By Matthew Moorcroft

Highest Recommendation

• Directed by Daniel Chong
• Starring Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Dave Franco
• PG

It doesn’t take long to realize that Hoppers is the real deal from Pixar. Probably the studio that has struggled the most post-pandemic, small success stories like Elemental and big blockbuster hits like Inside Out 2 have managed to keep them in the conversation as their major projects, regardless of quality, have either been shipped off to streaming or have struggled to find an audience now used to seeing said films on streaming. Feeling like exactly the shot in the arm to get parents and kids to the theater with it’s high concept premise and much, much wackier approach to the material then is usual for the studio, Hoppers is certainly going to be the success story that Pixar needs to reclaim itself, but the real story is in it’s actual substance as a film.

Director Daniel Chong, fresh off of his stellar work on the equally as wacky and unabashedly silly We Bare Bears, brings his trademark sense of humor to an already crazy premise that could be described as “Avatar meets Happy Feet” but also his trademark sweetness and optimism; this is a film where most characters are presumed kind and even when they aren’t people still want to find the best in them regardless. That mix of sweet and wacky, along with a tiny bit of that trademark Pixar darkness that has been missing from some of the company’s features for a little bit at this point, gives Hoppers a distinct identity amidst the studio trying to reinvent itself.

It’s lively animation, which foregoes the usual photorealism in it’s animal designs that Pixar has been so keen on throughout their filmography, is really only rivaled by that equally lively storytelling. Mabel as a lead character, in her quest to save her local glade from destruction, is both hyperactive and likable, and her bursts of quick anger and passion are enough to give her comedic fuel so she isn’t just a straight woman in a world of much livelier folks. She’s almost as fast in her human form as her robotic beaver body, which she steals to try to take the fight for glade to the animals themselves rather then rely on the whims of humans who don’t really seem to care all that much. The comedic potential of a lifelike robot blending in with animals is mined for all of it’s worth, and it gets to some really clever, unexpected places with that premise in the second half once the film goes into overdrive.

Once Mabel meets said animals, it’s really off to the races. The strange society that the animals have here is much different then that of something normally seen in animated features – Bambi this is not. Instead, Hoppers introduces a whole unique feudal hierarchy system, a wise council, and an eventual assassination plot that could be seen as out of place but is told so bizarrely and hilariously that it somehow fits. The modus operandi of Hoppers from start seems to be “laughs over anything else” and if that was indeed was the case then Hoppers is a rousing success. It’s Pixar’s funniest film in quite a long time with every joke nearly hitting bullseye, and the film’s plot trajectory seemingly working to find the funniest outcome to every possible scenario which leads to some rather insane plot decisions that have to be seen to be believed.

Mabel herself is voiced impeccably by Piper Curda, who does an excellent job here balancing a whimsy with a high octane presence that never flows over into obnoxiousness, and she is only really matched in quality by the large ensemble supporting cast. Her eventual beaver best friend, the kind and thoughtful but naive King George is played by Bobby Moynihan (another We Bare Bears alumni) and his monologues make up the majority of the film’s emotional beats. Those strong emotional beats ground the otherwise cartoon logic affair in grounded, personal stakes. And like the best Pixar films, when it makes a decision, it stick to it – sometimes things don’t go as planned, and that’s ok.

If Hoppers is to signal a second renaissance for the studio, then we best be prepared for the flood that will happen in it’s wake. It’s certainly the best original the studio has seen since Turning Red or Soul, and the best theatrical original since Coco nearly a decade ago. It’s Pixar at it’s most creative, witty, resonate, and unique, and a blast of a time that will likely be a big hit with family audiences. As for me, somebody who loves these films and the people behind them, Hoppers had me in stitches throughout and moved by the end, and is easily one of the early standouts of the year in terms of quality. Just a fantastic, nigh perfect family film.