Posted in: Disney, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Pixar, Review | Tagged: hoppers

Hoppers Review: A Chaotic Story That Finds Its Footing by the End

Hoppers could have been great, but it's another example of what happens when executives try to dictate storytelling rather than creatives.

Hoppers is a weird little Pixar movie that takes a little while to come together, but when it finds its footing, it settles nicely into the middle tier from a studio that sets the bar extremely high.

Director: Daniel Chong
Summary: A 19-year-old animal lover uses technology that places her consciousness into a robotic beaver to uncover mysteries within the animal world beyond her imagination.

There's probably a lot more pressure on Hoppers than the film deserves, and it all comes down to circumstance. When this film was greenlit, no one thought Pixar would be in the position it is in now, because animation is a labor of love that takes so long to finish. The reality of the situation is that Pixar seems keen to move away from original storytelling and between Elemental's slowburn at the box office and Elio's spectacular flame out, combined with Inside Out 2 doing so well, if this movie doesn't do well, it feels like we're not going to get many original Pixar films in the next couple of years [aside from the one already in development]. Can Hoppers shoulder the weight of knowledge that if it doesn't do well, original films at Pixar in general will drastically decrease? The answer is a resounding…maybe?

Whatever kind of movie you think Hoppers is, it really isn't that. The tone is all over the place as it, well, hops from plot point to plot point well into the second act. It's a bit chaotic, but in a way that feels like it is supposed to be intentional. Then, the tail end of the second act and heading into the third act hits, a ridiculous antagonist shows up, and the rest just kind of settled perfectly into place. This is a movie that lives and dies by the second half of the film, because that is where everything pops off. The movie is already buckwild, but it somehow gets even more insane and manages to make that insanity work with an extremely satisfying ending.

At the same time, there is also this feeling in Hoppers as if it is being held back. This movie is not subtle; it's also not conventional. It feels like it's trying to break through all sorts of corporate constraints. It mostly manages to which is a miracle unto itself. However, you can tell that something is holding Hoppers back from being the radical environmentalist film it wants to be. It feels that way because it is being held back.

In December 2024, in a report by The Hollywood Reporter that mostly focused on a transgender storyline in Win or Lose being pulled, Hoppers was also mentioned. According to a former Pixar artist who worked on the film, they were told to 'downplay' the environmentalism aspect of Hoppers, saying, "Unfortunately, when you have your whole film based around the importance of environmentalism, you can't really walk back on that. That team struggled a lot to figure out, 'What do we even do with this note?'" Now that the movie is coming out, the artist is right, this is a movie that is about environmentalism, it's baked into the DNA of the story, and despite that, as the film feels radical in its tone, jokes, and structure, it's not nearly radical enough about its own central theme.

Was there anything anyone at Pixar could do about this if the word came from the higher-ups? Of course not, and holding it against the production team doesn't seem fair, but this is what happens when boardrooms make storytelling decisions instead of creatives. We get movies about environmentalism that half-ass it's own theme. Even half-assing that theme, Hoppers still falls happily into the mid-tier Pixar category, which is still a lot better than what other studios put out. The characters are likable and funny, the voice acting is great, the animation is beautiful, and, as previously stated, the weak first act is carried by the second half, which ends on a high note worthy of some of Pixar's best.

Hoppers could have been great, but it's another example of what happens when executives try to dictate storytelling rather than creatives. We review the movie we got, not the one we want, and the one we got is pretty good. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it has that eccentric type of humor that's going to be very up someone's alley if it resonates with them. If that post-credits thing in Elio with Tom the Lizard made you laugh like a hyena, you're the audience for Hoppers. If you did not get why people thought that was so funny, you still might be the audience for Hoppers, but it won't end up on your Pixar top ten anytime soon.

Hoppers

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Review by Kaitlyn Booth

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7.5/10

Hoppers is a weird little Pixar movie that takes a little while to come together, but when it finds its footing, it settles nicely into the middle tier from a studio that sets the bar extremely high.

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