In Disney and Pixar’s animated comedy adventure ‘Hoppers,’ directed by Daniel Chong and produced by Nicole Paradis Grindle, young animal lover Mabel (Piper Curda) desperately wants to save the peaceful glade where she used to spend time with her beloved grandmother (Karen Huie), and which is under threat from a new beltway being developed by Beaverton’s untrustworthy mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). By ‘hopping’ her consciousness into the electronic brain of a robot beaver, she becomes part of the animal world she is trying to save. Teaming up with the friendly beaver King George (Bobby Moynihan), Mabel learns more about the natural order than she could ever have imagined, and discovers the true value of working together for the common good.
As a leading character, Mabel is truly a breath of fresh air – a feisty young woman filled with energy, and who is a genuine force of nature. Mabel is, in fact, described in the film as a Joan of Arc rebel leader. Highly relatable to young audiences, Mabel struggles with anger issues that will be familiar to many teenagers, especially when she is confronted by a cynical mayor who values his own political success above environmental concerns.
Amusingly, Mabel’s first confrontation with the dastardly Mayor Jerry is presented as a classic Western showdown, as the two adversaries face each other across the beaver dam which Mabel is anxious to save … and which Jerry seeks only to destroy. However, serious issues lurk beneath the humor. Mabel’s crusade to save the glade mirrors the global fight to save the planet, in defiance of a bureaucracy that does not care. Likewise, Mabel’s feeling of helplessness (expressed most eloquently during a deeply emotional conversation she has with King George later in the story) channels the universal desperation expressed by so many young people today – the sense that nothing they do can make a difference.
While Mayor Jerry represents the dividing forces against which Mabel is battling, King George is the opposite – an optimistic presence whose generous good humor promises not to push people apart, but to bring them together. Central to King George’s philosophy are the animal kingdom’s ‘Pond Rules’, notably his favorite motto: ‘We’re all in this together.’
An approachable beaver monarch who knows all his animal subjects by name, King George teaches Mabel the value of seeing people for who they are … even a calculating politician like Mayor Jerry. By abandoning her polarized opinions, Mabel learns not to fight the person she regards as an enemy, but to work with him instead. She finds new ways to collaborate with Mayor Jerry, without compromising her own beliefs. Finally she lets go of her anger, without sacrificing her passion.
It takes more than just King George’s guidance to effect this change in Mabel. Just as important is the spiritual presence of her dear departed Grandma Tanaka. Near the beginning of ‘Hoppers,’ we see Mabel as a little girl, sitting with her grandmother on a rock overlooking the pond and enjoying the peacefulness of the glade. ‘I used to get really mad,’ Grandma Tanaka tells Mabel, ‘but not any more. You just have to be very still, and watch, and listen.’
Here, as in the rest of the film, it is inspiring to appreciate the attention to detail which the filmmakers have lavished on the imaginary world of ‘Hoppers.’ It is no coincidence that the pond is shaped like a beaver, any more than it is coincidence that Grandma Tanaka’s rock looks like a stylised Planet Earth.
As Grandma Tanaka’s words of wisdom echo round the glade, all the creative disciplines combine to create a sublime impression of Mother Nature at her best, from design and animation, to cinematography, lighting and visual effects. Just as important is the soundtrack. As Mabel observes the natural world around her, the soundscape softens into a delicate symphony of ambient sounds, from the quiet buzz of insects to the lyrical lapping of the water in the pond. Never has silence been presented in such a moving, emotional way.
Throughout the film, Mabel returns to this memory time and again, using its healing power to remind her of Grandma Tanaka’s profound observation: ‘It’s hard to be mad when you’re part of something bigger.’ This exquisite use of sound design encourages us, as an audience, to listen out for the ‘still small voice’ at the center of the universe. In a wider sense, it also reminds us how important it is to listen to others with open minds and empathetic hearts, reinforcing King George’s assertion that ‘we’re all in this together.’
