Hoppers

Ever since Pixar Animation Studios produced "Toy Story" back in 1995, we have seen a plethora of films since. "Toy Story 5" will be released this May, to give an interesting perspective on their longevity. The bevy of their films have been genius, however a few lesser than perfect ones did slip through the cracks. Now we have "Hoppers" in the offing to sit back and enjoy.

What if you could talk to animals and understand what they're saying? In Disney and Pixar's all-new feature film "Hoppers", scientists including Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy), Nisha (Aparna Nancherla) and Conner (Sam Richardson) have discovered how to 'hop' human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel (Piper Curda), an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined. 

Others to round out the cast are Bobby Moynihan as King George, Jon Hamm as Mayor Jerry Generazzo, Dave Franco as Insect King, Meryl Streep as Insect Queen, Karen Huie as Grandma Tanaka, Isiah Whitlock Jr as Bird King, Eduardo Franco as Loaf and Tom Law as Tom Lizard. 

This was directed wit heart and passion by Daniel Chong ("We Bare Bears: The Movie" (TV movie) '20) plus a video. This filmmaker doesn't have any other feature film under his belt, however the expertise this film provided is exemplary and proves he's a natural and will receive more work. It was cleverly written by Jesse Andrews ("Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" '15, "Every Day" '18, "Luca" '21, "Elio" (additional screenplay) '25) plus TV and a video, based on a story by Daniel Chong and Jesse Andrews. The premise of this film, however bizarre, was different and original. It started out with a bang, but fairly soon became slow and was wandering. Then, all of a sudden, it picked up and became the story they were definitely looking for. This writer does have some experience, but since brilliant former Pixar writers such as Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, who were involved with the producing certainly had an impact on the writing which had to have helped. These former writers along with Andrew Stanton were gold to Pixar and helped put them on the filmmaking map. 

Please do not use the trailer to encourage you to see the film--the trailer doesn't sell it. I almost didn't go see this by viewing the trailer, but after watching it, I would recommend anyone to see this. Sure, it does scream environmental, but in a healthy way. We all should be good stewards of this planet, however this film doesn't shove it down your throat. So, grab the popcorn and enjoy!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                      Rated: PG                                            104mins.