Hop (film)

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Hop
Hop2011Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Hill
Screenplay by
Story byCinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPeter Lyons Collister
Edited by
  • Peter S. Elliot
  • Gregory Perler
Music byChristopher Lennertz
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[2]
Release dates
Running time
95 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$63 million[4]
Box office$184 million[4]

Hop is a 2011 American live-action/computer animated fantasy comedy film directed by Tim Hill. It stars James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, David Hasselhoff, Chelsea Handler, and Hugh Laurie. The film follows a young rabbit E.B. (Brand) who would rather drum in a band than succeed his father as the Easter Bunny, as Fred O'Hare (Marsden) have the title for himself.

Hop was released in theaters on April 1, 2011 and earned $184 million. To date, it is the only Illumination film that combines live-action photography with animation.

Plot[]

On Easter Island, a young rabbit named E.B. is intended to succeed his father as the Easter Bunny. Intimidated by the calling's demands and ignoring his father's orders, E.B. runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a drummer. In Van Nuys, E.B. is hit by Fred O'Hare, an out-of-work, job-hopping slacker who was driving to his sister Sam's boss's house to house-sit, while his parents forced him to move out. Feigning injury, E.B. persuades Fred to take him in as he recovers, but when E.B. causes trouble, Fred attempts to release him in the wilderness. E.B. persuades to help him by claiming to be the Easter Bunny, whom Fred as a child had witnessed delivering eggs.

E.B.'s father sends his royal guards, the Pink Berets, to search for him and bring him back. In Hollywood, E.B. sees the Berets closing in on him and hides inside a business where Fred is having a job interview. E.B. enjoys a successful recording session with The Blind Boys of Alabama as their substitute drummer, but ruins Fred's job interview. In the process, E.B. gets a tip about a possible audition for David Hasselhoff, who invites him to perform on his show.

Afterwards, Fred attends his adoptive younger sister Alex's school Easter pageant with E.B. hiding in a satchel. E.B., alarmed that the Pink Berets have apparently found him due to the three bunny suit shadows on a wall and disgusted by Alex's awful rendition of "Peter Cottontail", dashes out and disrupts the show, forcing Fred to feign a ventriloquist's act with E.B.'s cooperation as his dummy and leading the show in singing, "I Want Candy". Both Fred's father Henry and Alex are angry about the upstaging, but Fred is inspired to be the Easter Bunny himself. Although skeptical, E.B. agrees to train him and finds that Fred has some genuine talent for it.

Meanwhile, the Easter Bunny's second-in-command Carlos the Chick plots a coup d'état against him to take over Easter. Carlos inspires the chicks to uprise the bunnies and begins training to become the Easter Bunny, or, Easter Chick, but seems to lack the qualities an Easter Bunny needs. As the Pink Berets close in on him, E.B. prepares a decoy to fake his death and leaves for Hasselhoff's show. The Berets see the decoy and, horrified that Fred has apparently killed E.B., capture him and take him to Easter Island. Fred is confronted by E.B.'s father and Carlos, however Carlos pretends to be upset about E.B.'s death, silences Fred when he tries to tell the truth, and seizes control of the Easter factory, tying up E.B.'s father and placing him and Fred to be boiled alive. Meanwhile, E.B. starts to feel guilty for acting selfish and leaving Fred, and is convinced by Hasselhoff on his show to go back and help his friend.

E.B. races back to the factory. He confronts Carlos, but is immobilized in gummy candy and tossed into the chocolate bunny carving line. E.B. survives by dodging the blades of the machine, while Fred eats through the black-licorice ropes, escaping with E.B’s father, who couldn’t eat through due to the poor taste of the candy. Carlos, now a chick-bunny combination due to the magic of The Egg of Destiny, battles with E.B. and defeats him easily due to his size. Carlos then tries to lead the Egg Sleigh out with his sidekick Phil directing, but E.B. improvises a drum session that drives Phil to uncontrollably dance to the beat and provide the wrong signals, causing the sleigh to crash and subdue Carlos. E.B. and his father reconcile, and he and Fred are crowned co-Easter bunnies, while Carlos is forced to pull the Egg Sleigh.

Cast[]

The cast in order of production notes listing:[5]

Live-action actors[]

Voice cast[]

  • Russell Brand as E.B., a bunny who dreams of becoming a drummer rather than following his father's footsteps to be the next Easter Bunny.
    • Django Marsh as Young E.B.
  • Hank Azaria as Carlos and Phil, two chicks who scheme to take over Easter Island
  • Hugh Laurie as Mr. Bunny (credited as "E.B.'s Dad"), E.B.'s father who is the current Easter Bunny.
  • Hugh Hefner as Voice at Playboy Mansion

Production[]

The animated characters were designed by Peter de Sève.[6] The CGI animation of the film was made by Los Angeles-based Rhythm & Hues Studios.[7]

Marketing[]

Promotion[]

