Hoppers Review

Hoppers is the first of two films to be released by Pixar in 2026. This offering is an environmentally themed comedy.

Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) is an animal lover and passionate environmental activist. She is determined to preserve The Glare from being turned into an expressway. When Mabel discovers her university professor, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy), has developed robotic animal avatars, the young student hijacks one of them and sets out to rally the animals against the construction and reclaim their territory.

Pixar is arguably the biggest animation studio, but its recent track record has been spotty. Lightyear and Elio were box office bombs, and Elemental was a slow burn at the box office. Their last big hit was Inside Out 2, and three of their four upcoming films will be sequels. The marketing for Hoppers has been lacklustre because the trailers were underwhelming. Hoppers ended up being a fun Pixar film.

Hoppers was an environmental tale. This is nothing new in children’s media: you can go back as far as 1941 with Bambi, and anyone who grew up in the 1990s would have experienced plenty of environmental films and TV shows. One of Pixar’s best films, WALL-E, was an environmental movie. More recently, The Wild Robot and Flow have been environmentally-themed, which were also emotionally charged animated films. Hoppers went down a broader, more entertaining route. If someone went into The Wild Robot and Hoppers blind, they would think The Wild Robot was the Pixar film, and DreamWorks made Hoppers.

Hoppers had a more localised story since it was about the animals of The Glare being forced out of their habitat due to human activity and encroachment. Yet it was still impactful since animals were losing their homes, and Mabel had a personal connection to the area. She bonded with her grandmother (Karen Huie), learned about nature, and found it a calming place. Mabel wanted to preserve that link to her grandmother, and it helped give Hoppers an emotional edge. Mabel’s friendship with King George (Bobby Moynihan) also gave the film a bit of emotion, especially when he looked like a more realistic beaver. George was a seemingly goofy character, yet he was someone wanting to do what was right and was loved by his subjects because of this.

Mabel can be described as Pixar’s equivalent of Lisa Simpson. Mabel shared Lisa’s passion and care for the environment and was a well-meaning character, but also had the 8-year-old’s negative traits. Mabel was short-tempered, impulsive, judgmental, and always willing to lecture people, which drove people and animals away from her cause. One character did describe her as “the shrill, unlikeable beaver.” Even though Mabel had the best intentions, she had a knack for making situations worse.

Hoppers was one of Pixar’s obviously comedic films, and it was a genuinely funny film. It was a joke-laden film with lots of physical humour and comedic observations. The comedy appealed to audiences of all ages: I noticed it held the younger audience members’ attention more than Goat did. I enjoyed the rivalry between Mabel and Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm) as they constantly bickered with each other. Mayor Jerry was a funny character because of his egotism. Hoppers wasn’t subtle with its message, but the filmmakers knew they had to make something entertaining to keep audiences engaged. Hoppers probably would have been one of my favourite films if I were a child because of its humour and animal focus.

Hoppers was one of Pixar’s wildest films. The story zigged and zagged in different directions. It was great to have a family film which was a little unpredictable, and it helped to give the film a sense of energy. There were some great surprises that were delightful to see.

Hoppers would have been a film I would have loved as a child because of its comedy and its focus on wildlife. It pleased my inner child, and even as an adult, it was an enjoyable experience.