the way they show the water and light for those particular scenes. Mabel and King George grow so close due to all the similarities they learn they have with each other that makes them like outcasts and/or underdogs in a lot of ways so many of us can relate to. Which is why King George eventually asks Mabel if she could become his, “right hand.”
After Mayor Jerry learns of the animals building and restoring the glade, he once again destroys the beavers dam. That forces Mabel and King George to call a meeting of the almighty Animal Council in the Superlodge that is attended by delegates of every animal from the Amphibian, Fish, Insects and Bird monarchs. During an impassioned speech where Mabel inadvertently convinces the council to kill Jerry we get one of the most unhinged and hilarious scenes in the movie. As Mabel accidentally kills the Insect Queen, who is so beautifully voiced with such prescient and immediate instant power by the legendary and iconic, Meryl Streep. Then Mabel blatantly bursts out, “I’m sorry I killed your Mom.” To Titus, the spoiled squish-thirsty for power son and offspring of the Insect Queen. Which immediately got me, my 19-year-old nephew and everyone else in the packed AMC Theatre to burst out uncontrollably non-stop laughing. As Mabel is then herself forced into a target that has to flee the Superlodge with George and though he is initially upset with Mabel for undermineding him. He agrees to help her protect Jerry after she admits to feeling powerless cause King George despite the flaws we all have, likes to see and have hope that there’s good and a great sense of community in everyone.
The third and final act of Hoppers is by far some of the most unpredictably unhinged, hilarious and truly fun twist-turning parts of a movie. That you would never expect from not only an animated and family-friendly movie as this, but a Disney and Pixar film too. Whether it be Mabel and King George both alongside Tom Lizard and Ellen Bear and Loaf Beaver trying to use Text-to-Speech software on Mayor Jerry’s phone to try to message to him and help him escape the remaining Animal Council that is now led by the very vengeful Insect King Titus, who has succeeded his mother and is voiced by the very hilarious and talented Dave Franco. To the Insect King and “Council” recruiting Diane the shark, who is very brilliantly voiced by the great Vanessa Bayer, to help them carry out their mission of killing Jerry to what other crazy insane lengths the Insect King goes to carry out his revenge mission on not only Jerry, but humans as a whole and possibly others as well. How everything so loudly and crazily comes together in the end. Shows the lengths that both Mabel and Jerry will go to get what they want. Even if it means as King George said for the third pond rule that, “We’re all in this together.” Something that you wouldn’t expect from the first scene and beginning of the movie. In how they eventually, “See each other.”
Without giving away too many spoilers for the final act and ending of the movie for those who have yet to see it and so they can enjoy all the crazy unexpected twists and turns in seeing how everything unfolds while watching the movie for the first time in a theater and the great truly fun theatre experience a movie like this makes for the audience. It goes back to one of the biggest themes of the movie that despite all the conflict there is a sense of community that’s built with everyone who wants to build it and see the good in all of people. Where it also brings hope in the world in a truly beautiful, funny and hopeful way that so many of us can relate to and need more than ever in times like now. Overall as I already mentioned a few times though, Hoppers, is a really truly engaging, fun absolutely insanely hilarious and unhinged action comedy adventure that is also relatably heartfelt. As well as one of the most hilariously fun and engaging times you will ever have seeing a movie in an actual movie theater and why whether you go by yourself, with family or friends or whoever. Hoppers, is one of those movies that you need to really get out and go see in theaters to get that full movie experience that makes you enjoy going to the movies and experiencing a movie with an audience and other strangers who are just there to have a good and truly fun time at the cinema. Which I am truly glad to have experienced twice this year already with two originally great movies that gives you a sense of that in Crime 101 just a few weeks ago and now Hoppers as well more recently. That shows studios and everyone else in the movies and entertainment industry how truly great and important the whole theater experience is to most of our everyday lives as well. To truly enjoy a movie in the way it was truly made to be felt and experienced.
