Hoppers is one of Pixar’s goofiest and funniest movies yet—a self-professed animated riff on Avatar that is a million times more entertaining than Avatar.
Mabel (the voice of Piper Curda) loves animals. When she finds out a college professor is experimenting with hi-tech animal robots as avatars for humans as a means to communicate with wildlife, she’s enthralled.
A mishap finds her inhabiting a beaver robot and talking to animals. She’s on a mission to save a pond and its inhabitants from a highway project that threatens to displace them. In the name of her beloved late grandma, she works to stop the construction, with the help of friendly animals who think she’s one of them.
Voice-cast standouts include Jon Hamm as a local politician who sort of goes through A Christmas Carol, but with animals; Melissa Villaseñor as a confused bear; Dave Franco as a power-hungry caterpillar; and, my personal favorite, Vanessa Bayer as a shark getting flown around in the air by sea birds. Her very polite voice works amazingly well inside a giant great white shark. This movie is a little touched in the head, and Pixar is always at its best when it plays with the bizarre.
You just know that Hoppers 2 is going to happen—and I’m on board. Pixar has a real winner here, and there are few things animation-wise that make me happier than Pixar hitting their marks.
Bring on Toy Story 5 this summer! Uh oh, we’re going to have a Pixar battle at next year’s Oscars.