'Hoppers' Review
- Dempsey Pillot
- 42 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Release Date: 03/06/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Adventure. Animation. Comedy. Family. SciFi.
MPAA: Rated PG.
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures.
The Verdict: A Must-See
These days, Disney may be heavily criticized for its soulless live-action remakes, but in its new environmentally-conscious collaboration with Pixar, Hoppers, recycling old material is the point. “This is like Avatar,” are the first words main character Mabel exclaims when she stumbles across a top secret program transferring the minds of humans into animals. While the scientists who run the program deny any similarities, the pandora’s box the technology opens makes for just as entertaining a sci-fi spectacle.
The film revolves around Mabel’s earnest attempt to save “The Glade,” a nearby nature habitat that has been abandoned by its animals. Recent construction of a new highway is scheduled to wipe out whatever is left of The Glade. Despite being an avid animal lover, Mabel’s motive for saving The Glade is rooted in the memories she shared with her late grandmother there. It’s the place where she learned to find her inner peace.
When her attempts at protesting and petitioning to stop the construction fail, she comes up with an idea to try and lure a beaver back to the habitat. Her belief is that if the beaver can call it a home and build a dam other animals will follow. However, her plan changes when she uncovers a secret lab using robot replicants of animals to try and observe them in the wild. The process, as it’s explained to Mabel, is called “hopping,” and involves transferring a person’s consciousness inside of the robot. Thinking she can find her town’s animals and convince them to move back to The Glade herself, Mabel immediately hijacks a robot designed to look like a beaver. What should be an easy infiltration sets off a butterfly effect that wrecks the balance of nature and threatens to destroy life beyond The Glade.
Piper Curda leads the film’s incredible voice cast as Mabel. Bobby Moynihan plays the head of the local mammal habitat and Mabel’s companion King George. And Jon Hamm plays the film’s initial antagonist, Mayor Jerry, responsible for building the highway over The Glade. All are great, but the film’s greatest casting achievement is by far having Meryl Streep play the Insect Queen. The performance marks the third time Streep has lent her voice to an animated film. While she has limited screen time, she steals the show. Her performance being the epitome of the old adage that there is no such thing as a small role, but also proof that everything she touches becomes infinitely better - even if it already is good!
Daniel Chong (We Bare Bears) helms the film from a script by Jesse Andrews (Me and Early and the Dying Girl). Andrews’ attachment here is especially interesting considering that he previously wrote Luca, which was a blatant homage to the films of Studio Ghibli. It’s worth noting that elements of Hoppers also feel inspired by the studio. More specifically, from its film Pom Poko. While that one employs more supernatural elements, the environmental message, the talking animals and even the way expressions are displayed on their faces here feels pretty deliberate. That’s less of a con, then just a point about Avatar not being the only film the story was built on.
And the film’s exploration of the way humanity interacts with the environment is smart and effective. However, the longer Mabel’s consciousness remains inside of the robot beaver, the less the story becomes about our relationship with Earth. By the end, the film feels more like it’s about Mabel learning to build better relationships herself. It’s not a bad message. In fact, you might be able to argue that it could be an even deeper theme for the way it challenges the audience to examine how individuals need to affect change in their own lives before they can tackle much larger issues. Still, its resolution doesn’t feel as satisfying considering how the film and even Mabel’s own intense passion for nature is at the beginning.
Mixed messaging and the Avatar gimmick aside, Hoppers primarily feels like Pixar’s return to the drawing board, capturing what made so many of their classics, well, classics. Using characters that we normally wouldn’t care about in the real world, the studio once again sparks a meaningful conversation and challenges both children and adults to understand that nature isn’t the only thing destined for growth.