Hoppers is in theaters now.
Can Pixar Recapture the Magic?
It’s not exactly a new observation to say that Pixar’s once-golden reputation isn’t what it used to be. The legendary 3D animation studio has never disappeared from the cultural conversation—you can’t ignore a company that defined modern animation—but after revolutionizing the industry in the 1990s and delivering an unbroken string of masterpieces in the 2000s, Pixar has only occasionally reached the level of greatness that was once synonymous with their name.
Part of that shift comes from their heavy reliance on sequels (Toy Story 5, anyone?), but even their original films don’t always match the creative pedigree of all-time classics like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, or WALL-E. So where does their latest film, the sci-fi animal comedy Hoppers, land in Pixar’s increasingly complicated filmography? It’s not quite reaching for WALL-E-level inspiration, but it still emerges as an entertaining and genuinely admirable effort that reminds us why we fell in love with Pixar in the first place.
A Wild Premise That Actually Works
Hoppers centers on Mabel (voiced with earnest charm by Piper Curda), a struggling college student and passionate animal lover from the city of Beaverton who’s desperately trying to protect a beloved woodland glade from being demolished by a highway construction project. She’s opposed in this ecological David-and-Goliath battle by Beaverton mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm, clearly having fun playing smarmy), who insists he’s received all the proper construction permits because the glade’s animal inhabitants have already voluntarily vacated the premises.
No points for guessing that the animals didn’t actually leave purely of their own accord, but Mabel’s investigation into why leads her through a genuinely circuitous series of events that result in her consciousness being transferred into the body of a robotic beaver created by one of her eccentric professors. Yes, you read that correctly: brain-swapping beaver body. Mabel uses this “hopping” technology (as in, consciousness hopping between bodies) to communicate directly with the animals and figure out how to convince them to move back to their endangered home.
Breakneck Pacing With Heart
There’s actually considerably more to the plot than this already-wild basic premise, with director Daniel Chong and writer Jesse Andrews crafting a story that possesses a certain madcap energy as it careens through numerous big ideas and fresh complications at a rapid clip. The frenzied pace ensures the film never loses the audience’s attention—a crucial feat for keeping both kids and adults engaged—but it does feel like Hoppers would succeed better at its quieter emotional moments if it were willing to let the story sit and breathe more often, giving weight to character beats rather than rushing toward the next plot point.
But what keeps the film emotionally anchored despite its manic energy is the throughline of Mabel’s desperate desire to make “just one thing” work out at a time when she feels like absolutely everything in her life has fallen apart. It’s a relatable feeling, particularly for college-age viewers navigating their own uncertainties. The film honestly explores why her overeager, sometimes misguided efforts can make things worse despite her best intentions—a nuanced character flaw that elevates Mabel beyond typical animated hero territory. She’s assisted in this journey by King George (Bobby Moynihan), the friendly monarch of the local mammal kingdom, who tries to see the absolute best in everyone, even to a fault.
King George: Pixar’s Newest Great Character
I really have nothing but good things to say about King George. While Hoppers isn’t destined to join Pixar’s pantheon of all-time greats, King George absolutely deserves a spot among their best characters—right up there with Dory, Mike Wazowski, and Edna Mode. He’s a deceptively difficult character to make work because his defining trait is his inherent goodness and basic empathy for literally everyone and everything, which could easily become boring or saccharine in the wrong hands.
But Moynihan’s warm, genuine performance and Andrews’ thoughtful script ensure his somewhat naive worldview makes complete sense because he wholeheartedly believes it, willing the best out of others by seeing their potential before they do themselves. The relationship between King George and Mabel may hit one or two predictable dramatic beats, but their chemistry still wins out by the film’s satisfying final act, delivering the emotional payoff you’re hoping for in a Pixar film.
World-Building That Doesn’t Quite Add Up
That said, the way King George runs his woodland kingdom and how it relates to the film’s internal logic represents one of Hoppers’ biggest stumbling blocks. King George’s forest abides by what he calls “pond rules,” which can be basically summed up as “we’re all in this together” (a phrase that’s literally spoken aloud in dialogue, just in case you missed the thematic point). This is undeniably a nice sentiment, but it doesn’t square logically when you stop to think it through for more than a few seconds.
