“Hoppers” might be built with familiar parts, but Pixar’s latest isn’t trying to hide its various influences. Instead, this buoyant, freewheeling adventure about a spirited 19-year-old environmental activist who infiltrates the animal world in the body a robotic beaver wears its references for all to see. Sometimes it’s with a wink; Sometimes it’s more overt, like Kathy Najimy’s flustered scientist shouting, “This is nothing like ‘Avatar!’”
Of course, “Hoppers,” directed by Daniel Chong, is a little like “Avatar,” but who can blame her for being defensive? She’s figured out how to transport human consciousness into a robotic animal that can not only pass as a real one — in this case a beaver — but communicate with all varieties of mammals, insects and amphibians too. Is it also a “Simpsons already did it” reference? That might be getting a little too meta, but the point is “Hoppers” is having fun with its own chaos.
Najimy’s Dr. Fairfax is a relatively minor character in the world of “Hoppers,” but she, and everyone else around Beaverton (both animal and human), are rendered with the kind of specificity, care and goofiness that make them memorable regardless of screen time. This is an especially good thing when the supporting voice cast includes people like Meryl Streep, Sam Richardson, Dave Franco, Ego Nwodim and Vanessa Bayer. The last time I felt so singularly connected to the ensemble of a Pixar movie was “Luca,” which was also written by Jesse Andrews.
The hero at the heart of “Hoppers,” Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), is actually a kind of spiritual sister to “Luca’s” Giulia Marcovaldo — impassioned (some might ungenerously say “too much”) and a bit of an outcast because of it.
Mabel’s focus has always been animals: She was the kid who tried to free the pets in her elementary school (several times). As a young adult, she’s the one who shows up on the mayor’s lawn to debate. When Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm) comes to tear down a particularly sentimental spot, the glade, in the name of finishing a highway overpass that will save his constituents four minutes on their commutes, she goes full terminator in her mission to save it — or, you know, as much as a 19-year-old in the body of a mechanical beaver can.
As a beaver, Mabel forms a friendship with King George (Bobby Moynihan), an optimistic, 80s-music loving beaver who oversees a superdam for all the displaced wildlife. The various species live in relative harmony and peace but still abide by dryly practical “pond rules” like “when you’ve gotta eat, eat.” Her gung-ho, apologize later attitude has some positive effects. It also gets her and her new friends in over their heads when she inadvertently incites a war. For a PG-rated Pixar movie, the stakes get rather, uh, real. It is worth remembering that time in “Toy Story 3” where Woody and his pals seemed prepared for imminent incineration. This is decidedly tamer.
Don’t think too hard about how “Hoppers” gets you from a little tale about a girl trying to save a patch of land to a truly helter-skelter third act involving a flying assassin shark, a Machiavellian insect prince and more body swapping than “Freakier Friday.” Just enjoy the adorable and slightly manic ride.
Somehow, amid all the lighthearted anarchy, “Hoppers” manages to pull a few emotional strings too. After the heavy-handed “Elio” misfire, “Hoppers” might still feel fairly distant from the heights of peak Pixar; It’s also a big, joyful leap in the right direction.
“Hoppers,” a Walt Disney Co. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “some scary images, mild language and action/peril.” Running time: 105 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.