‘Hoppers’ weaves love for nature, societal awareness in lesson to youth
Pixar’s new animated film, “Hoppers,” is a timely film about the dangers of human-driven climate change. Though the film failed to hit the emotional highs like “Coco” or “Up,” our columnist says. Maria Masek │Contributing Illustrator
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Pixar’s got its swagger back.
In the recent trend of pumped-out sequels like “Inside Out 2” and unremarkable films like “Elio,” Pixar’s animated “Hoppers” chips away at a return to family-friendly, feel-good flicks.
Directed by Daniel Chong, (creator of hit-animated show “We Bare Bears”), “Hoppers” was released in theaters nationwide on March 6. Chong continues to tell a heartfelt story about protecting nature via humanized animals.
The film follows 19-year-old human Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), who is raised by her Grandma Tanaka (Karen Huie), to love and preserve her nearby glade in their city Beaverton. In college, Mabel becomes an environmental activist and battles her mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), to stop his proposed highway that would split the glade and displace its wildlife.
Jerry challenges Mabel. If Mabel can get enough signatures to petition against the construction, Jerry will halt his plans. As she runs around Beaverton, Mabel can’t muster a single signature and begins to lose hope. Her last resort is speaking with her professor, Dr. Sam Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), who tells her the only way to save the glade is to prove that beavers live there.
This is where “Hoppers” finds its charm. Mabel has a fervent passion to save Grandma Tanaka’s glade, but to also prove humans are not the only important members of society. It reflects on Mabel’s character arc as she fights for her own place among humans as the wildlife do.
After setting a food trap to attract a beaver, Mabel comes across Dr. Sam’s animatronic beaver roaming the glade. She tracks it back to Dr. Sam’s lab, where she stumbles into Dr. Sam and her assistants “hopping,” — transmuting their minds into animatronic animals.
Mabel sets everything loose as she hops into the animatronic beaver and finds herself far in Beaverton’s forest. She befriends and becomes second-hand to King George (Bobby Moynihan), a beaver who rules a utopian, wildlife society. With George’s help, Mabel attempts to drive wildlife back into the glades where Jerry has laid construction.
Like Mabel, I found comfort in George’s community. In Beaverton, Mabel’s actions are deemed meaningless, but the beavers never trivialized her worth. George repeatedly instills finding the good in humans and to not despise them.
The movie was a true statement to the messages of hope that Pixar teaches its young audiences. Although Mabel had the right intentions, she often misdirected and misunderstood her anger toward the world, seeking change with impulse rather than control.
The picture feels timely in a time of human-driven climate change. It rhymes with the subtle, political messaging of other children’s movies like “Wall-E.” Both imagine worlds threatened by human interference and protagonists that work to save a part of earth.
“Hoppers” was met with critical acclaim for resurfacing Pixar’s lost originality and self-awareness, receiving a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
While the film did not twist the same emotional highs like Pixar’s “Coco” or “Up,” it still relays an assured agency to learn and grow in the human experience.
Mabel finds herself within nature, but nature teaches her to find community within society, too. “Hoppers” teaches younger generations to not constrict themselves within emotions, to build and find reliance in their surroundings.
In the final scenes, Mabel establishes a support system with King George, Dr. Sam and even Mayor Jerry. They are eventually able to protect Beaverton’s greens — and the good that remains and lives in every person’s heart.
“Hoppers,” weaves itself into a timeless film that I’ll rewatch again and again. I learned to share Mabel’s love for the glades.
