CORON, Palawan — The tide appears to be turning back in Pixar’s favor with the release of its newest movie “Hoppers,” a tale that blends animation, science-fiction, and a love of nature in the funniest way possible.
Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) is a rebellious teenager who has grown fond of the glade where her late grandmother took her to visit. Her favorite childhood place faces a threat because of a planned freeway cutting through it courtesy of city mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm).
Efforts to rally the community are unsuccessful, but Mabel learns of her college professor’s secret program that allows the human mind to “hop” into robotic creatures in order to study the natural world.
Defiant like most in her generation, Mabel uses the technology to become a robotic beaver and finds that she is able to understand other animals, including a beaver named King George (Bobby Moynihan), who rules over a large number of creatures in a giant dam.
Mabel earns the trust of King George and his subjects, but misunderstandings and mishaps lead to both scampering with tails flapping behind them, possibly jeopardizing the natural order and the lives of human beings.
It has been quite a while since the last time Pixar had a solid hit. “Inside Out 2” did numbers in 2024, but this is expected from a popular sequel. This means that Pixar's last original theatrical success was before the pandemic.
Here to rescue the animation studio is longtime storyboard artist Daniel Chong, best known for creating the Cartoon Network series “We Bare Bears” — a show so successful that Pixar must have been glad to welcome him back.
The team Chong has gathered for his sophomore film feels like a fresh batch of faces, and yet somehow “Hoppers” still harkens to Pixar’s identity as the wonderful source of creative stories that spoke to both children and adults.
It is good to see Pixar finding the richness in stories again, but what makes “Hoppers” an entertaining watch is the unhinged nature (no pun intended) injected into the screenplay by Jesse Andrews, who made the story with Chong.
Fighting to preserve nature isn’t new to kids movies — see “The Lorax” and “Ferngully” — but Chong and Andrews managed to make the subject interestingly fun, so much that it reflects the activism and humor of the current generation.
The “hopping” nature is basically the concept of “Avatar,” which “Hoppers” slyly references among other films, but the technology merely serves as the pathway to the real adventure happening in ponds just outside the city.
From there, Chong takes the films to giddy and heartfelt lengths, exploring misguided anger and true balance as part and parcel of life.
Sony Pictures Animation is ahead when it comes to elevating animation techniques, but Pixar continues to make small advances in the miniscule details which — tied with a return to creative form — points to stable direction.
Curda and Hamm have funny banter between them, while Moynihan has a tender warmth to his presence. Other enjoyables names in the voice cast are Eduardo Franco, Melissa Villaseñor, Dave Franco, and an almost missable Meryl Streep.
Pixar can always bank on numerous “Toy Story” or “The Incredibles” to rake in the crowds, but championing original stories remains a gem for the studio.
If the company continues to wave this flag of pure creativity, then roads will lead it to where it needs to be.