One of the best cinema surprises of the year so far has hit streaming after hitting milestones upon release – and you should take this as your sign to watch it immediately.
Equalling a studio record of nearly a decade’s standing with its Rotten Tomatoes score debut of 97%, Hoppers blew into cinemas in March as a breath of fresh air.
It may have dropped a few marks since then, but it is still sitting on a very impressive 94% from critics and 93% from fans, respectively (for perspective, Cars is on 74% and Brave has 78%).
The Pixar film follows animal-loving student Mabel (Piper Curda) as she seizes the opportunity to use a new technology to ‘hop’ her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with wildlife to try and save their habitat from local mayor Jerry Generazzo’s (Jon Hamm) roadway plans.
Along the way, she befriends the naïve but kind-hearted mammal monarch King George (Bobby Moynihan), a beaver who teaches her the basics of how to survive in the animal kingdom, aka its surprisingly wild ‘pond rules’.
Fans took it to heart immediately, praising Pixar for a return to form with original storytelling outside of relying on its established franchises like Toy Story, Cars and Monsters, Inc.
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Many praised it as the best movie from the Disney-owned animated studio in ages, while saying its blend of humour, social commentary and engaging visuals were all a hallmark of ‘a classic Pixar film’.
Others said that Disney had ‘peaked with this movie, definitely something way better than their latest movies’.
And now, for those who didn’t get to catch director Daniel Chong’s movie on the big screen – or are just ready for a rewatch – it’s been added to Disney Plus.
‘I wish they’d make more movies like this,’ wrote fan Vanae on review aggregator platform Rotten Tomatoes, while Jim W enthused: ‘Just finished watching on Disney Plus. It’s a wildly inventive and clever movie with an emotional impact I didn’t expect.’
‘One of the BEST Pixar movies in a while, and dare I say it, EVER,’ Samuel C argued. ‘I don’t see how you couldn’t like this movie. The concept, characters and plot was really good [sic]. And definitely redemptive to Disney’s past few movies.’
‘Pixar finally remembered how to be weird, emotional, and genuinely fun again,’ suggested Sumiran M, who called it their ‘best original movie in years’.
‘Hoppers is one of Pixar’s best films, as unassuming as it may seem,’ agreed Brighton N. ‘It’s got every single element of an amazing film: it’s emotional, entertaining, and engaging.
‘This is a new bona fide classic animated film: there’s not much you can do to make a film like this better, because it delivered its premise to perfection,’ they added.
Hoppers also boasts acting legend Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, Kathy Najimy and Stranger Things actor Eduardo Franco (no relation) among its voice cast.
Saturday Night Live star Moynihan recalled to Metro of Chong’s passion for the importance of beavers: ‘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.’
Curda was also excited by 19-year-old Mabel as a Pixar main character, seeing her as ‘very singular’.
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‘She is, at least to me, a very unprecedented female protagonist, especially in a Pixar movie. 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.’
Pixar is now gearing up to release Toy Story 5 later this month, marking the return of Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of the gang as Jessie (Joan Cusack) steps into the spotlight while the toys battle the arrival of tech.
Hoppers is streaming now on Disney Plus.
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