A One Mann’s Movies review of “Hoppers”. (2026, 4*, U).
With the Oscars now out of the way, I can get back to catching up on a long list of films I’ve seen but haven’t reviewed yet! The first of these is the new Disney Pixar film “Hoppers”, still in cinemas now.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
9-year-old Mabel (Lila Liu) is an ecology nut, thanks to guidance from her Grandma (Karen Huie). Now a precocious 19-year-old student, Mabel (now Piper Curda) forces her way into an “Avatar-like” research project to ‘become’ a beaver in order to thwart the destructive plans of an evil mayor (Jon Hamm).
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Strong Language”.)
Talent:
Starring:
Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Eduardo Franco, Aparna Nancherla, Tom Law, Sam Richardson, Melissa Villaseñor, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Steve Purcell, Ego Nwodim,
Nichole Sakura, Meryl Streep, Karen Huie, Lila Liu.
Directed by: Daniel Chong.
Written by: Jesse Andrews. (Story by Jesse Andrews & Daniel Chong. Additional story elements by Jordan Harrison & Faith Liu.)
Running Time: 1h 44m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Colourful and fun.
- Some good gags for adults and kids
- A strong ecological message
Negatives:
- The story gets overcomplicated for younger kids.
- Wasn’t mad on some of the music choices.
Full Review:
Sub-premium Pixar
I’ve seen the film described as being below Pixar’s best… and I would slightly agree. But with that said, sub-par Pixar is still bloody good! This film has heart and soul aplenty.
For me, it starts very strongly with young Mabel (Piper Curda), a rebel ecologist, trying to release all of the creatures kept captive in her elementary school. But her grandmother, Grandma Tanaka (Karen Huie) sees a lot of herself in Mabel and understands her. She introduces her to being at peace with nature at a wonderful glade in the forest near her house on the edge of the city of Beaverton.
Oh no, is it “Up!” again?
We then spin forwards ten years to Mable as a rebellious 19-year-old attending Beaverton University. I immediately thought… “uh oh, what’s happened to Grandma?” Yep, I was right…. brown bread!
We are spared having the devastating passing scene as in “Up!”… or so we think! But then comes flashback scenes and I worried that we were not out of the woods! But it’s all done without major trauma, it not being stressed where exactly she’s gone, so younger kids won’t necessarily ask tricky questions!
Over complication.
I heard Simon Mayo on the Kermode and Mayo “Take” podcast comment that the Best Pixar films are ones where you can easily explain the plot to a child. And this Pixar struggles with that test (but perhaps less so than “Elio“).
The concept of putting a person’s consciousness into an animal robot (“THIS”, pointing at head, “into THAT”, pointing at robot) is fairly simple to understand. But then later in the film, complexity is piled on as the evil road-building mayor (Jon Hamm) uses an evil noise to drive the wildlife from the glade; an animal Council turns on its own; and mechanical beaver Mabel and beaver king George (Bobby Moynihan) find themselves caught in the middle of the conflict. I think many younger kids may feel lost with the story.
Film references.
As always in Pixar films, there are some nice, knowing, movie references for the cinema-literate adults. When Mabel describes the process as being “like Avatar” Dr Sam (Kathy Najimy) snaps back “It’s nothing like Avatar!”, reminding me of the “not Godzilla… but it looks like Godzilla… but it’s not” copyright gag from “Austin Powers: Goldmember”!
There is also reference to “Jaws” (and maybe even “Sharknado”!) and a streaming pause will be needed to properly examine Dr Sam’s chalkboard of “future invention ideas”: I saw the talking dog collar from “Up!” on there, but there are probably a lot more Easter Eggs!
“Woke nonsense”!!!
No doubt MAGA prats will dismiss this as “woke” with its ecological message, but I found the story of protecting green-belt and the harmony of the food chain (“pond rules”!) as being well-made and understandable for kids. Bears gotta eat too!
Also appreciated was the gender and racial diversity of the university staff.
Music choices.
The “Toy Story” films were MADE by the Randy Newman songs. Here though, with music by Mark Mothersbaugh and a couple of songs written for the film, I’m afraid they didn’t give me the warm fuzzies. If anything, I felt they got in the way.
Scary for young kids?
The film is a U, but that doesn’t mean that certain sensitive kids won’t be scared by bits of the film. But in this case, I didn’t think there was much to haunt kid’s dreams: perhaps the only part might be where the mayor’s rubber mask gets pulled off a robot at the top of a tree: the robot looks a bit threatening and freaky. But that’s about it.
Monkeys?
There are ‘monkeys‘ in the end credits, including one mid-credit one with animal antics with the mayor’s mask at one at the very end, with the deaf old man that Mabel lobbies, which was funny and worth staying for.
Summary Thoughts:
It’s not the best ever Pixar, but still a cut above many animated offerings. Both myself and the illustrious Mrs Movie Man enjoyed this one very much.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PypDSyIRRSs.
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