Mabel (voice by Piper Curda) is a feisty 19-year-old animal lover who has long been battling her city’s ambitious mayor (Jon Hamm) over his plans to destroy her favorite beaver lagoon to build a beltway that will save motorists four minutes.

Through some new “hopper” technology that I’ll leave it to the movie to explain, she finds that her consciousness has been transferred, Freaky Friday-style, into a robotic beaver. As she explores and communicates with the animal world, she discovers wonders she would never have imagined, including a few things about those pesky human animals.

While this is not top-tier Pixar, it’s not trying to be. But it is a solid, highly original offering from the animator that combines warmth, action, humor and cute anthropomorphized characters with considerable emotional resonance. Plus it carries a fine message for kids about living with – and sharing – the pale blue dot we live on. Dare I suggest we adults could learn from this as well? (104 min)