It’s a big year for the Pixar animation studios with “Toy Story 5” arriving this summer.

If “Toy Story” is the main course, then “Hoppers” is the appetizer — a charming entry from the studio that features some clever visuals and a script that keeps thinks moving along rather briskly.

While it may not be at the top of the Pixar food chain, it is still a rather enjoyable film for the whole family.

“Hoppers” tells the story of Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda), a young girl and animal lover with a close bond to her grandmother (voiced by Karen Huie). When her grandmother passes, the land near her grandma’s home is targeted by the town’s mayor, Jerry Generazzo (voiced by Jon Hamm) as the ideal place to start construction on a highway extension product.

As Mabel tries to come up with a way to fight Jerry over the land, she discovers a secret experiment by her biology teacher Dr. Samantha Fairfax (Kathy Najimy). Dr. Fairfax has a machine that allows a human to “hop” into a robotic animal and experience wild life as one of the wild.

Mabel hops into a robotic beaver and enlists the help from a beaver named King George (Bobby Moynihan) to help fight Jerry and save the land. Her plan goes awry when the a group of animals decide it is time to start a revolution and overthrow all the humans — not just Jerry.

“Hoppers” was written by Jessie Andrews who previously co-wrote the 2021 Pixar film “Luca” as well as “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.” This screenplay is a nice mix of the familiar Pixar story beats — family, an environmental message — with just enough twists to keep it moving along. Several times it appears that “Hoppers” has hit its end creatively only for the script to find another twist and move the story into an exciting and fresh direction.

Director Daniel Chong, getting to helm a Pixar film for the first time after working as a member of the creative team on a handful of the studios films, has a nice creative eye, with the film visually interesting and also full of some sly humor that will play well to the parents who come along for the film. A running joke involving a shark is one of “Hoppers’ ” comedic highlights.

Mabel makes for a nice heroine, while Jerry is a fun, if somewhat simple, adversary, but perhaps the real star is Moynihan’s George — a lovable sidekick who could easily get his own film if the studio wanted. He is the true emotional core of the film, the reason why “Hoppers” ultimately finds the right mix of humor and heart.

It’s a film that will charm the entire family.

Grade: B