By Sarah Osman

Hoppers’ climax is a valuable reminder that none of us —  from mammal to ant — are safe from the fury of a Mother Nature we have badly wronged.

A scene from Hoppers. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Because Pixar had so many home runs early on, some people believed that they would never hit singles, while others were chomping at the bit for the studio to strike out. The first chink in the lineup was Cars 2 (which I still like; people just didn’t understand that the story was making fun of James Bond). The second was Brave (but we still stan that fiery Scottish lass). After that, Pixar’s God-like standing was reduced to mortal status.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Pixar stopped making superior movies. They’ve continuously turned out heartwarming hits, such as Coco and Insider Out 2. Even their zanier films, like Turning Red and Luca, provide a lot of fun and are leavened with pathos. It is still regarded as one of the best animation studios around.

Pixar’s latest flick, Hoppers, will maintain this reputation, despite the fact that it is by far one of the wackiest films the company has ever made. Protagonist Mabel (Piper Curda) is a 19-year-old environmental activist determined to fight for the betterment of animals (in the film’s opening scene, a young Mabel frees all the class pets). Her current foe is the mayor of her town, appropriately named Beaverton. The administrator, voiced by Jon Hamm, is determined to build a highway through a beautiful wooded glade, a place of natural beauty Mabel often visited with her beloved grandmother. Via a continuous running gag, Mabel and the mayor butt heads over this environmental crime.

One day, Mabel stumbles upon a science experiment that’s being conducted by her professor, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy). Dr. Sam has created a way for humans to put their brains into robotic animals, or “hop.” It’s a rip-off of Avatar, no matter how much Dr. Sam denies it. Once she learns to use the new technology, Mabel immediately hops into a robotic beaver. While there, she becomes part of an expansive animal kingdom that includes a beaver king named George (Bobby Moynihan). Our heroine tries to convince the animals to protect the glade but, inadvertently, she kicks off a critter revolution. Meanwhile, Dr. Sam and her team are doing their best to get Mabel back into her human form.

I laughed out loud multiple times during Hoppers. Amusing jokes run throughout, most memorably a bit when the animals try to imitate a sound that only they can hear (my favorite is a lizard’s screech). There’s a really crazy scene that involves birds and a shark (I won’t spoil it, since it’s so hilarious). The beavers’ idea of a party is to build a dam while jamming out to “Working for the Weekend.” As for a spoof of Darwin, one beaver resignedly accepts a bear trying to eat him because of “pond rules.”

Hoppers has more of a conventional cartoon-ish feel compared to other Pixar movies. The characters and animals look and act more like Saturday morning animations. The cutesy style and broad humor struck me as a mash-up between Dreamworks and Studio Pictures Animation (the company behind Hotel Transylvania and KPop Demon Hunters). The result is that Hoppers is far more playfully unhinged than any of Pixar’s other efforts, but that’s a welcome change from some of the studio’s more solemn fare.

Loopy as Hoppers may be, that doesn’t mean its doesn’t have its poignant moments. Mabel’s loving relationship with her grandmother and affecting friendship with George stand at the heartfelt center of the story. And, of course, the message is urgent and clear: the importance of protecting the future of the environment and our furry, scaly, and feathery friends. Hoppers’ climax is a valuable reminder that none of us —  from mammal to ant — are safe from the fury of a Mother Nature we have badly wronged. And if we keep degrading her — for the sake of profit and power — it’s going to become much worse, guaranteed.

An alarming sign of the times: the Trump administration is hellbent on deregulation, hostile to renewable energy, fixated on fossil fuels, and is withdrawing from international climate agreements, including repealing the Obama-era Endangerment Finding to remove the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Given that anti-environmental insanity, there is a righteous method to Hoppers’ madness. 

Sarah Mina Osman is based in Los Angeles. In addition to The Arts Fuse, her writing can be found in The Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Matador Network, HelloGiggles, Business Insider, and WatchMojo. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is working on her first novel. She has a deep appreciation for sloths and tacos. You can keep up with her on Instagram @SarahMinaOsman and at Bluesky @sarahminaosman.bsky.social.