Basket of Cheer: The 15th Anniversary of "Hop"

by Michael Lyons

 

Let's face it, there aren't a lot of Easter movies to choose from. Think back four to five months, to the Christmas season, when there were so many movies you almost had to start watching them before Halloween to get them all in (and some people did).

 

Come Easter season, take away Biblical epics and the MGM classic Easter Parade and there's a bit of a drought when it comes to seasonal movies, especially newer ones.

 

Thank goodness for Hop, an entertaining live-action/animated comedy that brings the Easter Bunny into our modern world and looks to put a Tim Allen/The Santa Clause-like spin on the holiday icon.

 

When it was released on April 1, 2011, Hop came with a slew of merchandise and other product promotions (in fact, 92 companies were involved in the film's marketing).

 

Generating $37.5 million in its opening weekend, it topped the box office for two weeks and became a hit for Universal.  

 

Since then, it’s become a seasonal favorite on home video and streaming, and it's also featured in annual TV showings. As it celebrates its 15th anniversary this Spring, it's worth looking back at this genial movie.

 

Hop tells the tale of E.B., a young rabbit set to take the reins of the family business and become the next Easter Bunny.  Wanting more from his life and harboring a passion for becoming a drummer, E.B. leaves Easter Island (home of the Easter Bunny and his factory, of course) and goes to Hollywood.

 

Here, E.B. meets out-of-work “slacker” Fred O’Hare, and they strike up an unusual friendship.  Fred helps E.B. realize his dream as a drummer by auditioning for the TV show “Hoff Knows Talent” (hosted by David Hasselhoff), and E.B. allows Fred to finally find a job, filling in for him as the Easter Bunny.

 

Russell Brand voices E.B., with James Marsden as Fred O’Hare, who delivers a likable performance and does solid work alongside the computer-generated bunny and the other CGI characters.

 

Hugh Laurie is excellent as the very proper Easter Bunny. The multi-voiced Hank Azaria is hysterical, doing double duty as the voice of Carlos and Phil, two chicks focused on a coup d’état to take over the factory and Easter.

 

Director Tim Hill does amazing work blending live-action and animation throughout Hop in a seamless way. It's some of the film’s best examples of this since 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

 

The senior animation supervisor for the film was the talented Chris Bailey, who had directed the immensely entertaining Mickey Mouse short, Runaway Brain in 1995. He and his team employ great visual imagination in Hop in bringing the Easter Bunny’s factory to life with a wondrous, Willy-Wonka quality.

 

When Hop opened in 2011, film critic Nick Schager in The Village Voice said that the film was “…just demented enough to deliver a fleeting sugar rush.”

 

A perfect summation, as Hop is a worthy heir to a small list of Easter movies.

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