Trailer Review: Hoppers

The Premise Of Hoppers Poses Ethical Questions

From this trailer, Hoppers appears to have two premises, two plotlines, and I don’t really know how to feel about the second one. The idea of a human controlling a beaver body to study the animal world is interesting science fiction. Especially with the cartoony logic of all species speaking the same language. What would it actually mean for animals to have their own across-species code of conduct and hierarchies? What would knowledge of that do to people’s perceptions? Would everyone turn vegan? How about people’s perspectives on environmentalism?

And weirdly, the main character does seem to hold that degree of concern for the animal kingdom—because she’s willing to betray the human race and incite some kind of war. I get that the council scene is meant to signal that she didn’t expect it to escalate to murder, but unless the editing is pulling all manner of tricks, she does seem in favor of overthrowing society to some degree. She’s willing to cause destruction.

Which brings me to a question about the end of the movie—though it’s kind of a weird thing to speculate on from just a trailer. And that question is: “How will this work out?” I can’t see many ways for Hoppers to end that don’t have big implications. If she stops the animal-human war, then she’ll either be condemning animals to the status quo (possibly through inaction) or ushering in a world where humans and animals somehow live in harmony. She might even end up with blood on her hands, whether directly or indirectly, before she picks a side.  

And like, I don’t think Pixar is unwilling to go there. Strange World does a similar thing as I described, but the Hopper’s trailer has a very goofy tone with hints of bleak comedy. It doesn’t seem like it’s intending to be a big movie with big themes. I’m not saying it won’t be enjoyable to watch regardless—I can’t say I’ve ever disliked a Pixar movie—but Hoppers may be a film that you shouldn’t think about too hard.

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