This is my kind of Pixar movie. As much as I love a good Toy Story, I find that Pixar does it best when it explores new territory, and Hoppers definitely does that.

We are introduced to Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), who, thanks to her Grandmother’s (Karen Huie) love and attention, has learned the importance of stopping and listening to the world and embracing nature.

However, it turns her into a bit of an eco-warrior who comes into direct conflict with Beaverton’s mayor, Jerry (Jon Hamm). Jerry is working on building a beltway that will cut through a nature-filled glade.

But all the animals seem to be gone.

Jerry says she has 48 hours; if she can get one beaver to come back, they will delay the project. But Jerry has a couple of aces up his sleeve to keep the animals away.

But Mabel ends up finding a trick of her own. Her university professor, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy) has created animal robots, including a beaver. She’s perfected a procedure she calls hopping; a person’s consciousness is transferred into the robot, and they are able to interact and talk with the animals.

So off she goes, and no one is ready for what she finds. She finds that there is a Mammal King in the form of a beaver, King George (Bobby Moynihan). In fact, there are reptile kings, amphibian kings, insect kings, and more, and one of them is Meryl Streep!

Mabel does have some issues and rouses the entire animal kingdom to squish Jerry. She betrays her new friends with lies, has to find a way to save Jerry, and hopefully put a stop to the animal uprising and the beltway.

Frequently laugh-out-loud funny, the film, like the best of Pixar stories, has a great narrative and great characters. It’s filled with great moments, has some absolutely beautiful animation and character design, and the best use of a shark in an animated film outside of Bruce in Finding Nemo.

There is an ecological story here, one about living in unity with nature, and there’s also one about family, as well as trust. And it all works beautifully thematically, without hitting you over the head with it.

I’ve fallen off from seeing Pixar films in the theatre, and I definitely regret it. They’ve never disappointed, but movie-going at the cinema is so expensive, so I get very selective about what I do see in the theatre. Still, I wish I’d made the effort to see it on he big-screen, Pixars always entertain.