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. Despite generally negative reviews, Hop was a box office success. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 23, 2012, in Region 1.
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 Chick Carlos plots 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 his sidekick 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
- Russell Brand as E.B., a teenage rabbit who would rather be a drummer than be the next Easter Bunny. Brand also has a live action cameo as a "Hoff Knows Talent" production assistant.
- Django Marsh as Young E.B.
- James Marsden as Fred O'Hare, a human who takes in E.B. to recover after he accidentally hits him with his car. When he was younger, Fred saw E.B.'s father at work very early one Easter morning and ever since, he has had a secret dream of doing the job himself.
- Coleton Ray as Young Fred
- Kaley Cuoco as Samantha "Sam" O'Hare, Fred's younger sister
- Hank Azaria as Carlos, the leader of the Easter Chicks and the film's main antagonist, who has grown tired of always being the Easter Bunny's number two (or lieutenant) and decides to lead a coup d'état. Azaria also voices Phil, Carlos's fun-loving sidekick who is friends with E.B. and enjoys music more than working.
- Gary Cole as Henry O'Hare, who is Fred, Sam, and Alex's father
- Elizabeth Perkins as Bonnie O'Hare, Henry's wife and Fred, Sam and Alex's mother
- Hugh Laurie as E.B.'s dad, the current Easter Bunny who wants E.B. to take over the family business instead of becoming a drummer.
- Tiffany Espensen as Alex O'Hare, Fred and Sam's adopted younger sister
- David Hasselhoff as Himself, the host of "Hoff Knows Talent"
- Chelsea Handler as Mrs. Beck, the lady who interviews Fred in his job interview
Production
E.B. was designed by Peter de Sève, most famous for the work on the Ice Age characters. The CGI animation of the film was made by Los Angeles-based Rhythm & Hues Studios. The theme song ("I Want Candy") was performed by Australian pop singer Cody Simpson.
Trivia
- This is the first Illumination's live-action/animated hybrid film.
- The fourth Universal's live-action/animated hybrid film, after Casper, Balto and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
- The third Universal's live-action/computer-animated hybrid film, after Casper and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
- This is the first Illumination's non-sequel/prequel film.
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