By now, you’re either somebody who has seen Pixar’s newest movie, Hoppers, and realized how great it is, or you’re somebody who has been told how great it is by somebody who has seen it. It's already being compared to the best Pixar movies ever and had one of Pixar's best box office openings in years. While the movie has only been in theaters for a week, I’ve already seen it twice, and I’m glad I did, or I would have missed my favorite detail in the film.
Mabel’s Broken Arm Is A Fantastic Piece Of Symbolism
The first time I watched Hoppers, I was oddly obsessed with Mabel’s broken arm. From the moment that we meet the 19-year-old version of the character, her left arm is in a cast. Mayor Jerry makes a brief reference to it, implying that he knows what happened, and it likely came from their ongoing clash over construction in the glade, but it’s only directly referenced the one time, and we never learn exactly what went down.
While I admit to being curious about what happened to Mabel’s arm, I also love the fact that Hoppers never tells us. It isn’t actually that important. Mabel’s broken arm is simply a symbol of her dedication to her cause. She will put her own body on the line if it means accomplishing her goals. She acts first and thinks later. It’s an important aspect of her character development, and something that has apparently been part of her for her entire life.
Mabel Hurts Her Arm As A Child, Too
After seeing Hoppers the first time, wearing my hat as a professional film critic, I decided the rest of my family would like it too, so we made plans to see it on opening weekend. It became my four-year-old's first experience in a movie theater, and neither the film's death scene nor its terrifying villain unmasking seemed to phase her. Everybody liked the movie, but having seen it before, I found myself noticing not only details I hadn’t previously, but one in particular I wouldn’t have noticed the first time I saw it.
Maybe it’s because I found Mabel’s broken arm an interesting piece of symbolism the first time around that I noticed that in the opening sequence of Hoppers, Mabel has a similar, though noticeably less severe injury on her left arm. In the same place where she has a cast as a young adult, she has a Band-Aid as a child.
It’s almost certainly an intentional reference to the cast that we see later in the story; it’s a little hint of what will come later, and something that shows Mabel’s particular commitment and willingness to risk herself. I admit it does make me more curious how she injured her arm (both times), as it indicates that she does something that tends to put that arm at risk regularly.
A Band-Aid is hardly the most impressive thing in Hoppers, but its existence shows a commitment to detail that Pixar has always had. Most people will never notice this, and it won’t matter that they don’t, but it’s there because it makes the story better.
