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| E.B. (voice by Russell Brand) in Hop. |
Rabbit test
By John Esther
Assuming its audience is familiar with that lie most American adults tell their children about the Easter Bunny coming around annually to bring candy and hide colored hard-boiled eggs for children to find and consume -- as part of the celebration of Jesus Christ's reported resurrection from the cross -- Hop wastes no time with any holiday back story (the savior is never even mentioned in the movie) and immediately dives forward to a secret candy factory nestled under the Moai statues on Easter Island, Rapa Nui, a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Owner of the wonderful, colorful, dazzling, frazzling, mind-numbing factory is the Easter Bunny (nicely voiced by Hugh Laurie). Running the factory is Carlos (Hank Azaria once again doing the silly Latino voice he did as Agador Spartacus back in the 1996 movie, The Birdcage, and continues as Julio in The Simpsons), an ambitious chick who does not care for the Easter Bunny's "privileged" son, E.B. (voice by the seemingly-ubiquitous Russell Brand), the hare, er, heir apparent to the fortune.
A bunny who just wants to bang on the drums all day, E.B. is not interested in following family traditions and when the time comes to take over the sweetest job in the world, E.B. takes off for Hollywood to become a professional drummer. Sure, why not?
After an accidental encounter, E.B. meets Fred O'Hare (James Marsden), a jobless Valley Boy who has finally exhausted the patience of his parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins). Now, while most people would be curious, or notice opportunity, if he or she discovered a rabbit that talked and played the drums, Fred tries to get rid of the cute little creature. But E.B. just will not let go. He is here to fulfill his dreams, but he needs Fred's help. Of course, Fred comes around and is thus rewarded beyond his dreams.
Using animation and live action quite impressively, Hop takes one reactionary myth and uses it to reinforce that myth as well as others. From the Easter Bunny to the classic Hollywood populist carrot about the ordinary schmo who gets the job of his dreams out of dumb luck (just look at Hop co-star David Haselloff's career), Hop is a pretty puffy tale throughout the film.
In addition to the myths, Hop makes a mockery out of workers' rights. Carlos, out of his own greed, leads the chicks at the candy plant on a revolt. Whatever legitimate complaints Carlos may have had against his boss are nullified by his "Latino" tin pot dictatorship. His demands are foreign to the normal machinations of the plant. Ergo, we are to here to root for traditional business as usual and that does not include any advancement in the rights of "chicks." (Hop's most noticeable product placement, Hershey's, has a poor history regarding the use of child slave labor in West Africa.)
In addition to Latinos, what little there is of "The Other" serves as a hammy trope or very little more than something to deride. At best, they should just be happy for the white male heroes. Others may work harder at what they do than Fred has ever tried, but they will never take that great Hershey Highway to the sky and that seems the way things ought to be.
To be fair to the hare, Brand's performance is rather delightful. He accentuates the smarter scenes in the movie. There is actually a pretty amusing second act in Hop involving the developing relationship between Fred and E.B. -- with quite a bit of dialogue that will go straight over the heads of some members of the audience. Fred is a bourgeois brat and E.B.'s upper-class upbringing exposes more of Fred's shortcomings while Fred relays what would happen to a talking bunny rabbit if the authorities got a hold of one. (Actually, it is the same kinds of bad things that happen to non-talking rabbits already in the tragic "name of science.") It is the most honest part of Hop. Too bad the filmmakers had to ensure they re-return Hop into a fairy tale.
By John Esther
Assuming its audience is familiar with that lie most American adults tell their children about the Easter Bunny coming around annually to bring candy and hide colored hard-boiled eggs for children to find and consume -- as part of the celebration of Jesus Christ's reported resurrection from the cross -- Hop wastes no time with any holiday back story (the savior is never even mentioned in the movie) and immediately dives forward to a secret candy factory nestled under the Moai statues on Easter Island, Rapa Nui, a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Owner of the wonderful, colorful, dazzling, frazzling, mind-numbing factory is the Easter Bunny (nicely voiced by Hugh Laurie). Running the factory is Carlos (Hank Azaria once again doing the silly Latino voice he did as Agador Spartacus back in the 1996 movie, The Birdcage, and continues as Julio in The Simpsons), an ambitious chick who does not care for the Easter Bunny's "privileged" son, E.B. (voice by the seemingly-ubiquitous Russell Brand), the hare, er, heir apparent to the fortune.
A bunny who just wants to bang on the drums all day, E.B. is not interested in following family traditions and when the time comes to take over the sweetest job in the world, E.B. takes off for Hollywood to become a professional drummer. Sure, why not?
After an accidental encounter, E.B. meets Fred O'Hare (James Marsden), a jobless Valley Boy who has finally exhausted the patience of his parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins). Now, while most people would be curious, or notice opportunity, if he or she discovered a rabbit that talked and played the drums, Fred tries to get rid of the cute little creature. But E.B. just will not let go. He is here to fulfill his dreams, but he needs Fred's help. Of course, Fred comes around and is thus rewarded beyond his dreams.
Using animation and live action quite impressively, Hop takes one reactionary myth and uses it to reinforce that myth as well as others. From the Easter Bunny to the classic Hollywood populist carrot about the ordinary schmo who gets the job of his dreams out of dumb luck (just look at Hop co-star David Haselloff's career), Hop is a pretty puffy tale throughout the film.
In addition to the myths, Hop makes a mockery out of workers' rights. Carlos, out of his own greed, leads the chicks at the candy plant on a revolt. Whatever legitimate complaints Carlos may have had against his boss are nullified by his "Latino" tin pot dictatorship. His demands are foreign to the normal machinations of the plant. Ergo, we are to here to root for traditional business as usual and that does not include any advancement in the rights of "chicks." (Hop's most noticeable product placement, Hershey's, has a poor history regarding the use of child slave labor in West Africa.)
In addition to Latinos, what little there is of "The Other" serves as a hammy trope or very little more than something to deride. At best, they should just be happy for the white male heroes. Others may work harder at what they do than Fred has ever tried, but they will never take that great Hershey Highway to the sky and that seems the way things ought to be.
To be fair to the hare, Brand's performance is rather delightful. He accentuates the smarter scenes in the movie. There is actually a pretty amusing second act in Hop involving the developing relationship between Fred and E.B. -- with quite a bit of dialogue that will go straight over the heads of some members of the audience. Fred is a bourgeois brat and E.B.'s upper-class upbringing exposes more of Fred's shortcomings while Fred relays what would happen to a talking bunny rabbit if the authorities got a hold of one. (Actually, it is the same kinds of bad things that happen to non-talking rabbits already in the tragic "name of science.") It is the most honest part of Hop. Too bad the filmmakers had to ensure they re-return Hop into a fairy tale.
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