“Hoppers” Review: Pixar Finally Stops Playing It Safe—And It Shows

Pixar hopes to reclaim its glory with “Hoppers,” from director . Daniel Chong.  The director pens the screenplay with Jesse Andrews.  If we are being honest, Pixar has spent the last decade doing something it traditionally avoided—playing it safe with sequels, familiar worlds, and proven formulas.

While the magic never completely disappeared, it did feel somewhat managed.  This latest original effort doesn’t fully bring the studio back to its peak, but it does something equally important: it reminds us that Pixar still knows how to take risks.

Their latest film follows Mabel (Piper Curda), a college student whose love for animals borders on obsession.  She’s not just passionate; she’s impulsive, stubborn, and somewhat blind to the consequences of her actions.  When a local pond tied to her childhood is threatened by development, she takes it personally.  True to Pixar’s style, this emotional attachment spirals into something wildly unexpected—she ends up inhabiting a beaver’s body to fix the situation from the inside.

It’s a premise that sounds ridiculous on paper, and the film is aware of this.  However, it never treats the idea as a joke.  Instead, it embraces the emotional logic behind it.  Mabel isn’t trying to save the world; she’s simply trying to hold on to a piece of it that holds significance for her.  That’s where the film finds its strength.

What works best is that Mabel isn’t turned into a typical “good” protagonist.  Her intentions are admirable, but her approach is messy.  She acts controlling when she thinks she’s helping, becomes emotional when she should be more rational, and at times is more concerned with her connection to the pond than with the actual ecosystem she claims to protect.  This contradiction adds depth to the story.

The animal world, seen from her new perspective, is where the film truly shines.  These creatures aren’t mere cute distractions—they have their own order, politics, and personalities.  There’s humor in their interactions, but also a quiet acceptance of nature’s harsher realities.  Survival isn’t fair, and the film doesn’t shy away from that truth.

That said, the film guides the audience too obviously at times.  The themes—environmental responsibility, coexistence, and human ego—aren’t subtle, and the story occasionally explains things when it should trust the audience to make connections on their own.  You’ll likely see where it’s headed before it gets there.

Still, it succeeds more often than it falls short.  At its core, “Hoppers” isn’t just about saving animals or stopping construction.  It delves into how people confuse love with ownership and the difficulty of letting go of something that helped shape their identity.

No, this isn’t Pixar at its absolute best.  But it serves as a valuable reminder—for the studio and for audiences alike.

Final Grade: B+

“Hoppers” is in theaters now.