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Hop is a 2011 Universal live-action/CG film focusing on the exploits of E.B. (Russell Brand), a young rabbit who is next in line to become the world-famous Easter Bunny of legend. His father (Hugh Laurie) can't wait to provide him with the title, but E.B. tends to sway more to the young, hip side of the Bunny family tree and doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, instead wanting to make it big in the world of rock.

He leaves for Hollywood in order to realize his dream and happens upon Fred (James Marsden), a kindred slacker who is house-sitting a mansion. After being nearly run over by Fred's car, he reluctantly takes in E.B., who wastes no time in causing him as much grief as possible. Soon however, Fred and E.B. learn that they have to contend with Carlos (Hank Azaria), one of the Easter Bunny chick assistants who decides that it's time for them to take over the holiday due to their doing all the work.


This film contains examples of:

  • Adam Westing: David Hasselhoff As Himself, the host and judge of talent contest "Hoff Knows Talent", which does sound slightly familiar and of course odd talking things are nothing new to him.
  • Alternate Landmark History: Because the rabbits are all from Easter Island, several moai are seen in the film. They're apparently the secret entrances to the Easter Bunny's whole operation.
  • Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The Japanese version has a different theme song called "Hug Tomo" by Not Yet.
  • Amazon Brigade: The Pink Berets, fluffy female rabbits who have a penchant for blowgun darts.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Fred's adopted sister Alex sings horribly at her Easter play, and is loud to her brother.
  • Awesome Moment of Crowning: E.B. and Fred being crowned co-Easter Bunnies.
  • Badass Adorable: The Pink Berets look cute and wear the said hats, but they kick ass.
  • Big Bad: Carlos the chick, who plans to take over Easter Island for his own.
  • Blunt Metaphors Trauma: When Carlos starts planning to take over Easter Island:
    Carlos: The stubborn old bunny refuses to crown anyone else. This can only mean one thing, my friends: We are going to have to take matters into our own hands.
    Phil: Um, Carlos.
    Carlos: Yes, Phil?
    Phil: Yeah, um, we don't have hands, per se.
    Carlos: Eh, no, it's a figure of speech, Phil.
  • The Cameo:
    • Russell Brand, who voices EB, pops up as a production assistant on "Hoff Knows Talent", talking to the character he voices.
    • The voice over the speaker at the Playboy Mansion? That's really Hugh Hefner.
  • Chariot Pulled by Cats: The Easter Bunny's sleigh is pulled by a team of tiny, downy chicks that can fly somehow. And later also by Carlos who has been mutated into a bunny-chick abomination.
  • Chekhov's Skill: It was E.B's drumming in the end that saved the day.
  • Color Character: The Pink Berets are a trio of elite female bunnies wearing...pink berets.
  • Cool Big Sis: Samantha, who is actually a cool younger sis but plays the role of an older sibling in trying to help Fred get his act together.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: After Carlos goes One-Winged Angel, he easily wipes the floor with E.B.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Both Fred and E.B. are often sarcastic to each other.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: This was Illumination's second film, at which time they were leaning toward becoming a label for family films in general, not just computer-animated feature films. To date, this has been Illumination's only live-action film and the only film to have no involvement from their in-house, Paris-based animation studio.
  • Easter Bunny: The title of Easter Bunny is passed down between generations. However, the rabbit who's currently next-in-line for the title doesn't want to inherit it.
  • Expressive Ears: E.B.'s ears are very expressive. His dad's, not so much, perhaps as a distinction between the two.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Carlos, the second-in-command chick to the Easter Bunny empire who wants to take the mantle for himself. Even though the Easter Bunny is a good guy, Carlos has been somewhat of a jerk for a while, which would make him a subversion of The Starscream as well.
  • Faking the Dead: When the pink berets catch up to E.B., he dresses a frozen turkey in his shirt and throws it in a pot to fake his death, accidentally framing Fred for his murder in the process.
  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father: E.B’s father does not approve of his son playing the drums as his career choice and tries to make him his heir as the Easter Bunny.
