Review: "Hoppers"

Contrary to what you might assume, Hoppers is not about frogs, though there are some frog characters. It is, however, all about jumping, but more on that in a minute.

Hoppers is the 30^th Disney/Pixar release.  The 8^th to feature a female protagonist.

The main character is Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda), a rebellious young girl, observed in the opening scenes attempting to free all her grade school’s imprisoned classroom pets, sadly confined to their terrariums.  It’s a hilarious, failed attempt, but it sheds light on Mabel’s spunky determination and unshakable sense of justice and purpose.  She’s a rightfully angry little girl.

She’s also the apple of her grandmother’s eye – a wise old woman who loves and believes in Mabel.  She takes Mabel to a tranquil little pond in a nearby glade, instructing her to be quiet and just listen.  Soon she hears the sounds of all the creatures—large and small-- who call the pond their home.  It’s an epiphany.

The story jumps ahead to Mabel’s college years, where she’s a budding environmentalist, on a mission to stop the construction of a freeway that will destroy her now-deceased grandmother’s slice of nature.  Her only legal loophole is a clause forbidding the displacement or harm of her beloved critter friends who have already mysteriously evacuated their home. No one knows why.

She needs to find some way to make the creatures return.  It’s her only hope to stop the construction and save the pond.

The task seems impossible until Mabel discovers that her beloved female professor Dr. Sam (voiced by Kathy Najimy) is working on a top-secret scientific project that allows animals to be studied from their perspective. The process, referred to as “hopping,” allows a human brain to be downloaded into the body of a life-like, robotic animal.

Mabel wastes no time hopping into the body of a robotic beaver.  Beavers, of course, are nature’s environmental engineers capable of damming a stream and creating a pond that can sustain life for an assortment of creatures and insects. It turns out to be a good choice.

Mabel soon discovers that her new body not only allows her to infiltrate the animal community, but it also allows her to understand their language, Doctor Dolittle style.  Soon, she is conversing with them and gaining an understanding of their plight.  She learns that their mass exodus was caused by nasty, man-made, high frequency audio signals that cause splitting headaches to all the creatures except her. She sets about to solve the problem and save their lives.

The best part of Hoppers is its message about saving the environment and finding ways to communicate and cooperate.  It’s not easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PypDSyIRRSs

The handsome but evil Mayor (voiced by Jon Hamm) is a formidable foe, determined to build the highway in order to be re-elected.  Nothing will stand in his heartless path.  Nothing, that is, but an unstoppable, robotic, semiaquatic rodent.

As with all the Disney/Pixar movies, Hoppers showcases a brilliantly written script and a cavalcade of stars including Bobby Moynihan (as King George, the beaver king), Ego Nwodim (as the Fish Queen) and Meryl Streep (as the Insect Queen).

As with the other Disney/Pixar hits, the movie features dazzling, colorful, state of the art digital animation. They continually raise the bar with the release of each consecutive film.

Hoppers is a joyful, entertaining movie experience—thoughtful, clever, meaningful and emotional.  It is guaranteed to rake in money at the box office and beyond.

It should be mentioned that one of Mabel’s discoveries is the existence of a strict set of “Pond Rules.”  Among them, is an acceptance of the natural order of things, including the fact that some creatures must eat other creatures in order to survive.  Thankfully, the movie sidesteps the traumatizing aspect of this, focusing instead on moments when characters are suddenly (and comically) just swept away.  It’s the Circle of Life.

Hoppers marks the directorial debut of Daniel Chong who has an impressive list of writing credits.  Great directors are often great writers.  The best ones have a keen sense of story and storytelling.  Hoppers is a shining example.

It’s rated PG.