The Pixar animated film Hoppers features an eclectic voice cast, from Meryl Streep and Jon Hamm to Dave Franco and Bobby Moynihan. Whatever their background, director Daniel Chong wanted funny people. At Deadline’s Contenders Film Los Angeles, Chong said comedy drove the casting.
“Comedy was the No. 1 thing we wanted as casting,” Chong said. “[Hamm’s] post-Mad Men career has been a lot of comedy. That guy is not afraid to look stupid. We definitely put him through it in the movie. Meryl was also down for jokes. She came in with that really weird voice. She came in hot with that voice and we were like okay, here we go.”
Hamm plays the mayor who is approving the razing of a glade. Meryl Streep plays the insect queen. In the film, young Mabel (Piper Curda), uses Hopper technology to control a robot beaver. As a beaver, she rallies the animals to save the glade.
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Franco plays Streep’s son and worked hard to keep up.
“With Dave, we also put him through the ringer because that is a very high octane performance,” Chong said. “He has to go to 11 every line. He was sweating after every take.”
Curda joined Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle at Contenders. Curda was a TikToker, Chong discovered.
“That’s not why I made TikTok,” Curda said. “I was bored. Now I’m here.”
Mabel is a young environmentalist. Curda hopes her passion inspires young viewers.
“What’s so cool about Mabel is she’s not shy about really caring and also at the same time, she’s incredibly cool,” Curda said. “It’s such a cool takeaway, especially for a young person, to be like it’s cool to care. You can care a lot about something maybe most people don’t care about and still be awesome. I think it’s really cool to care.”
Grindle acknowledged there is a message to Hoppers. Comedy helps them deliver it, as she quoted another Disney classic.
“A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down,” Grindle said. “We’re all about the sugar. It’s more meaningful when it’s rooted in something deeper. You need to have that kind of emotional catharsis to come out of the movie.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.