  • Family Business: Easter is like this, currently under the ownership of E.B.'s soon-to-retire father.
  • Follow in My Footsteps: E.B.'s father, owner of the title of Easter Bunny, wants his son to continue the legacy.
  • The Foreign Subtitle: In Brazil, the movie is known as "Hop - Rebelde sem Páscoa" (Rebel Without Easter)
  • From Zero to Hero: Fred O' Hare is the Black Sheep of the family. His father adopted an Asian girl as a replacement offspring for Fred. Fred is such a slacker that he nearly botches a house-sitting gig, and arrives late for a job interview, both of which were effectively gift-wrapped for him by his older sister. However, when Fred crosses paths with the renegade rabbit E.B., he discovers a passion for spreading Easter joy, and undergoes a Training Montage for the purpose. Fred will ultimately rescue the Easter Bunny from a coup d'etat by The Starscream, and earn his place as co-Easter Bunny. Fred's fluency in Mandarian Chinese and his knowledge of Asian customs also lets the Easter holiday permeate the Chinese market, which heretofore had been impenetrable.
  • Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: E.B.'s father is fully dressed. Also, E.B. is fully dressed at the end, even though he is a Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal in most of the duration of the movie. The Pink Berets wear berets, weapons belts and nothing else.
  • Funny Animal: E.B. is happy, and culturally charged, and since he's animated he is quite a humor-minded guy.
  • Handwave:
    • In one scene, E.B. explains that he can talk because of a simple mixture of magic and cuteness.
    • The Hoff's explanation for why he doesn't find a talking rabbit strange is that he was on a show with a talking car.
  • Haplessly Hiding: E.B. hides among the soft toys on Fred's bed so that Fred's wife will think he's a soft toy. However, when she does, she picks him up and hugs him.
  • Hidden Depths: Fred apparently speaks perfect Mandarin, enabling him and E.B. to finally penetrate the China market. Makes sense in context he would know the language because he has a Chinese little sister who may be fluent.
  • "I Can't Look!" Gesture: Bit, the smallest of the three Pink Berets, turns away from the sight of a partially thawed turkey dressed in a flannel shirt that Patch levers from a boiling pot. The Pink Berets presume that this is the horrible fate of E.B., the renegade son and heir of the Easter Bunny. How an elite commando unit could confuse a frozen turkey for a rabbit carcass is never explained.
  • Irony: E.B's drumming distances him from his father and causes him to run away, almost destroying Easter. Yet that same drumming is what saves Easter in the end.
  • The Smurfette Principle: The Pink Berets are the only female bunnies seen in the film.
  • The Klutz: The smallest member of the Pink Berets keeps slamming into things and tripping up during their action moves.
  • Killer Rabbit: The Pink Berets, they may look cute but they will kick your ass with some of their attacks.
  • Large and in Charge: Carlos is the largest chick seen. He gets larger when he goes one-winged angel.
  • Logo Joke: The Universal logo is in the shape of an egg.
  • Meaningful Name: Fred O'Hare in a very subtle example.
    • And his mother's name is Bonnie O'Hare.
  • Never Trust a Trailer:
    • The trailers for this movie made it look like an Alvin and the Chipmunks rip-off (didn't help that both films are directed by Tim Hill).
    • The earliest trailer featured nothing more than the protagonist playing the drums, with absolutely no indication of what the film was about.
  • Number Two: It's constantly brought up that Carlos is E.B.'s father's number two chick and he is not happy about it.
  • Ode to Food: E.B. often sings "I Want Candy". While the original song was about a girl named Candy, when he sings it, it's about actual candy.
  • One Dose Fits All: When the Pink Berets are discovered near the iconic Hollywood sign by a patrolman, they shoot one blowgun dart to his neck, which drops him unconscious almost instantly. Later, when the Pink Berets encounter Fred O'Hare in the mansion's kitchen, the bunnies think that Fred has killed their charge, E.B. Fred gets a volley of six darts to the face, which ought to be fatal, or nearly so. Nope, it only keeps him in la-la land for a few hours. Somewhere, a pharmacist is crying...
