WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

So far, Disney Pictures’ run of movies has been slowly improving, and its latest feature film, Hoppers, is no exception. It’s one of the more inspired movies Disney has made so far, but most notably, it’s the first pro-environment Pixar film we’ve gotten ever since WALL-E in 2008. Focusing on the hotheaded environmentalist Mabel Tanaka, who’s been protesting the local mayor Jerry Generazzo for building a freeway on the glade near Mabel’s late grandmother’s home, Hopper’s interestingly merges both technology and nature by putting a human’s consciousness in an artificial animal.

In summary, a rebellious college student named Mabel (Piper Curdo), inspired by her late grandmother (Karen Huie), dedicates herself to saving a local glade from a freeway project led by Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). After discovering Dr. Sam Fairfax’s (Kathy Najimy) secret “Hoppers” program—alongside scientists Nisha (Aparna Nancheria) and Conner (Sam Richardson)—that allows humans to control robotic animals, Mabel inhabits a beaver and enters a hidden animal society led by the eccentric King George (Bobby Moynihan). With help from oddball allies like the dim but loyal beaver Loaf (Eduardo Franco), the curmudgeonly grizzly Ellen (Melissa Villaseñor), and recent meme legend Tom Lizard (Tom Law), she learns the glade was abandoned due to artificial sound devices. While trying to fix things, Mabel accidentally sparks conflict with the Animal Council—made up of rulers of birds (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), fish (Ego Nwodim), reptiles (Nichole Sakura), amphibians (Steve Purcell), and insects—leading to the rise of the vengeful insect monarch Titus (Dave Franco, caterpillar form Eman Abdul-Razzak) after his mother’s (Meryl Streep) death. As chaos unfolds, including a bizarre chase involving a shark named Diane (Vanessa Bayer) and a destructive wildfire, Mabel teams up with her friends, the scientists, and even Jerry himself to stop Titus and undo the damage. In the end, Mabel manages to convince Jerry to turn the glade into a protected reserve and relocate the freeway, becomes Sam’s intern, and remains connected to her animal friends at the glade.

Surprisingly, Hoppers, a film I’ve honestly never really paid attention to until after the first official trailer dropped, was one I actually quite enjoyed watching. The idea of putting a human consciousness into a robotic animal, while a tad cliché, is something that did fascinate me, and it became one of the moving factors that led me to the film. In addition, after watching Zootopia 2 (more on that in my other article), I did feel a little bit more hopeful about Disney’s line of films this year, especially with the upcoming Marvel films Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, and Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu. However, after Pixar’s latest flops and the mind-boggling amount of sequels and live-action remakes that Disney’s churning out these past few years, I honestly didn’t feel too hopeful about this one, especially by the fact that it’s already gotten itself a meme before its cinematic release in the form of Tom Lizard (though that has nothing on A Minecraft Movie). Despite that, though, Hoppers actually managed to blend both technology and nature into a film that shows the beauty of nature in a truly unique way.

The first thing is, the humor in this film actually feels genuine–unsurprising, given its director made the hit show We Bare Bears. Personally, nowadays, when I watch a Disney movie, what these movies typically dub “funny” usually only churns out a blank stare or a forced laugh or two for me. However, when we first see the main conflict between Mabel and Jerry, as the beginning of a full-on standoff no less, I definitely didn’t expect heaps of bickering and arguing over each other to be the action…or the fact that this isn’t even the first time this happens in the movie’s timeline! It definitely startled a chuckle from me during the above “arguing montage”, along with others. Other moments, like Sam’s outraged “It’s nothing like Avatar!” (especially funny given Avatar: Fire and Ash’s success in the Oscars) or, of course, heaps of emoji abuse in the movie (as made standard by Tom Lizard) are enough to earn a knee-slapper.

The storyline itself is also pretty well done for a Disney film. After going for around 20 years without an environment-focused film since WALL-E, which coincidentally also features tech mixed with nature, it feels refreshing to finally get back into these kinds of films. Utilizing this image of nature as a beautiful, calming presence for Mabel is one of the center points of the film, and it’s clearly effective. Despite Hoppers being an animated film, the tranquility of the glade spoke volumes not just to Mabel, but also to the audience. The glade truly is beautiful, and it’s no wonder that its preservation means so much to her. Communication and dialogue are also key in the film, and the hilarity of the film, as noted above, derives a lot from that. Surprisingly, for animals, each non-human character boasts a lot of, well, character through their communication. A lot is going on, and the intimacy between Mabel and George, even without the ability to talk to each other, stems from the connection they built when they could through the beaver-bot.

Also, given that it’s a Pixar film, you’d better know there are some easter eggs. Some of the most notable ones include a class turtle named Crush, obviously a reference to the Finding Nemo character of the same name, the obligatory Pizza Planet truck in a school display and A113 on Sam’s lab door, the above Avatar reference, the three titular characters from We Bare Bears on Mabel’s windowsill and several doodles featuring characters Up, Lightyear, Cars, and Monsters Inc. on her chalkboard. While not as intensely packed as Zootopia 2, fans of any of these films will definitely pick up on them when they see it.

Overall, Hoppers is an immensely fun film. Between the humor and the heartwarming tranquility of the natural world around all of them, it’s one of the best Pixar’s done, and gives hope for the rest of ‘26. It’s a great watch, and if you’re into nature, tech and/or comedy, then this movie is for you.