The Japanese trailer for Disney and Pixar's latest animated film, "Hoppers" (directed by Daniel Chong, released on March 13th), and new stills featuring the cute Beavers have been released.
"When I Became a Beaver" tells the story of Mabel, an animal-loving college student who learns that the forest she holds dear will be destroyed by a highway project. In order to protect this precious place, she uses secret technology to transform into the appearance of a beaver and devises a plan to protect the animals and the forest.
Director Chung, who served as a storyboard artist for "Inside Out" (2015), was inspired by Studio Ghibli's "Pom Poko" (1994, directed by Isao Takahata) and thoroughly researched the beaver ecosystem to create this film. In the Japanese version, actor Kyoko Yoshine will voice the role of Mabel, and Shinya Kote will voice the beaver king, King George.
The newly released trailer features Mabel, transformed into a beaver, infiltrating the animal world despite the objections of her university professors. Overjoyed to finally be able to understand the animals' language, Mabel becomes friendly with her forest friends, thanks to the help of King George, the king of the beavers. However, she experiences a culture shock when she witnesses the animals living in a world where the strong prey on the weak, such as when an earthworm, with whom she had been having a friendly conversation, is suddenly kidnapped by a bird.
Mabel passionately calls for everyone to "take back the forest!" and as Mayor Jerry's highway construction plan steadily moves forward, she teams up with the animals to try to thwart the plan, but things take an unexpected turn... With the time limit for returning to her original body approaching, what is the dramatic reversal plan that Mabel and the animals come up with?
Director Jung commented, "The story unfolds like a roller coaster ride, with no way to predict what will happen next. The world of animals seems a little strange from a human perspective, and they act according to their own rules. I hope viewers enjoy the fascinating contrast."
Still images released at the same time show the Beavers, who cannot use human language, attempting to communicate with Mayor Jerry using the voice-to-speech function on their smartphones.