Universal teamed up with 92 major companies to promote Hop, including Holiday Inn, Krispy Kreme, Lindt, Kraft Foods, The Hershey Company, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Comcast, Kodak, Hallmark, HMV, and Burger King. A large range of licensed merchandise was released in connection with the film, including toys, stuffed animals, many sorts of candy, T-shirts, cookie decorating kits, baked goods and other products from Kraft Foods. Some items were available exclusively at Walmart stores.[8] Merchandise for Hop includes toys, stuffed animals, many sorts of candy, T-shirts, cookie decorating kits, baked goods, and other products from Kraft Foods. Some items were available exclusively at Walmart stores.[9] The premiere of Hop took place at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 27, 2011.[10]

Video games[]

An Hop video game was released only for the Nintendo DS alongside the film.[11][12] On March 29, 2011, a crossover game featuring Hop and Doodle Jump was released on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. All 25 levels being available after the film's release.[13][14] As part of Doodle Jump's in-app purchases with downloads, a new level can be selected through naming at Hop's game over screen.[15]

Home media[]

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Hop on DVD and Blu-ray on March 23, 2012.[16] Physical copies include featurettes and games,[17] with a short film Phil's Dance Party.[18]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Hop earned $108 million in the United States and Canada and $75.8 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $184 million.[4]

The film was released on April 1, 2011.[4] Hop earned $11.5 million on its first day. The film debuted earning $38 million from 3,579 theaters.[19] Its second weekend earnings dropped by 42 percent[20] to $21.7 million,[21] and followed by another $11.1 million the third weekend.[22] Hop completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on August 19, 2011.[23]

Critical response[]

Hop has a negative approval rating of 24% based on 139 professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 4.3/10, making it the lowest-rated film produced by Illumination to date. Its critical consensus reads, "It's impressively animated, but Hop's script is so uninspired that not even James Marsden's frantic mugging can give it any bounce."[24] Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned Hop a score of 41 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[20]

The subplot involving Carlos the Easter Chick was considered to be insensitive to Mexican Americans by one reviewer.[26][27] Peter Debruge of Variety called it "hilariously un-PC".[28]

Accolades[]

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2012 Kids Choice Awards Character Animation in a Live Action Production[29] Andrew Arnett Won

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Hop (2011)". British Film Institute.
  2. ^ a b "Hop". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  3. ^ "Hop (U)". British Board of Film Classification. March 15, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d "Hop". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Production 2011, p. 2.
  6. ^ Phipps, Keith (March 31, 2011). "Hop". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Liu, Ed (December 18, 2010). "Toonzone Interviews Chris Meledandri on Despicable Me". ToonZone.net. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike (March 31, 2011). "Universal/Illumination Easter Bunny Film Hop Springs 92 Promo Partners". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Graser, Marc (March 16, 2011). "Universal teams with Walmart for Hop". Variety. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  10. ^ Schneider, Sue (March 30, 2011). "Exclusive Photos: Hop World Premiere at Universal Studios Hollywood". AssignmentX.
  11. ^ "505 Games Announces Hop: The Movie Game Coming Soon to Nintendo DS". IGN. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  12. ^ Healy, Christopher. "Hop: The Movie Game". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  13. ^ Schramm, M. (March 16, 2011). "Doodle Jump Hop movie tie-in out now". Engadget. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  14. ^ Nelson, Jared (March 16, 2011). "Movie Crossover Game Doodle Jump: Hop the Movie Launches for Free". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  15. ^ "Doodle Jump Introducing New Game Level as Part of Hop Tie-in Promotion". The Hollywood Reporter. February 22, 2011. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  16. ^ Dietz, Jason; Kimbell, Keith (March 3, 2012). "DVD Release Calendar: March 2012". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  17. ^ Shaffer, R.L. (March 22, 2012). "Hop Blu-ray Review". IGN. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  18. ^ Universal Studios Home Entertainment (January 9, 2012). "Start a New Holiday Tradition With the Family Comedy Hit From the Creators of Despicable Me". PR Newswire. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  19. ^ Finke, Nikki (April 2, 2011). "Easter Bunny Hop Pops #1; Source Code Doesn't Flop; Insidious Sops Up Profit". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Finke, Nikki (April 9, 2011). "Hop Holds #1, Lame Arthur Limps In #2". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  21. ^ McClintock, Pamela (April 10, 2011). "Hop Beats Arthur at Weekend Box Office". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  22. ^ McClintock, Pamela (April 17, 2011). "Rio Flies Into No. 1 at Box Office With Biggest Opening of 2011". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  23. ^ "Hop - Domestic Release". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  24. ^ "Hop". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 6, 2021. Edit this at Wikidata
  25. ^ "Hop". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  26. ^ Shore, John. "Hop: So Racist It Hurts – John Shore Christian Blog". crosswalk.com.
  27. ^ Rubin, Michael (April 1, 2011). "Review: Hop". 34th Street. Archived from the original on April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  28. ^ Debruge, Peter (March 31, 2011). "Hop". Variety.
  29. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (February 4, 2012). "Rango Wins Annie Award for Best Animated Feature". The Hollywood Reporter.

External links[]

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