  • One-Winged Angel: Carlos undergoes a transformation into a chick/bunny hybrid when the Egg of Destiny scepter bestows its powers upon him. Unfortunately, it also increases his size and strength right before E.B. has to take him on.
  • The Parody Before Christmas: The movie ends with Fred saying, "Now Cheepers, now Peepers, now Biscuit and Fuzzy, now Chucky, now Plucky, now Feathers and Carlos" as the chicks pull him in a sleigh like reindeer.
  • Playboy Bunny: The Pink Berets mistake a group of Playboy bunny girls for actual rabbits.
  • Pooping Food: E.B. can poop jellybeans and does so to prove he's the Easter bunny.
  • Product Placement: Heavily advertised by Walmart. None in the actual film, though.
  • Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Happens during E.B. vs. One-Winged Angel Carlos. E.B. exhausts himself while trying to fight him off.
  • Pursue the Dream Job: E.B. refused to inherit the mantle of The Easter Bunny, escaping instead to Los Angeles seeking to become a drummer in a band.
  • Shaped Like Itself: Carlos—"This is a coup d'etat, which is French for...coup d'etat!"
    • Also, the principle by which E.B. survives his ride on the chocolate-carving machine.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The film has a reference to Alvin and the Chipmunks' infamous "raisin" gag and turns it into something more palatable.
    • At one point, the shadows of the Pink Berets briefly mimic the cover of the first Charlie's Angels movie.
    • "I didn't like it. I... loved it." is actually Simon Cowell's catchphrase.
    • The scene where E.B. dresses a frozen turkey in his shirt and throws it in a pot to fake his death is taken from the "bunny boiler" scene in Fatal Attraction.
  • The Slacker: James Marsden's character, Fred, at least according to the synopsis.
  • Solid Gold Poop: Not hugely valuable, but Easter Bunnies apparently poop jelly beans.
  • Tempting Fate: "How could this night get any worse? Oh, I see, car accident, thank you."
  • The Stinger: After becoming co-Easter Bunnies, E.B. and Fred make the first successful China delivery.
  • They Would Cut You Up: Fred thinks this will happen to E.B. if he's spotted talking in public.
  • Toilet Humor: Rabbits crap jellybeans.
  • Training from Hell: What E.B. puts Fred through to see if he is capable of being the Easter Bunny, and the young bunny eventually realizes the human has some talent for it.
  • Training Montage: E.B. trains Fred into becoming the easter bunny.
  • Tranquillizer Dart: The Pink Berets tranquilize their opponents.
  • Unexplained Accent: E.B. and his father have (different) British accents, and the villain is Spanish. It's made fairly clear that they all live on the island full-time.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: NOBODY besides Fred finds an anthropomorphic talking rabbit strange, and the movie makes sure to lampshade the Hell out of it. Granted, adding scenes of being chased down by The Men in Black would be total overkill and disrupt the light fluffy tone of the movie. So it's just easier to handwave it off.
  • Usurping Santa: Carlos, a disgruntled chick assistant to the Easter Bunny, plans to become the new Easter Bunny because he is tired of being unappreciated. When he finally gets the power he wants, he goes One-Winged Angel, turning him into a strange chick/bunny hybrid.
  • The Voiceless: The Pink Berets never talk.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Phil's uncontrollable compulsion to dance when E.B. plays the drums, causing him to direct the sled out of control and into a crash landing.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: E.B.'s father acts this way to his son when he returns to rescue Fred and defeat Carlos.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't see the Pink Berets again after Carlos chocolate-coats them. It's easy enough to assume they were freed afterward, but it's never seen.
  • Why Don't You Marry It?: Carlos tells Phil that if he loves E.B. so much, he should marry him.
  • Writers Cannot Do Math: The factory is said to have been running 4000 years, making it more than twice as old as the holiday it serves.

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