Pixar hasn’t had this level of anarchic wit in a while, maybe ever. Hoppers owes that partly to its wacky premise—a teen eco-warrior has her consciousness zapped into an animatronic beaver, in an attempt to prevent a freeway from being built in the middle of a beloved glade—and partly to its go-for-joke pace and tone. This is balanced by the studio’s penchant for rich characters (Mabel, the teen, resonates deeply even though she leaves human form about 20 minutes in) and thematic sophistication, all of which keeps it from straying into frivolously frantic territory. I giggled pretty much throughout. Directed by Daniel Chong, from a smart script by Jesse Andrews that goes in places you never expect.
(11/6/2026)
