“Hoppers,” Disney Pixar’s most recent film about a 19-year-old controlling an artificial beaver with her mind made $45 million on its opening weekend according to Box Office Mojo and earned a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. This film follows popular releases such as “Zootopia 2,” “Inside Out 2,” “Elio” and other films. But are these movies indicative of a bright or shadowy future for Disney movies?
“Hoppers” is the best film they have made in a while. If you’re trying to stay away from spoilers, now is the time to close your computer or look at a different article on this page. This story follows the protagonist, a 19-year-old girl named Mabel, who just wants to save the glade she and her deceased grandmother frequented by getting a beaver (a key species) back into the area. After stealing technology made by her professor and “hopping” into a beaver’s body, she quickly learns about how animals function in the wild and meets the king of the mammals, a fellow beaver named King George. Mabel tries to get all the animals back to the glade as Mayor Jerry Generazzo tries to destroy it in order to expand his highway project.
It’s nicely animated and different from the style of “Elio” and “Turning Red,” which I was excited to see. It was the most I’ve laughed at a Disney movie in a while, and the closest I’ve come to crying since “Encanto.” It was really cute and the humor wasn’t obnoxious. Plus, the animation really contributed to the feel and style of the movie. The animals were animated in a way that was so flawlessly natural while maintaining their voice and character.
The main villain seemed very abrupt, though. His name is Titus, a spoiled and evil caterpillar. His mother, the insect queen voiced by Meryl Streep who ends up getting accidentally killed by Mabel a few minutes after her introduction, dies and Titus takes her crown. He later evolves into a butterfly and hops into a human body, which is disturbing but hilarious at the same time. However, his character isn’t well explained in terms of his goals until close to his demise. And yes, Disney finally killed off a villain. I think that’s the first time since “Coco,” when Ernesto De La Cruz humorously gets crushed by a giant bell.
I rated it 7/10 on Letterboxd, and that’s because there were still moments that fell flat in ways. This is no hate towards the movie, I will definitely be watching it again, but there’s been this constant thing with Disney movies where you don’t really get attached to the characters. They aren’t relatable or in-depth enough to understand, and that’s what I found in this movie.
Loaf, a beaver that was the main point at the beginning, kind of disappears as George is introduced and only comes back way later in the film with not as much importance. All we know is that he is a lazy beaver. As much as I love the Lizard character and his adorable and goofy design, he was there for one-liners every once in a while and a face to put on the movie merchandising and outreach. He’s even a tall and creepy Fortnite skin, which I don’t understand, but here we are.
Back in June, there was “Elio,” a film about a boy who desperately wanted to be abducted by aliens just to have some sense of belonging. This film got 83% on the Tomatometer. I thought this film was playful and cute and definitely worth the rating, and it made me look forward to the future of the company.
In my opinion, both “Elio” and “Hoppers” are objectively good movies. Good, not great. The plots make sense, there are a lot of good jokes and well-written characters, but for some reason, they don’t really resonate with me.
There was also “Zootopia 2,” a sequel to the highly loved original that’s randomly marked as “Zootropolis” every once in a while. It received 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I honestly don’t think it deserves it. It stays very much in the same realm as the first movie, but it’s as if they chose one noticeable character trait of both Judy (delirious perseverance) and Nick (sarcasm) and made that their entire personality. They then just add on some random cameos of franchisable characters from the first film that feel out of place and contribute to a run time that’s longer than necessary. The plot is well-made, I won’t lie, but it completely stretches the point of the film and falls a little flat.
Since 2020, there have been 15 Disney and Pixar animated films released. The only ones I find to be a pinch better than okay are “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Encanto,” “Onward,” “Luca” and “Soul.” I won’t even try to talk about “Turning Red,” a film laden with gyrating and period jokes to the point I couldn’t laugh at anything but the fact that I was watching it in the first place. For a while, Disney movies have fallen flat, and with the massive percentage of sequels on the way I can’t tell whether we’re moving forward or backward.
In my opinion, I haven’t seen a truly good Disney movie since “Encanto” back in 2022, which also happens to be the last Disney movie to win an Oscar in the past four years. The music was great, the plot was intriguing and important and the characters were enticing enough to care about, even if they weren’t integral to the plot. Plus, if you don’t cry at that ending, then your soul needs an oil change or something.
There are so many Disney movies I consider to be better than anything they’ve produced in the more recent years. Not just classics like “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast,” but “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled” are also amazing movies with great soundtracks. I think that might be what’s missing from these films: original songs sung by the characters.
I’m not saying all recent Disney movies are starved of good music. “Moana 2” and “Frozen 2” had some heaters. Even the flop of a movie, “Wish,” had a song or two in it that I liked. But the new song that Gazelle (Shakira) had in Zootopia 2, “Zoo,” wasn’t great in comparison to “Try Everything.” “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” in “Moana 2” makes me cringe every time the words pop up in the chorus, despite the flaming saxophone solo and the rest of the song. It doesn’t live up to “You’re Welcome” in any kind of way.
Even movies back then that didn’t have characters singing in it had really good backing tracks, and I feel like that’s absent in recent movies too. “Cars” has an amazing and groovy soundtrack during so many scenes despite none of the characters singing, unless you count the Elvis camper making one “ugh” in “Real Gone” (that sounds weird in writing but you know what I’m talking about, right?). “It’s a Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story” had Randy Newman, “Tarzan” had Phil Collins and movies without a lot of music in them like “The Incredibles” and “Monsters Inc.” had such iconic theme songs that you don’t even need lyrical music to remember them.
The lack of compelling main villains also seems to be a big problem with Disney and Pixar movies. Most of these films just have a central problem that needs to be solved by characters with internal conflicts. Rather than stabbing dragons and letting people get dragged into the shadow realm, we have the need to restore an electricity conducting plant while re-bonding with an absent father and pushing past the boundaries and expectations your family has set for you.
It seems that the great Disney classics are only being expanded upon rather than acting as inspiration for new ideas. Later this year, “Toy Story 5” is being released. The plot is that the toys fight off an Ipad. A literal Ipad. And guess what? Woody’s back even after they practically banished him in the fourth movie. Josh D’Maro must have called and said “Hey, we’re running out of money again!” and that must have been enough to make him run from Bo Peep. That, or she saw his blinding bald spot and ran off on him. Why are we still holding on?
From what I know, this franchise theme seems like the main focus of Disney’s future. The live action remake of “Moana” is on the way after a horrible trailer with wigged up Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Did we ever ask for this, Disney? No. What did we do to deserve this?
When it comes to the realm of animation, man is there a lineup. “Frozen 3” and possibly a fourth as well, “Incredibles 3,” speculation of a “Monsters Inc. 3,” plus two originals “Hexed” and “Gatto.” Along with that there’s live action “Lilo and Stitch 2,” as if the first one was notable in any good way.
So, is Disney heading in the right direction? Who knows. I think they’re focusing on the wrong aspects when it comes to making movies. Original stories with interesting and relatable characters, tear-jerking scenes and villain deaths are what I consider to be a great Disney movie. However, it seems princess films have been out of date since “Frozen 2” unless you count Raya from “Raya and the Last Dragon” as a princess.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
