Pixar’s latest cinematic offering, Hoppers, marks a triumphant return to the studio’s signature strengths: breathing life into incredibly endearing animated animals to impart wholesome life lessons, all wrapped up in a generous helping of zany humour. This new film, which has garnered its strongest review scores on Rotten Tomatoes since 2017’s Coco (boasting a remarkable 97%), centres on Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda). Mabel is a spirited, somewhat unconventional animal enthusiast and student who seizes a groundbreaking technological opportunity. This advanced tech allows her to transfer her consciousness into a hyper-realistic robotic beaver, enabling her to communicate directly with wildlife. Her mission? To rally the animals and save their precious habitat from the slick, persuasive local mayor, Jerry Generazzo (voiced by Jon Hamm), who has ambitious roadway development plans.
Along her extraordinary journey, Mabel forms an unlikely but heartwarming bond with King George (Bobby Moynihan), the naive yet genuinely kind-hearted beaver monarch. He becomes her mentor, patiently guiding her through the intricacies of surviving in the wild, primarily by teaching her the unspoken “pond rules.” These rules, as Mabel soon discovers, are surprisingly, and delightfully, wild.
The dynamic between Mabel and King George forms the emotional core of Hoppers. As Moynihan himself describes them, they are “aggressively adorable.” Their charming presence is amplified by an exceptional ensemble voice cast, featuring talents like Dave Franco, Kathy Najimy, and the legendary Meryl Streep, who lends her voice to an animated role, a rare treat for audiences given her 21 Oscar nominations.
A Touch of Unexpected Edge
Beyond its heartwarming narrative and adorable characters, Hoppers isn’t shy about injecting humour that pushes boundaries, perhaps in ways audiences might not anticipate from a family-friendly animated film. This daring comedic approach is sure to resonate with and delight the adults in the audience.
One particular scene, which we won’t spoil here, elicited a laugh of genuine shock from this reviewer. Piper Curda, who voices Mabel, confessed that she initially believed this specific comedic moment might not even make it into the final cut of the film.
“I didn’t know about it until I walked into the booth one day and they were like, here are the scenes we’re doing,” Curda revealed. “Before you record a scene, if you haven’t done it before, they’ll show you whatever stage it’s at, the animation for it. And so they played it, and I feel like I remember them all waiting over in a corner, just like watching me watch it, you know?”
Her immediate reaction? “I gasped out loud and smashed my hand over my mouth, and was just like… I genuinely thought it would get cut from the film.”
Bobby Moynihan chimed in with enthusiastic agreement, calling it “a genius joke.” He added, “Getting the person they got to play this character for that joke is my favourite joke in movie history. It’s so good.”
A Director’s Vision and a Dream Collaboration
Moynihan, a seasoned veteran of Saturday Night Live, has a prior working relationship with director Daniel Chong, having collaborated on the animated series We Bare Bears. He expressed that being a part of Chong’s Pixar film “means everything” to him.
“I’m such a fan of his work that the idea that he chose me to let the world hear his voice is extremely special to me,” Moynihan continued. He admitted that it’s difficult not to place the roles he’s undertaken with Chong “at the top” of his extensive voice-acting resume, which includes credits in Duck Tales, The Secret Life of Pets, The Simpsons, and Monsters at Work, among many others.
It was Chong’s palpable passion for the film’s central animal characters that truly ignited Moynihan’s enthusiasm. “I remember when he started telling me about this movie, he was like, ‘You know, beavers are really cool, Bobby,’ and I remember being like, ‘Okay, man, relax!’ But now I completely understand the tone of his voice in that sentence.”
For Piper Curda, who is recognised by many for her work on Disney Channel shows in the 2010s, including A.N.T. Farm, I Didn’t Do It, and Teen Beach 2, working on a Pixar project felt akin to “graduating from high school to college.”
“I was a little worried it would be like visiting your old high school and feeling weird and old,” Curda shared. However, she was relieved to find that Pixar operated in a way that felt “quite separate.”
“But I do think growing up on those sets definitely prepared me for something like this,” she reflected. “You don’t realise how much discipline it takes to do voice acting because you would think that you would need more when you’re on a live-action set, because there’s so many other moving parts.”
Conversely, Curda found voice acting to be more demanding, stating, “there’s so much more that goes into voice work than people necessarily expect.”
Moynihan concurred, acknowledging that Chong possesses a clear and precise vision. “There’s the line in the movie, ‘It’s not like Avatar’ – Daniel made her say it 83 times,” he recounted, referring to Curda’s experience. “He doesn’t necessarily even look at you. He’s just knows what he needs to hear.”
Curda humorously likened Chong’s directorial style to that of David Fincher, a filmmaker renowned for his meticulous approach and penchant for numerous takes. “He’s the David Fincher of animation,” she quipped, referencing instances where actors like Rooney Mara endured 99 takes for a scene in The Social Network, and Fincher himself averaged around 50 takes per scene in Gone Girl.
Crafting a Unique Protagonist
Curda was determined to avoid letting pre-existing animated characters influence her portrayal of Mabel, striving to keep her performance “very singular.”
“She is, at least to me, a very unprecedented female protagonist, especially in a Pixar movie,” Curda stated. “And I think if she sounded any more like other characters or like another person, she wouldn’t have as much magnitude and as much power. I think she finds her power in her uniqueness.”
Moynihan, on the other hand, playfully admitted to taking his role as a “Disney king” very seriously. He drew inspiration from iconic characters like Triton and Mufasa for his portrayal of the sweet-natured, furry animal leader. A running gag throughout Hoppers sees King George, along with other animal and insect monarchs, sporting a small, mysterious crown.
Celebrating Unconventional Connections
Curda also highlighted the film’s charming focus on the central, unconventional friendship between a human and a beaver.
“I love exploring what maybe most people would call non-traditional relationships,” she said. “But I think what’s cool about our movie, and other movies that have come out that explore those more unique relationships, is they’re normalising them. I have friends of mine that maybe it’s their co-worker, maybe it’s their neighbour or whoever, but they hang out with someone who’s 30, 40 years older than them constantly, and they have a great time – just like if they were hanging out with someone their age. It’s just different.”
“I like that we’re contributing to that message that you don’t have to just surround yourself with people who look or think or are the same age as you.”
Hoppers is set to premiere in cinemas on Friday, March 6.
