Hoppers
Hoppers
Starring Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy
Directed by Daniel Chong
Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) is a 19-year-old college student still grieving the loss of her grandmother, who showed her the beauty of nature and love of animals at a young age. She learns that Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm) is planning on building a freeway over the glade that her grandmother took her to, and sets out to stop it to save the animal population - even though they've all but disappeared from the area. She finds her biology professor Dr. Samanthy Fairfax (Kathy Najimy) has created technology that transfers her mind to robotic animals in a process she calls "hopping," and Mabel transfers her mind into that of a robot beaver.
Arriving at the glade, she discovers she can communicate and understand animals, and is taken to King George (Bobby Moynihan), the beaver monarch who rules over the mammals in the area after they were dispersed from their homes. Far from being angry, George sees everyone as valuable and sees the good in everyone, and created the "Pond Rules" - Don't be a Stranger (he knows every animal by name), We're All in This Together, and When You Gotta Eat, Eat - that's brought harmony and balance to his community. Mabel's anger leads her to convince George to hold a meeting with the other animals and convinces them that the humans - especially Jerry - are evil, but instead of just stopping them, they resolve to "squish" the humans to Mabel's chagrin. Now she has to protect the man she once hated while also try to convince him to stop building the freeway that'll destroy the animal habitat.
While it does follow a familiar Disney/Pixar formula (our hero struggles with the death of a loved one, having to save something close to her but realizing her anger is actually not as helpful as she thought) "Hoppers" delivers some very moving moments with full-on laughter and creates unique, well-rounded characters that are more than their stock motivations. The movie focuses on community, the self-destructive nature of anger, seeing the good in everyone and the importance of nature and humanity living in cohabitation. It's told in beautiful animation which is essentially Pixar's bread and butter, and the voice acting is superb. To my surprise, I found myself moved nearly to tears in several moments.
The movie's main focus is Mabel, who is very zealous in protecting the wildlife in the glade because her grandmother took her there when she was young, and she promised her she would always protect it - but, deep down, it's also her anchor to her grandmother and she hasn't fully dealt with her passing. She tries all she can to protect it, but no one else seems to care, so when she's able to transfer her consciousness to a robotic beaver, she decides to go to the animals to help them save themselves. But when she arrives she realizes that the animals - and George in particular - don't really see humans as evil, but as another species that they co-exist with. Her anger fuels her to convince the animals to turn on humanity, but is too effective - they now want to squish humans like they're squished them.
This is the issue with the anger Mabel harbors. While anger can be used to see change, it's also used to see destruction. She never wanted George to suffer for what he was doing, but just prevent him from achieving his goal. Now she has to protect George from the oncoming animal assault and still convince him to stop the construction, even though she thinks it's a lost cause because, unlike George, she doesn't think everyone is good deep down. This is the moral dilemma Mabel faces, and Piper Curda gives her voice in the most beautiful way.
"Hoppers" is unique in this respect, where it's not necessarily man versus nature, but trying to find a way to co-exist. Bobby Moyinhan voices George with an innocence and naivety that infuriates the angry Mabel, but he does have a point in wanting to see the good in life and others. It's a movie that doesn't clearly define good and bad, and offers redemption and forgiveness as opposed to sheer destruction. It's a wonderful movie that includes numerous laugh-out-loud moments and also times where you'll feel tears in your eyes, and does everything that Pixar does perfectly.
The Score: A+
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