It seems like some “original” Pixar movies are actually just Pixars version of storylines that have been in other movies. However, that might not always be a bad thing. Pixar has taken stories that have been told before and added their unique spin to them.
For example, their latest movie “Hoppers” the main storyline is that a city is expanding and taking away the forest where animals live. The other part of the storyline is that a human brain is put into the body of an animal so it can communicate with the animals. The first storyline has been in previous movies such as “Over the Hedge” and the second storyline has been in previous movies like “Avatar” (which the movie actually mentions). After that, the comparisons end because “Hoppers” takes those storylines and makes it a story I’ve never seen before.
Young Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda) used to often sit in by the pond in a forest with her grandmother watching the animals. Years later, her grandmother is gone and the pond they used to visit is gone. The beaver dam has been removed, which means the pond is gone and the animals that used to live in the pond have moved to another area. The nearby town (coincidentally named “Beaverton”) are planning to demolish the forest and pond so they can build a freeway. Mabel discovers that some people at the college in town have come up with system to put a human consciousness into a robotic animal. Mabel jumps at the chance to help the animals take back their pond.
She discovers that the small group of animals that lived at the pond aren’t enough to take it back. So, she convinces the king to contact the council of all animals. At their meeting, the king of all animals – a butterfly (voiced by Meryl Streep I believe) decides the best way to take their pond back is to “squish” the humans. So, Mabel needs to stop the town from paving over the former pond, stop the other animals from “squishing” the humans, and stay away from the people who are trying to disconnect her conciousness from the mechanical animal.
Along the way there are some very funny moments including a shark (“You’ll feel a sharp bite followed by your death”) and a scene where animals use an “emoji to voice app” to try to communicate with the humans (“beaver, beaver, beaver, log, log, log”).
Pixar’s version of storylines from other movies haven’t always work so well but in this movie – to quote a line from the movie…
Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda): “Whoa, guys, this is just like Avatar.”
Dr Sam (voiced by Kathy Najimy): “This is nothing like Avatar!”
Overall – 8 out of 10.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 