JEANNE’S REVIEW
Hitpig (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) is the “best” bounty hunter out there. At least that’s what his Yellow Pages ad states in the new film HITPIG!. He was trained by Big Bertha (voiced by Lorraine Ashbourne), who was known for finding missing animals. But when she found baby Hitpig, he was just too cute, so she kept him and taught Hitpig everything she knew about the business of bounty hunting.
Bertha’s untimely demise has left Hitpig on his own. He’s been fairly successful, returning several escaped animals, such as Polecat (voiced by RuPaul), Koala (voiced by Hannah Gadsby) and Lobster (voiced by Charlie Adler), to their owners. But his biggest job has him searching for a precious, naïve dancing elephant named Pickles (voiced by Lilly Singh) to be returned to a ruthless Las Vegas showman, The Leapin’ Lord of the Leotard (voiced by Rainn Wilson), for the tidy sum of one million dollars.
Standing in his way is Letícia Dos Anjos (voiced by Anitta), founder of Critter Libbers, an Animal Liberation Organization. She is determined to stop Hitpig from returning poor Pickles to her abusive owner. What ensues is a trip around the world --- and also out of this world --- as Hitpig realizes there’s more to life than money.
Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Berkeley Breathed’s The New York Times best-seller, Pete and Pickles, HITPIG! was brought to life by Aniventure and the animation studio, Cinesite. By managing to capture Berkeley’s unique animation style through CG characters, the artists at Cinesite created a truly different look and feel for HITPIG! enhanced greatly by the terrific voice actors led by Sudeikis.
Directed by Cinzia Angelini and David Feiss, HITPIG! is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny with a delightful screenplay by Tyler Werrin. There are many valuable lessons touched upon in HITPIG!. The importance of friendship, animal rights, pursuing one’s dreams --- and especially love --- are all highlighted in Berkeley’s heartwarming story.
The animation, cinematography, lighting and set designs --- particularly Hitpig’s home-on-wheels, Catchvan --- are all spectacular. The drawings for Pickles are especially adorable, capturing her beauty in broad brushstrokes. itpig
And lastly, the snappy soundtrack from composer Isabella Summers (aka Isa Machine from the rock band Florence and the Machine) and music supervisors, Mary Ramos and Sarah Bridge, includes some favorite oldies which will have you dancing right along with Pickles.
Opinion: See It Now!
DAVID’S REVIEW
Jason Sudeikis has one of the more distinctive voices in the entertainment world. He has the lead voice role in HITPIG! as the title character, a bounty hunter who finds and returns escaped animals to their owners.
The movie is full of asides and snarky comments, so who better to deliver them than Sudeikis? For me, it was like watching an episode of “Ted Lasso”, so his voice was a bit of a distraction. The more recognizable names from the voice cast, including Lilly Singh as Pickles the elephant, Rainn Wilson as The Leapin’ Lord, an obnoxious Las Vegas showman, Andy Serkis as a newscaster and RuPaul as Polecat, a skunk/ferret come off as more generic in their roles.
The premise has Hitpig seeking a huge payday of a million dollars if he can find and return Pickles, escaped from a Las Vegas sideshow run by The Leapin’ Lord. But as the movie progresses, the two animals become buddies which follows the film’s storyline that friends are more important than money. One line in particular stands out: “friends are the family we pick”.
At times, the animation is brilliant. Some scenes are quite memorable, like the one where Pickles is drowning in a multi-level glass home filled with water, and Hitpig valiantly tries to save her with snout-to-trunk resuscitation.
HITPIG! is wildly frenetic which would seem to maximize the appeal for younger audiences. But it’s obvious that co-directors Cinzia Angelini and David Feiss and their vast crew did their due diligence in bringing the story, by a trio of writers, to fruition on the big screen. On the plus side, many of the musical choices are inspired, including hits like ”Conga”, "Walking On Sunshine", “Pop Muzik” and ”Hit Me With Your Best Shot”.
Opinion: Wait for VOD