Last Updated on October 31, 2024 by
Hitpig is a 2024 Action, Adventure, and Animation Movie directed by Cinzia Angelini, and David Feiss and written by Berkeley Breathed, Dave Rosenbaum, and Tyler Werrin. The film stars Andy Serkis, Jason Sudeikis, and Rainn Wilson, with a runtime of 1 hour 26 minutes, theatre released on November 1, 2024.
“Hitpig” draws some influence from Berkeley Breathed’s 2008 children’s book “Pete & Pickles” but is far from a strict adaptation. Basically, in the original book which was written and illustrated by Breathed, who also created the comic strip “Bloom County,” friendship and its growth between a pig and an elephant was depicted sensitively. But, the movie’s writers, Dave Rosenbaum, and Tyler Werrin, decided to go with a different approach, hence basing the animated cartoon on intense and action-filled sequences rather than a slow love story of two friends. While there is a tiny element of comedy still included, “Hitpig” is primarily a comedy cartoon, which is full of many vivid scenes that might be inappropriate for young audiences.
It is a film based on the story of a pig named Hitpig (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) who is a bounty hunter by profession. This does not mean he is an assassin (as his name might suggest), but a man who is paid to search for and return lost livestock. This smart character was trained by his strict female trainer, Big Bertha (Lorraine Ashbourne), to be a champion. He has been turned into a globe-trotting electric van with all sorts of gadgetry chasing animals that he has been contracted to capture.
His big mission in the movie comes when Leapin’ Lord (voiced by Rainn Wilson), a failing circus performer from Las Vegas, hires him to bring back Pickles (voiced by Lilly Singh), a young elephant who escaped thanks to an animal activist named Leticia (voiced by Anitta). Pickles intends to go on holiday to India so she can be free to live the life of a wild creature, but she is stopped short of her goal by Hitpig. His plan? Take her back to Leapin’ Lord in Las Vegas to collect a lucrative amount of money. Of course, things don’t go smoothly—lots of crazy accidents and problems pop up along the way, and, as the pig and the elephant spend more time together, they slowly become friends.
It covers a friendship between two travelers who embark on a journey; during this trip, Hitpig decides to share his dreams with his companion. While he plays a macho type of bounty hunter, inside he dreams of being a chef but is too scared to go into a kitchen. During these episodes, he narrates these dreams to Pickles and the latter inspires him to give it a shot. It also has some really funny scenes such as when they come across a new character known as Polecat, an Arctic animal who has explosive diarrhea powers and is voiced by RuPaul. And they even have a visit from Super Rooster, a chicken superhero who is never far from television sets.
While the plot of the film may be a bit fragmented, the theme is the place where Pickles is dreaming about freedom. That is the first time she is free to go around and it is wonderful to her. While traveling towards Las Vegas, Hitpig is determined to deprive them of this freedom to complete his task, hence creating chaos. On the way there, they check out some interesting sites such as a hot air balloon festival which turns out to be clumsy and comical. There is also an episode where Hitpig competes on a cooking game show and finally gets his chance at his dream occupation with the help of Pickles.
While “Hitpig” attempts to mix comedy and tenderness, the show rarely succeeds. It has silly jokes such as fart humor and slapstick scenes which detract from the feeling element; therefore, not very moving. From the viewers’ perspective, it can be understood that the creators’ intention was not to make an emotional story about friendship but to create a funny, action-packed cartoon. Nevertheless, despite its brief 73 minutes of content (not including credits) and many fight scenes, “Hitpig” can be entertaining. It is a rather fast-paced cartoon comedy, though it misses a little of the witty humor one would expect from the author of his book.
Hitpig 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
Hitpig is rated PG by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for action/peril, rude humor and some thematic elements
Violence and Action: Hitpig contains a lot of action scenes and as a cartoon, it is supposed to be funny, nevertheless often it might include cartoon violence. It follows the life of a bounty hunter named Hitpig who goes for several tasks to capture animals using various devices and tricks, which leads to hilarious and destructive pursuits and confrontations. Lastly, the movie tends to use much of comical falls, knocks, and mild accidents sustained by the characters in an over-emphasized manner. For example, some scenes depict characters as being beaten up or falling, which some viewers may find a tad realistic. There is some beef squabbling with sleeping darts between Hitpig and Leticia an animal rights activist and there is also a character named Polecat an arctic animal whose flatulence causes slapstick shenanigans.
Language: There is no harsh profanity or slang but mild insults or names are calling typical for a movie with such a rating. There are scenes where characters use coarse or ironic language that is characteristic of the action-comedy subgenre; however, there is no strong language used.
Sexual Content: the movie does not include sexually provocative scenes, sexual characterizations, or explicit sexuality.
Substance/Drug Use: There are no scenes that show the use of drugs, alcohol, or smoking cigarettes in Hitpig. No character has any substance use, as the movie concentrates solely on the action and comedic scenes.
