It’s tough to be pro-Mabel these days. Perhaps not as tough as I imagine, but still, a tree-hugger in a country which openly mocks vegans, animal rights activists, and all things LW? Lemme put it this way: if there’s a company that wants to drill for oil and a group of people who want to keep it a nature preserve, which side do you think is getting the majority of $$$? Which side do you think team Trump is on? Like I said, it’s tough to be Mabel.
We like young Mabel instantly. She bides her time, waits for her classmates to go to recess, then sneaks to rescue the class turtle (the stressed reptile definitely needs a champion, btw). As she makes her exit, Mabel realizes this is more of a Great Escape situation. The guinea pig from the adjacent class needs rescue, as does the parakeet and the snake from down the hall. Her altruism is her undoing. The teachers catch her. “Is she doing this again?”
One reprimand and a slow burn later, Mabel finds her grandmother’s pond, where wildlife runs rampant. This is her favorite spot up to college Mabel (voice of Piper Tanaka), and this is where our story begins. For the town of Beaverton (Oregon, presumably?) is destroying this semi-urban refuge in favor of a freeway. This is the time when one person makes a difference, right? Mabel is no stranger to action or controversy. She knows exactly what to do, get mobilized! She storms into the eco-profs’ in-progress lecture … “Mabel, I’m in the middle of a class … that you are registered for!” Oh, you gotta love a film that understands a character’s priorities.
Hmmm, so can I get into the key plot point here? I don’t think I can. It gives too much away. But I can describe the set-up, at least. Mabel confronts the mayor (a montage tells us this a common occurrence), and the mayor challenges her to find the local wildlife, which has magically disappeared. If Mabel can find just one (1) beaver in her mysteriously vacant paradise, she
can save it. Well, how would you attract a beaver to your pond? [And, yes, feel free to giggle; I just did.]
But, seriously, how do lure a beaver to a given area and … how do you keep it there? And, most importantly, what if it acts unlike any beaver you’ve ever seen. OK, I’ve now said too much.
Hoppers is either derivative or owes a lot to The Wild Robot, one of the best films of 2024. It has a healthy respect for wildlife from a completely outside (wannabe inside) perspective. It is also amusing and inventive. This film is clear throwback to when Pixar couldn’t lose, which seems an increasingly long time ago. Obviously, Hoppers ain’t gonna resonate with the anti-hippie crowd, the anti-woke crowd, the “people who get offended by the mere suggestion that vegetarians exist” crowd, which -in the United States- is, unfortunately, as numerous as the gun-owning crowd (and, yeah, that Venn diagram has a lot of intersection). This all is another reason to love the film; it didn’t give in. Hoppers didn’t try to appeal to the future hunters of America. This might well be my favorite animated film since The Wild Robot and maybe beyond that. And unless you have an ethical dilemma, this is a rare film that your kids will love that doesn’t drive you crazy – for the first twelve to fifteen viewings, at least.
Once lived an eco-warrior named Mabel
She saved every animal that she was able
But the MAN took her pond
And she had to respond
Is violence still on the table?
Rated PG, 104 Minutes
Director: Daniel Chong
Writer: Daniel Chong, Jesse Andrews, Jordan Harrison
Genre: Tree hugging Dam hugging
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: PETA
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The kind of people who would put “steak” atop the food pyramid
