Animated films don’t come much wackier.
But, then, few folks have Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper cartoonist Berkeley Breathed’s marvelous sense of the absurd.
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| They're on the case: from left, Louie the Lobster, Koala, Letícia dos Anjos, Hitpig, Polecat and Super Rooster. |
The primary characters in this hilarious fantasy — a co-production of Britan’s Aniventure and Canada’s Cinesite animation firms — are “borrowed” from Breathed’s 2008 picture book, Pete & Pickles. Breathed concocted this film’s story, which then was scripted by Dave Rosenbaum and Tyler Werrin. Cinzia Angelini and David Feiss share the director’s chair.
The title character is an anthropomorphic swine introduced as a sidekick to Big Bertha (voiced by Lorraine Ashbourne), who has made a career of retrieving lost pets for their owners; she refused to return Hitpig to a bacon farm when he was just a piglet, and instead became his mentor.
(A minor quibble: Calling this character — and this film — Hitpig is a bizarre choice. He isn’t an assassin, and there must’ve been better choices for name and title.)
Alas, Bertha exits the story unexpectedly, after misjudging an assignment. Hitpig (Jason Sudeikis, at his gravelly best) takes over the “family business,” which comes complete with a tricked-out CatchVan that also boasts a snarky computer system (voiced by Shelby Young).
But Hitpig has, of late, lost track of the morality of each assignment. Catching and returning a polecat (RuPaul) to the facility that subjected it to cruel experiments — which left it with nuclear-powered farts (!) — is bad enough; shipping a feisty escaped koala (Hannah Gadsby) back to the zoo, where it’s once again mauled by children, is even worse.
Such activity also has made a mortal enemy: Brazilian animal rights activist Letícia dos Anjos (Anitta), who rescues critters as quickly as Hitpig catches them.
In his heart of hearts, Hitpig would rather be a chef. He makes a mean omelet, and the manner in which he’s able to slide back and forth along his van’s tall prep counter is merely one of this story’s many clever touches.
Elsewhere...
The Leapin’ Lord of the Leotard (Rainn Wilson), a corpulent, dangerously narcissistic — and failed — Las Vegas performer, laments his inability to carry on the family tradition of dance-oriented animal acts. His last-ditch effort involves half a dozen dyed poodles and a meek elephant named Pickles (Lilly Singh).
Alas, the easily enraged Lord is too fat to leap very far; gravity always has its way. In the manner of a truly bully, he blames Pickles, and frequently sends her to bed — locked in a small trailer — without dinner.
And, at other times, keeps her in line with his pet crocodile. Who is named Fluffy.
(Breathed is remarkably, inventively outrageous.)
With an assist from the Leotard Lord’s janitor (Dave Rosembaum), a kind man who loves animals, Letícia clandestinely snatches Pickles’ van one night. Their destination: India, where Pickles hopes to find her family. The outraged Leotard Lord hires Hitpig, promising a million-dollar reward; the shrewd swine catches up with Letícia and Pickles during their layover in London.
Hitpig evades Letícia and retrieves Pickles, only to find that his CatchVan has been towed. (Well, he did leave it in a “no parking” zone.) Wanting to earn the elephant’s trust, Hitpig lets Pickles believe that he’ll help her reach India: a lie which — as this story proceeds — begins to weigh more heavily on his conscience.
The developing bond between Pickles and Hitpig is this story’s heart. She’s trusting, naïve and recklessly impulsive; Rosenbaum and Werrin concoct all manner of crazy crises resulting from her hard-charging curiosity. Watching Pickles somehow squeeze her oversized body into vehicles, buildings, airplane restrooms — and bathtubs — never gets old.
Sudeikis, in turn, plays Hitpig like a jaded and world-weary private detective, given to growly one-liners and frequent bad puns. But his gaze often is sorrowful and resigned, and his heart melts every time Pickles favors him with a kind word or trusting gaze.
Equal attention is paid to Hitpig’s relationship with Letícia, which eventually becomes complicated ... for both of them. (C’mon; we know where this is going, right?)
Subsequent escapades take place in San Francisco and back in Las Vegas, involving hot air balloons, a multi-story luxury home, and the Leotard Lord’s circus-style show palace. By this point, the critter roster also has expanded to include a lobster named Louie and television star Super Rooster (both voiced by Charlie Adler), who has genuine super-powers.
The jaw-dropping climax takes things to a whole new level of preposterous.
Sight gags abound, and I spotted at least two sightings of Bill the Cat — from Bloom County — but no sign of Opus. (I must’ve missed him; he’s gotta be there somewhere.) Best incidental comic touch: a young boy present during much of the action, who keeps missing it because his face is buried in a screen.
Isabella Summers’ lively score is interrupted by well-placed pop and rock anthems such as “Born to Be Wild,” “Down Under,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and the Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga.”
Angelini and Feiss keep things moving at a rat-a-tat pace; their entire film has the momentum and comic timing of classic Warner Bros. cartoons.
Viewers of all ages will have a lot of fun with this one.
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