Hoppers is a wild and wonderful ride, leave The Bride! at the altar

Reviews of Pixar's latest family comedy and the Frankenstein romance starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley. Read more at straitstimes.com.

105 minutes, opens March 12 ★★★★☆

The story: Animal lover Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) will do anything to save her beloved glade from Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm), who wants to construct a highway through it. In desperation, she uses technology to transfer her mind into a lifelike robotic beaver, with the intent to infiltrate the animal kingdom and convince its inhabitants to return to the glade.

Pixar used to be the brand with the Midas touch that churned out hit after hit. But of late, more of its original work like Luca (2021) and Elio (2025) have failed to make much impact at the box office.

Hoppers, the animation studio’s 30th feature film, may not be on a par with Pixar greats such as Toy Story (1995), Finding Nemo (2003) and Up (2009). But the animal-centric tale is still a winner with audiences of all ages. 

The fun starts when Mabel, the eager beaver protagonist with serious anger management issues, recklessly “hops” her consciousness into a robotic beaver. Think Avatar (2009 to present), with beavers instead of the Na’vi.

What ensues is non-stop unhinged silliness and madcap chaos as she befriends George (Bobby Moynihan), the calm and trusting beaver who happens to be the Mammal King.