Review 775: Hoppers

I think it's fair to say that Pixar is not the powerhouse that it once was. Over its 30 year  the studio has churned out 30 animated features  from middling originals like Onward and last years Elio to and endless string of sequels. 

After a group of scientists invent a way to "hop" human minds into lifelike robotic animal bodies, an animal-loving teenager named Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) uses the technology to embody a robotic beaver and thwart a construction company's plot to destroy the local animal habitat, unwittingly starting an animal uprising against all humans.

One of things that Hoppers does exceptionally well is that it thrusts you right into the middle of the action; it hits the ground running introducing us to our lead Mabel

This film has such a madcap energy that   But underneath all of that energy, Hoppers at its core is about being in tune with nature and empathy for all species. 

The opening scene featuring her trying to free class pets of her school established everything we needed to know about her - she's energetic, determined, driven, a little impulsive, fierce tempered and an animal lover. It's established  How can someone with a firey temper as Mabel's, who's tried to counter the Mayor's scheme of building a freeway over a glade alone come from anything less than a friendless background. Mabel unwittingly unleashes an animal uprising and then works to stop it. But Mebel is able to achieve a zen state by filtering out all the sounds of the outside world and any and all distractions 

Jon Hamm  At first Jerry seems to be your stereotypical one-note douchy mayor character who just wants to destroy nature to build a freeway, 

Bobby Moynihan of SNL fame and previously worked with Daniel Chong on We Bare Bears 

The eclectic and well chosen voice cast features performances from actor and comedians Melissa Villansenor as a grumpy brown bear & Vanessa Bayer as a shark assassin with a surprisingly jovial voice that makes me think she's a descendant of the titular shark from Spielberg's Jaws. Other voice talents include Meryl Streep as the Insect Queen and Dave Franco as her Machiavellian son who - well lets just sat I haven't met a villain this scary since Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

This film does such a great job of fleshing out minor roles like Dr. Sam's astute college Sam (Aparna Nancherla) and Connor (Sam Richardson)