What if you could see the world through an animal’s eyes? Would you be intrigued or disgusted by the sometimes twisted beauty of nature? Could your big(-ish) human brain and (potential) knowledge cause more trouble for the rest of the animal kingdom than it’s worth? Pixar’s Hoppers attempts to answer these questions in a way that feels like a return to form, offering something for every member of the audience.
Mabel has spent her entire life dedicated to the protection of animals, to the ostracization of “normal” society. Even as the soundtrack blasts Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” over her introduction, it’s hard to see her as anything other than a passionate, neurodivergent child growing into a young adult whose needs aren’t being attended to by the selfish adults in her life. (Side bar, if I had a nickel for every time I heard Bikini Kill in a children’s animated movie, I’d have two nickels now!) Upon hearing that the glade where she admired nature with her grandmother is about to be demolished for a highway, she’s determined to prove there’s animal life still in it. In the process, she uncovers a far more exciting plan – one that can bridge the communication between human and animal, and one that might save the glade after all. Just don’t call it Avatar. It’s nothing like Avatar.
And as Mabel comes to discover, the world between humans and animals isn’t so different after all. The film’s animal life has an undeniable charm, even if it isn’t pushing anywhere near the anthropomorphism of Zootopia. Mabel comes to understand that animals have a hierarchy of their own – one that she can strive for the top of, but just as easily make a mess of as she did in her human life. And a mess she certainly achieves, though only with the best of intentions.
One word you could use to describe the film is “chaotic” – however, only the best possible definition. While you could call a lot of animation chaotic for simply having a messy production, or the Adult Swim/Newgrounds type of just drawing and chucking a bunch of weird things at the screen at rapidfire, the chaos here comes from a grounded place. “That’s an oxymoron,” you say – alas, let me keep digging! Hoppers feels like an animated movie that’s not only proud to be animated but has a team behind it that truly loves animation. Especially in its final act, it leans a little more into the goofy side of things, with a sense of humor and wacky, cartoonish events that often get muted in Pixar films, resulting in a handful of chuckles. That’s not a knock at Pixar – they’ve made plenty of impressively mature pieces of animation that children can enjoy as well, but Hoppers is far more fun for kids than the likes of even films I’ve enjoyed like Luca and Turning Red. That doesn’t mean it skips over any emotional beats, either – the feeling of being unable to do anything and just wanting the power, the control to do something that Mabel chases will be relatable for a lot of viewers.
The animation is standout, which is hardly unusual for Pixar, yet has gone underappreciated in recent years as perhaps the only saving grace to a few snoozes. Everything works in tandem here – one of the best gags being the shift in the animals’ eyes from the human style to small, dark beads in the human perspective, highlighting the gap in communication without the Hopper technology. At the same time, we come to find that this disconnect has some emotional power later on. The relationships that Mabel is developing in the pond are real, perhaps more real than anything she’s experienced from humans in a long time, and their potential feelings upon finding out the truth could sting worse than any human rejection. At the same time, what she learns from the animals might just give her the ability to become a better human…if she survives the longest hopping so far, that is.
While environmentalism is a major focus of the story, it’s hard to call it particularly political or preachy. The mayor’s shady doings to get the glade demolished are straight-up illegal, not a moral debate. At the same time, Mabel recognizes there’s an extent to which she should push things – a concept that’s a little above the rest of the animal kingdom’s head. Some might push back at the film’s messaging, saying it’s a little too kind to people who don’t seem to care, or that it undercuts Mabel’s voice and activism by the end, but the fact is that sometimes people can change. It’s far more optimistic, especially in something that will be seen by a lot of children – future leaders, voters, activists, etc. – to suggest that a world can be built, even without robot beavers, in which the people and their leaders can work together instead of both raising hellfire at each other. It’s rare, but it can happen.
Overall, Hoppers is a fun, refreshing dive into the animal kingdom that doesn’t skip out on human depth. Pixar may have built a lot of acclaim on surprisingly mature and impactful stories that broke the mold of what “children’s animation” was supposed to be, but Hoppers stays strong as their wackiest endeavour yet. It’s possible they could have packed more beavers into this tale, but hey, that’s what Hundreds of Beavers is for.
Hoppers is currently playing in theaters worldwide.
