Hoppers

Who doesn't love a self-aware animated film?

"Guys, this is like Avatar!" exclaims Mabel Tanaka, protagonist of Daniel Chong's Hoppers.

"This is nothing like Avatar!" cries Dr. Sam in response.

Spoiler alert... it was kind of like Avatar.

Warning: there are actual spoilers ahead.

Pixar's latest installment revolves around a teenage girl with a particular affinity for animals. 

Inspired by her late grandmother, Mabel seeks to protect a nearby glade from being destroyed by (perceived antagonist) Mayor Jerry's freeway project. 

After discovering experimental technology allowing a human mind to “hop” into a robotic animal body, Mabel transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver and decides to live among the animals to better understand their society.

While in disguise, she befriends Mammal King George and helps unite a variety of species in the forest while battling a guilty conscience about her true identity.

In this film's climax, the aforementioned technology is actually used against our protagonist, as Insect King Titus forces the scientists to build a robotic clone of Mayor Jerry.

(To be fair, Mabel did accidentally murder Titus's mother, so I'd be kind of upset too.) 

Ultimately, Mabel and Mayor Jerry must work together to stop King Titus from annihilating all of humanity, and the pair finally manage to reach an understanding that spares the glade.

My rating? 7 out of 10.

Despite adult males not being the target audience here, this film started to truly impress for me once it found its comedic footing.

Chong and company manage to balance elements of adult-appealing humor ("flap around and find out") with important messages for children regarding teamwork and eco-friendliness.

It takes an inventive mind to consider an alternative to Avatar that won't require audiences to dedicate three hours to exploring Pandora.

What were your thoughts on Hoppers? Feel free to leave a note in the comments below, let's discuss :)

Here are some other films I've seen lately:

Slanted

The Bride!

Scream 7

Psycho Killer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ranking the Sharks' Top 10 Wins of 2025-2026 (So Far!)

Image
When the San Jose Sharks drafted teenage phenom Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, the hockey world felt certain it was only a matter of time before Team Teal became relevant again -- however, their 2025-2026 campaign has made it clear that this team is, indeed, ahead of schedule. Following a thrilling comeback victory in Pittsburgh last Saturday, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the Sharks' most memorable victories of the season thus far. Let the countdown begin :) 10. November 8 vs. Florida (W 3-1) This one almost feels like an honorable mention. There's an argument to be made for replacing it with San Jose's 6-1 victory in Seattle just three days prior. Perhaps the team simply ran out of gas after playing three games in four nights. In many ways, it felt as though the Sharks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, suddenly forgot how to play hockey, and went into some kind of prevent defense to fend off the two-time defending ...
Read more

Psycho Killer

Image
Nothing quite says "welcome to the blog" like a review of some run-of-the-mill slasher film. Alexa, play "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads. Written by Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by Gavin Polone, Psycho Killer tells the story of a police officer (portrayed by Georgina Campbell) who tracks down a serial killer after witnessing her husband's violent murder while on duty. Richard Joshua Reeves (The Slasher) is a Satanist who slaughters a number of people in a variety of graphic ways throughout the film, including a pharmacist to fuel his drug addiction, and a priest whose blood he drinks quite vigorously. Charming. Reeves is able to maneuver in anonymity as the public believes that he died many years prior, having reportedly been shot by a prison guard he attacked while on death row (for -- you guessed it -- mass murder). His ultimate mission this time around? To destroy a nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in a suicide mission that is said to ...
Read more

Why Quidditch Is Totally Ridiculous (Yet We Still Love It)

Image
On June 26, 1997,  Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a remarkable new sport called Quidditch. In theory, Rowling's invention is fairly simple. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, I will provide a brief description of its rules.  Quidditch is played in a 7-on-7 format on flying broomsticks. Each team features three "Chasers" who attempt to throw a large ball (called the Quaffle) past the opposing team's "Keeper" into one of three circular hoops.  Every time the Chasers succeed in beating the Keeper, their team is awarded 10 points. Meanwhile, there are a pair of bat-wielding "Beaters" on each team who add to the chaos by clubbing two smaller balls (called Bludgers) at their opposition. However, the most important position on the field is that of the "Seeker", which is Harry Potter's position on Gryffindor's Quidditch team during his time at Hogwarts.  Each team has one Seeker who scours t...
Read more