Actress Kyoko Yoshine appeared at the voice actor announcement event for Disney & Pixar's latest film, "Hoppers" (released March 13th), held at Shinjuku Southern Terrace Square (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo) on January 22nd. It was announced as a surprise to the audience that she will be the Japanese voice actor for the main character, Mabel, a university student who loves animals.
Yoshine appeared wearing a brown beaver coat and broke through a wall. The wall was stronger than she expected, and she said with a wry smile, "It was stronger than I thought," and greeted the audience, "I'm Kyoko Yoshine, and I'll be playing the role of Mabel."
This is Yoshine's first time appearing in a Disney & Pixar production. She said she was selected for the voice role through an audition, saying, "When I heard I'd been selected, I was just so happy, and I was so nervous until I found out whether I'd passed or failed." While waiting for her acceptance, she said she found strength in the Disney animation "Wish," in which her close friend, actress Erika Ikuta, voiced a character, saying, "I listened to Iku-chan's song 'Wish' every day."
She received the news of her acceptance while she was working in Italy, and said with a smile, "I was waiting in line to board a boat in Venice when my manager told me, 'You've been selected!' I was so happy that I shouted out 'Yay!' right in the middle of Venice."
When director Daniel Chong gave her a surprise gift of a hand-drawn illustration of Yoshine dressed as a Bieber, she was overjoyed, saying, "I'm so happy, I'll put it up in the best place in my house."
"When I Became a Beaver" is the story of Mabel, who learns that the forest she holds dear is about to disappear due to a highway project. In order to protect this important place, she uses secret technology to transform into the appearance of a beaver and devises a plan to protect the animals and the forest.
