Movie Review: HOPPERS

My husOtter Supreme hates it when there’s an Emperor’s New Groove clip on YouTube or there’s some analytical bit somewhere on social media. He knows that I’ll start forwarding it to my bestie out in Colorado and the random quips will start coming from left and right.

“No touchie.”

“Or…to save on postage.”

Such and such. But it was a sign of good writing. A wild and wacky animated trip that brought joy to my world and others, I’m sure. 

And it didn’t follow formula, for a Disney movie, at least.

WHich meant, when I watched it for the first time, there were moments where I was engaged at the novelty of it all.

My husband hates when I start quoting The Emperor's New Groove. He knows it means I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of movie clips again. But those quirks are usually a sign of good writing—the kind of wild, non-formulaic animation that really sticks with you. Which brings me to Pixar’s latest, Hoppers, which is PIXAR’s latest, released last March and now streaming on Disney Plus. 

It fits that definition. A wild, non-formulaic animation.

That really sticks with you.

PIXAR makes amazing pictures, we know this. Their worst movie (methinks it is The Good Dinosaur, lemme know your thoughts) is still well constructed, well written, and beautifully shot. There’s a reason they go nomination after nomination and I find myself drawn to them, for even if the movie is predictable, it’s still visually engaging.

Was this worst? 

PIXAR likes to take animation and viewers into colorful spaces, which is their overall trademark. Beautiful fish palettes (Finding Nemo and Finding Dory); talking emotions (Inside Out/Inside Out 2); loving elements (Elemental) all take centerstage, a challenge accepted by the animators to bring humanity to things that are not necessarily human. It’s an amazing feat and quite entertaining. 

A personal favorite, as it deals with ethnic themes I totally can relate to. 

PIXAR’s trademark involves whisking us away to vibrant, color-drenched spaces—those gorgeous fish palettes in Finding Nemo or the neon emotions of Inside Out. So, admittedly, the brown-on-brown aesthetic of Hoppers felt a bit off-the-wall at first glance. Yet, that earthy pond vibe was actually novel, forcing me to dig deeper into the story itself.

And, well, novel. It doesn’t follow the formula. 

While last night’s viewing of Hoppers doesn’t have the color palette of so many of their other films, I feel this goes a few steps beyond mid. Yeah, the colors tended to be a bit of the brown-on-brown, with brown branches and brown pond. But this means the viewer would have to get involved in more of the story. 

Dang, what a story. Completely unhinged. 

Yet, I was intrigued. 

Hoppers manages to be as off-the-wall as it is while still feeling like a classic, heartfelt journey. The story follows a young protagonist who, in a desperate attempt to truly understand the world around them, ends up using some advanced, slightly questionable technology to "hop" their consciousness into the minds of animals. Her educator has invented a robot that a brain can be linked to, the ‘hopping’ of the title, and one can control the animal. 

Shades of “Avatar” are mentioned in a delicious joke, as a matter of fact.

She uses the tech to coerce the animals of the forest to rise up against the local politician who is going to build through the forest.  The whole tale is surprisingly dark, which, as we know, I love, so maybe there’s a reason I enjoyed it a bit more than others. I mean, they talk about animals eating each other with the blase of ordering a latte. 

Hilarious.

“YOU AREN’T BOTHERED HE WAS GOING TO EAT YOU?”

“Pond rules. Everyone’s gotta eat.”

Other highlights are terrific vocal turns by John Hamm as the mustache twirling villain, Jerry; Meryl Streep finally doing some animation as the vicious and haughty insect leader of the Council of Animals; and an INCREDIBLE supporting turn by Bobby Moynihan as King George of the beavers. His story arc is so well portrayed that I wanted to keep seeing him on screen, just a good person doing good things. 

But all this is manic. There’s little emotional beats like PIXAR has rolled out before, like at the end of their Toy Story tales, Inside Out, or Up. 

Do I recommend it? 

Yeah, actually I do.

It’s not top tier PIXAR, but like Emperor’s New Groove, it’s fun, wacky, and really engaging. It’s a story first focus, and I dig that, and always will. It prioritizes a fun story over the heavy handedness that seems to go with anti technology and pro climate proselytizing that comes out at times. Just a bit of old school storytelling hidden in a wild premise. 

• #Pixar
• #Hoppers
• #MovieReview
• #DisneyPlus
• #Animation