My Cultural Diet

For many years, the small glade behind her grandmother’s house has been Mabel Tanaka’s happy place, a place where she can experience peace, quiet, and natural beauty. So obviously, when the mayor announces plans to destroy the glade to make room for a new freeway, Mabel does her best to protest and fight back — to no avail. But when a top-secret technology lets her place her consciousness inside a robotic animal and live in nature, Mabel learns the truth behind the mayor’s plans as well as some shocking truths about the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, her impetuous decision could soon threaten the very nature that she loves. There’s no denying that Pixar’s Hoppers has its heart in the right place, and I appreciated its willingness to embrace some moral complexity. Much like a Studio Ghibli heroine, Mabel may be fierce and spirited, but she can also be shortsighted, rash, and stubborn to a fault. There are also some legitimately funny moments sprinkled throughout the film. In the end, however, Hoppers is so goofy, with a premise that starts to crumble as soon as you take any time at all to think about it, that it never really rises above mid-tier Pixar.

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