Hop (film)

Hop

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Tim Hill
Produced by Chris Meledandri
Michele Imperato Stabile
Screenplay by Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Brian Lynch
Story by Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Starring Russell Brand
James Marsden
Kaley Cuoco
Hank Azaria
Gary Cole
Elizabeth Perkins
Hugh Laurie
Music by Christopher Lennertz
Cinematography Peter Lyons Collister
Edited by Peter S. Elliot
Gregory Perler
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • April 1, 2011 (2011-04-01)
Running time
 95 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $63 million[2]
Box office $184 million[3]

Hop is a 2011 American Easter-themed live-action/computer-animated comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, directed by Tim Hill and produced by Chris Meledandri and Michele Imperato Stabile. The film was released on April 1, 2011, in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hop stars the voice of Russell Brand as E.B., a rabbit who does not want to succeed his father, Mr. Bunny (Hugh Laurie), in the role of the Easter Bunny; James Marsden as Fred O'Hare, a human who is out of work and wishes to become the next Easter Bunny himself; and the voice of Hank Azaria as Carlos and Phil, two chicks who plot to take over the Easter organization. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 23, 2012, in Region 1.[4]

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. E.B.'s father sends his three ninja royal guards, the Pink Berets, to find his son. Meanwhile, Easter Chicks Carlos and Phil plot a coup d'état against him to take over the Easter organization.

At Van Nuys, E.B. is hit by Fred O'Hare, an out-of-work, job-hopping slacker (who is being pressured by his family to "get a job") who was driving to his sister Sam's boss's house he is house-sitting, 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 abandon him in the wilderness. E.B. persuades the human to help him by claiming to be the Easter Bunny, whom Fred saw in operation in his youth. The rabbit 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.

Afterward, Fred attends his adopted 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. Fred feigns a ventriloquist's act with E.B.'s cooperation as his dummy and they lead the show in singing, "I Want Candy". Both his father, Henry, and Alex, are angry about the upstaging, but Fred is inspired to be the Easter Bunny himself. E.B. is skeptical, but he agrees to train the human and finds that Fred has some genuine talent for it.

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 the human has apparently killed E.B., capture Fred and take him to Easter Island. Fred is held captive and confronted by E.B.'s father and Carlos about killing E.B. Carlos pretends to be upset about E.B.'s death, silences Fred (who tries to reveal the truth of the decoy) and seizes control of the Easter factory.

Meanwhile, at the Hoff Knows Talent live show, E.B. is in his dressing room preparing for his performance but his reflection begins to berate him for acting selfish and leaving Fred. Just then a production assistant arrives to tell him that he is next to perform. E.B. leaves his dressing room and begins to feel guilty about leaving Fred so he discusses the situation with Hasselhoff, who advises him to go back and help his friend. E.B. finds evidence of Fred's capture and races back to the factory. He confronts Carlos, but is immobilized in gummy candy and tossed into the chocolate bunny carving line. Fred and E.B.'s father are tied up with black licorice and are to be boiled alive; Fred eats through the licorice to allow them to escape, something his fellow captive was unwilling to do because of the poor taste of the candy. E.B. survives by dodging the blades.

Carlos, now a chick-bunny combination due to the magic of The Egg of Destiny (a magical staff used by The Easter Bunny), battles with E.B. and beats him with an elbow drop easily due to his size and then tries to lead the Egg Sleigh out with Phil directing with light up wands, but E.B. improvises a drum session that makes Phil uncontrollably driven to dance to the beat and provides the wrong signals, causing a crash to subdue Carlos. After being defeated, Carlos is made to pull the Egg sleigh and Phil is made the new head of the Easter Chicks. E.B. then apologizes to his father for his selfishness, and he and Fred are made co-Easter bunnies and take over the job. Fred's family is now proud that he has a job and responsibilities.

After the credits, E.B. and Fred are in China delivering an Easter basket to the same woman who had previously attacked E.B.'s father earlier in the film.

Cast

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

Production

E.B. was designed by Peter de Sève, most famous for the work on the Ice Age characters.[6] The CGI animation of the film was made by Los Angeles-based Rhythm & Hues Studios.[7]

The theme song ("I Want Candy") was performed by Australian pop singer Cody Simpson.