Similarly to 2024’s The Wild Robot, Hoppers gets a bit cutesy with its talking animal community, showing predators and prey all being friendly with each other—lions lying down with lambs, metaphorically speaking. Hoppers introduces the convenient caveat that it’s perfectly okay for the predators to eat their neighbors “when they’re hungry,” hand-waving away the inherent conflict with deaths treated as throwaway visual gags. Sure, it’s momentarily amusing when an animal explaining pond rules is inexplicably eaten mid-speech by a passing predator, but it doesn’t change that it’s essentially a narrative band-aid slapped over an irreconcilable problem with the setting’s believability.
Hoppers’ lack of verisimilitude is ultimately what keeps it from matching Pixar’s top-tier efforts. Pixar films such as Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles created worlds that were entirely separate from our own reality, which allowed their bizarre rules and logic to still come off as internally consistent and satisfying. But when Finding Nemo was clearly set in our world (beyond the standard “animals can talk” animated conceit), it didn’t move into pure fantasy—it basically played fair with our understanding of how marine animals actually behave, even with their anthropomorphized personalities and emotions.
Hoppers feels spiritually akin to Finding Nemo in terms of what it’s trying to narratively accomplish with its world-building, but it takes on too many extra incongruous elements that don’t mesh well together. That crucial ability to buy into the internal logic of a film’s setting is what ultimately lets the audience also fully invest in the emotional stakes of the characters—and this is where Hoppers occasionally starts to fall apart at the seams.
Narrative Stumbles in the Third Act
Between a surprise villain whose entire nefarious plan is both established and thwarted far too quickly to leave any real emotional impact, the genuinely confusing detail that Mabel somehow has to be the one to explain to the various animal monarchs that humans are actively encroaching on their territory (wouldn’t they already know this critical information?), and a well-meaning but ultimately somewhat disingenuous resolution to the central conflict between Mabel and Jerry, Hoppers has a few too many rough narrative edges to earn full marks.
But even with these legitimate structural issues, the film still features plenty of genuinely clever humor and sharply directed action sequences. Of particular note is how director Chong finds an absolutely hilarious way for a great white shark to participate in a high-speed car chase scene—you just have to see it to believe it. The film also crucially goes out on a high note, delivering a sweet and emotionally satisfying conclusion for both Mabel and King George that doesn’t undo what was sacrificed in order to get there.
Technical Excellence Where It Counts
As you’d expect from Pixar, the animation itself is absolutely gorgeous throughout. The character designs strike that perfect balance between expressive and realistic—particularly impressive given that Mabel spends most of the film as a robotic beaver, which could have easily felt alienating. The voice cast uniformly delivers strong work, with Curda and Moynihan developing genuine chemistry despite never appearing on screen together in their actual forms.
The film’s visual comedy is consistently strong, with plenty of background gags that reward multiple viewings. Chong’s direction shows a real understanding of physical comedy timing, crucial for animated films that rely heavily on visual humor. The score supports the emotional beats without overwhelming them, and the sound design creates a believable woodland environment that never feels too sanitized for animation.
The Verdict: A Solid Entry in Pixar’s Library
Hoppers may not be Pixar’s next masterpiece destined to sweep the Oscars and redefine animation, but director Daniel Chong delivers a solidly entertaining outing that will absolutely provide a good time for families at the cinema—and in an era where getting families to theaters is increasingly difficult, that matters. Even with the film’s narrative stumbles and world-building inconsistencies, genuinely likable characters and strong direction keep Hoppers firmly in the studio’s win column.
It’s the kind of Pixar film that won’t dominate year-end “best of” lists or inspire the same level of passionate fandom as Inside Out or Coco, but it’s also far from a failure. In a landscape where Pixar is still trying to recapture consistent greatness while balancing original stories against sequel demands, Hoppers represents a step in the right direction—a reminder that the studio can still create charming original worlds and characters worth caring about, even if the execution isn’t always flawless.
For families looking for quality animation this season, Hoppers delivers laughs, heart, and enough genuine creativity to justify the price of admission. And King George alone is worth the ticket—he’s the kind of character that kids will quote and adults will genuinely appreciate, which is precisely the Pixar magic we’ve been missing.
Rating: 7.5/10
Have you seen Hoppers yet? What did you think of the mind-swapping premise and King George’s character? How would you rank it among recent Pixar originals? And more importantly—do you think Pixar is finding its way back to consistent greatness, or do they need to make bigger creative swings? Share your thoughts on the film and where you think Pixar goes from here in the comments below!