The filmmakers further explore this theme of empathy through the artful use of POV. In the opening scenes, no sooner have we enjoyed an idyllic montage of images drawn directly from nature, than our perception is turned on its head … literally. As the camera rotates through 180 degrees, we realize we are looking through the eyes of a turtle that has suddenly been flipped on its back within the confines of a school terrarium. It is through this inverted lens that we get our first glimpse of Mabel’s face … also upside-down.
Throughout the rest of the movie, the audience’s reliance on point of view is constantly challenged, sometimes even subverted. One of the storyline’s key plot points – that of Mabel experiencing the world as a robot beaver – relies on a radical shift in perspective. One moment, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy), inventor of the robot technology, is assuring Mabel that the mind-transference concept is ‘nothing like Avatar.’ Next moment, the audience is treated to wide-angle ‘beaver cam’ shots designed to give them exactly the same disorientating experience as Mabel.
Later, when Mabel finds herself in forest, her new point of view delivers a host of wonders, not least the revelation that she can now understand all animal languages. All too soon, however, the limitations of the robot technology become apparent, as she realizes she cannot hear the deafening blare of the fake trees installed by Mayor Jerry, which is driving the animals away from the glade. Yet, while this selective deafness highlights the fact that she is an imperfect animal clone, it also allows her to bring down the tree in spectacular fashion and allow the animals to return home … for a while, at least.
Playing with POV and audience preconceptions also allows Daniel Chong and his team to generate plenty of humor. During a spectacular car chase, a flock of seagulls plucks a gigantic shark out of the ocean and uses it to threaten the fleeing Mayor Jerry, who is slowly becoming aligned with Mabel in her robot beaver guise. The shark bares rows of pointed teeth in what appears to be a malicious grin, then King George cheerfully introduces her as Diane, the friendliest apex predator you could possibly hope to meet.
Similar threads of humor run through the rest of the film. The tyrannical insect king Titus (Dave Franco) bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain Third Reich dictator, while the sequence in which various animal species attempt to replicate the appalling sounds generated by Mayor Jerry’s fake tree is a real show-stopper. An array of movie references are guaranteed to raise a smile. Accented by Mark Mothersbaugh’s wonderful score, the appearance of Diane reminds us instantly of “Jaws,” with other memorable moments evoking Isao Takahata’s animated classic “Pom Poko” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”
Humor is also used to underpin the film’s key messages. We laugh at King George’s clumsy attempts to communicate by smartphone using the ‘Chopped Wood Logs’ emoji, while at the same time being reminded of one of the film’s central themes, namely the difficulties we all encounter while trying to communicate across seemingly impossible divides.
Throughout the movie, the filmmakers use repetition and circularity as powerful storytelling tools. Mabel’s thoughts circle endlessly back to Grandma Tanaka and the beautiful silence of the perfect glade. The glade itself appears many times, first as an idyll, next a demolition site, then a place of rebirth as the animals restore its former glory. Chaoes returns when Mayor Jerry doubles down with his demolition crew and then, in an ironic twist, King George saves the city of Beaverton from fire by rallying the entire animal kingdom to shatter his dam and unleash a tremendous flood … in the process destroying the glade yet again.
Finally, in the film’s glorious closing sequence, Mabel returns to the glade which, with the help of her new ally Mayor Jerry, she has managed to restore once more. Sitting with King George on the rock she once shared with Grandma Tanaka, she opens herself to the simple silence of her natural surroundings. Now that she is back in her normal human body, they can no longer communicate as they once could. This does not stop the beaver monarch expressing his feelings via smartphone.
Interspersed between King George’s repeated ‘Chopped Wood Logs’ emojis is not one ‘Red Heart,’ but two. While it might appear that a gulf still separates them, somehow this down-to-earth beaver has found the perfect way to say, ‘I love you.’
Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez is the CEO and executive director of VIEW Conference, Italy’s premiere annual digital media conference. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a BA from the University of California Santa Cruz. VIEW Conference is committed to bringing a diversity of voices to the forefront in animation, visual effects, and games. For more information about the VIEW Conference, visit the official website: http://viewconference
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#savethedate 12-16 October 2026