Yesterday, we trooped off as a family to watch the latest Disney Pixar film, Hoppers. This is Pixar’s 30th feature film, and the 19th one I’ve seen. Generally, we look forward to Pixar films, and this one didn’t disappoint.
I’ll be honest: when I first saw the poster, I thought it was a film adaption of the French series Grizzy & the Lemmings. It’s not – for a start, the protagonist is a beaver, not a lemming.
Plot
The story focusses on a rebellious girl named Mabel, who wants to protect a picturesque glade in her home town of Beavertown. The town, led by Mayor Jerry Generazzo (voiced by Jon Hamm) has cleared the glade of animals, ahead of the construction of a new motorway. Mabel discovers that one of her university lecturers, Dr Sam Fairfax, has developed technology that allows people to ‘hop’ inside realistic animatronic animals. So, she steals an animatronic beaver in the hope that she can re-establish a beaver colony in the glade and stop the road. Along the way, she meets the King of the Mammals, the council of other animals, and sets herself up for a showdown with the mayor.
Besides Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep also has a cameo role, as do Alan Carr and Amanda Holden in the UK release.
My review of Hoppers
So, what did I think of Hoppers? Pretty good on the whole. I mean, it’s a Pixar film, and Pixar films are rarely bad. There’s a good mix of humour and sad bits, and the story isn’t wholly predictable. It’s not the emotional roller-coaster that a film like The Wild Robot was, but it’s fun. It’s certainly a good family film, and there’s a revelation at the end that made me laugh out loud (no spoilers). The three of us all enjoyed it.
We saw at The Light cinema in Bradford (my second favourite cinema chain), and with it having only opened fully in the UK on Friday, it was relatively busy. Thankfully, the days where Pixar films came out in the UK months after the US are gone.
If you are wondering, yes, there are scenes after the credits.
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