Release

Marketing

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.[8] The premiere of Hop took place at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 27, 2011. James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, Hugh Laurie, David Hasselhoff, Cody Simpson and costumed characters of E.B., Carlos, Phil and the Pink Berets all attended the event.[9]

Home media

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released Hop on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 23, 2012, in North America,[4] and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc back on August 29, 2011, in the United Kingdom.[10] The US Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack also features an original short film titled Phil's Dance Party.[11]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Hop received a rating of 25%, based on 134 critics with an average 4.4/10. The 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."[12] Metacritic gave the film a 41/100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] The subplot involving Carlos the Easter Chick was considered to be insensitive to Mexican Americans by some reviewers.[14][15]

Box office

Hop opened at #1 at the Friday box office in the U.S. and Canada, earning $11.4 million, beating Source Code and Insidious, two other films that opened that weekend.[16] It then topped the weekend box office with $37.5 million, then making it the 2nd highest opening weekend in 2011 behind Rango, until Rio came out.[17] It also topped the UK box office in its opening weekend, with £1,392,740.[18] Hop held onto the #1 spot in the U.S. and Canada for its second weekend, with a 42% drop, and grossed $21.4 million. During its second week, it beat the four new nationwide releases, Arthur, Hanna, Soul Surfer and Your Highness.[19] In the 2011 Easter weekend, Hop increased 13.7% from its third weekend, with a gross of $12.5 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in North America, becoming the third 2011 film to reach this mark after Rango and Just Go with It.[20] Hop earned $108,085,305 in North America and $75,868,418 in foreign countries, bringing its worldwide total to $183,953,723.[3]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2012 Annie Awards Character Animation in a Live Action Production[21] Andrew Arnett Nominated

In other media

Video games

A video game adaptation based on the film was released exclusively for the Nintendo DS.[22][23]

Doodle Jump game

In 2011, Doodle Jump launched a Hop-themed game app for the iPhone.[24] On March 18, the TV advertisement for the game was posted onto YouTube by the film's official YouTube channel.[25]

Books

Five books based on the film have been released:[26]

Other merchandise

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.[27] Burger King launched a line of Hop-themed toys included in their kids meals throughout April 2011.[8][28]

Original score soundtrack

The film's official 35-track original score soundtrack (from Back Lot Music) was released in stores on April 5, 2011. However, on iTunes it was released a month earlier in March.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "'HOP (U)". British Board of Film Classification. 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (March 31, 2011). "Movie Projector: "Hop" will jump over rivals this weekend". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Hop (2011)". Box Office Mojo.
  4. 1 2 "Hop". Tribute.ca. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ Production 2011, p. 2.
  6. ↑ Lesnick, Silas (2010-06-26). "Hop's Rabbit Designed by Peter DeSéve". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  7. ↑ Liu, Ed (2010-12-18). "Toonzone Interviews Chris Meledandri on "Despicable Me"". ToonZone.net. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  8. 1 2 Fleming, Mike (2011-03-31). "Universal/Illumination Easter Bunny Film ‘Hop’ Springs 92 Promo Partners". Deadline.com (PMC Network).
  9. ↑ Schneider, Sue (30 March 2011). "Exclusive Photos: HOP World Premiere at Universal Studios Hollywood". AssignmentX.
  10. ↑ Heron, Ambrose (29 August 2011). "UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 29th August 2011". FILMdetail.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Hop – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  13. ↑ "Hop Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  14. ↑ Shore, John. ""Hop": So Racist It Hurts – John Shore Christian Blog". crosswalk.com.
  15. ↑ Rubin, Michael (1 April 2011). "Review: Hop". 34th Street. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  16. ↑ Young, John (2 April 2011). "Box office: 'Hop' dominates Friday with $11.4 mil". Entertainment Weekly.
  17. ↑ "'Hop' Jumps to No. 1 Spot With $37.5M Debut". ABC News. Associated Press. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  18. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (5 April 2011). "'Hop' edges out 'Source Code' at UK box office". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  19. ↑ Young, John (10 April 2011). "Box office report: 'Hop' holds off four newcomers to win weekend with $21.7 mil". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  20. ↑ Gray, Brandon (2011-04-25). "'Rio' Edges Out 'Madea' Over Easter Weekend". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.
  21. ↑ Giardina, Carolyn (2012-02-04). "'Rango' Wins Annie Award for Best Animated Feature". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ↑ "Hop (Nintendo DS): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  23. ↑ "Hop: The Movie Game Now Available". GamersHell.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  24. ↑ Nelson, Jared (16 March 2011). "Movie Crossover Game 'Doodle Jump: Hop the Movie' Launches for Free". TouchArcade. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Hop – Doodle Jump Trailer" (YouTube). www.iwantcandy.com. March 18, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  26. ↑ Fleishhacker, Joy (8 March 2011). "Watch and Read: 'Candy, Chicks and Rock 'N' Roll'". School Library Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  27. ↑ Graser, Marc (16 March 2011). "Universal teams with Walmart for 'Hop'". Variety. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Club BK – Latest Toys". Burger King. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  29. ↑ "iTunes - Music - HOP (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Christopher Lennertz". Itunes.apple.com. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
Documents

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