The Peppa Pig Movie

The Peppa Pig Movie is a 2024 American-British animated post-apocalyptic action-adventure dark comedy film based on the long-running animated preschool series Peppa Pig created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. The film is directed by Reese-Frake Waterfield, produced by Astley and Baker, and written by Waterfield and Mike White from a story by Waterfield. The film replaces the show’s original voice cast in favor for an all-celebrity cast, including Anya Taylor-Joy starring as the titular character, alongside Chris Pine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Paul Rudd, Chris Evans, Jordan Peele, Kate McKinnon, Tina Fey, TJ Miller, Mindy Kaling, Zoe Saldana, Kristen Wiig, Channing Tatum, Tom Holland, Helen Mirren, Peter Cullen, Julie Andrews, Patrick Stewart, Chris Pratt, Sarah Silverman, Chloë Grace Moretz, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Awkwafina, Lucy Liu, Fred Armisen, Angela Bassett, Ron Perlman, and Vin Diesel, with Taika Waititi as the Narrator. A darker, more satirically humorous and grim adaption parody of the series, the film follows a human called Rhys who arrives in Peppa Pig’s world, seeking to get her and her friends and all animals in the world extinct. Peppa must now rally her friends to stop Rhys’ plans of animal extinction.

The Peppa Pig Movie suffered from a difficult, troublesome, and rushed production. Initial plans for a feature film based on the franchise began on April 6, 2023. Neville Astley and Mark Baker, the creators of the show, were originally set to write and direct the film after originally leaving the series on 2021. The film would have followed a more lighthearted and faithful adaption on the series. However on June, Lionsgate wanted the film to be more satirical in tone and attract the show’s teenage and adult audiences. So they replaced Astley and Baker with Frake-Waterfield, who previously directed Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, to make the film instead. The script was pressured under a tight deadline from Lionsgate, who wanted to desperately get the film made, resulting in an unfinished and unpolished final draft. The show’s original voice actors were originally set to return, but Lionsgate decided to replace them with celebrities. As with the series, animation was made using CelAction.

The Peppa Pig Movie was theatrically released on May 31, 2024, on the 20th anniversary of the franchise. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, critizicing the generic animation, voice performances, direction, plot, humor and ending. The dark tone also got divisive reactions, with some citing it as parody and involuntarily hilarious while others met it as too sad and inappropriate for the show’s preschool audience. Despite this, the film attracted young viewers of the series worldwide and grossed $1.709 billion, surpassing The Lion King (2019) to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, as well having the biggest opening weekend for an animated film ever, and becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 (behind Avatar: The Seed Bearer) and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time.

Premise
Peppa Pig and her family and friends have always lived in peace. However, the biggest threat to their life emerges when a human called Rhys arrives to their world, seeking to get all the animals extinct. Now, Peppa and her family must lead all their animal friends to stop Rhys' plans and survive against him.

Plot
It’s a sunny normal day in Peppa Pig’s house, and she and her brother George play in the house and mock Daddy Pig for his fatness, and also go out to to jump on Muddy Puddles. The rest of the day is pretty normal and joyful; Peppa and George play with their friends — Danny Dog, Pedro Pony, Susy Sheep, Rebecca and Richard Rabbit, Candy Cat, Zoe Zebra, Emily and Edmond Elephant, and Freddy Fox — and visit Granny Pig and Grandpa Pig, as well as Uncle Pig and Auntie Pig and Chloe Pig. After all of that, Peppa and George and their friends, at their playgroup led by Madame Gazelle, go on a field trip to a place known as “the Ancient Lands”. At the Ancient Lands, the group learns about the first animal in the world, Poopa Pig, who was conveniently a pig and was Peppa and George’s great-great-great-grandfather. Peppa is happy for his significance in world history and begins annoying his friends about it, claiming that she deserves to rule the world one day. However, on the way back to the playgroup, the group is shocked to discover that the Playgroup building has been completely destroyed, and not just the rooftop this time.

Gazelle tries to check in on the rubble, but suddenly, a trap bomb explodes, killing her. Mrs. Rabbit, who drove the playgroup bus, is shocked at this and tries to call the police, but the bus also explodes, killing her, though Peppa and George and their friends luckily escaped in time. When Peppa and her friends’ parents come to pick them up, the kids tell them about what happened. At her home, Peppa, George, Mommy and Daddy Pig see on the news about a mysterious human named Rhys, who is trying to apparently get all animal citizens on the world extinct. Daddy says that he can help, but Peppa says that he can’t due to his fatness. Just then, the lights in the house go out, and Peppa and George are scared, though they calm down and decide to play with their friends outside.

However, they find that Zoe Zebra and Candy Cat have been frozen solid after being attacked by Rhys. The rest of the group survived the attack, and Peppa and George reunite with them to make a plan to strike back against Rhys. Danny Dog wants to use Freddy Fox’s dad’s truck to make a weapon to shoot against Rhys, but Pedro Pony wants to simply use his glasses to make fire on Rhys and burn him. The argument between the two is interrupted by Edmond Elephant, who has a very smart idea to build giant glasses out of Freddy’s dad’s truck (as Danny requested) to burn down Rhys (as Pedro requested).

The group rides on their bikes and go to Freddy’s house, where they discover a note from Rhys that says that Freddy’s dad has been arrested for stealing stuff for his truck all this time and got killed afterwards. They also discover that the truck has been stolen and kept by Rhys in the Ancient Lands. The group changes plans and decide to make the machine using Grandpa Pig’s tools, so they go to that house. On the way there, they find Daddy Pig, who wants to help Peppa, but she refuses to let him go with them, saying for the final time that he is too fat. Daddy is sad at this and feels that he can’t do anything. While working on Grandpa’s workshop, the place is bombed and attacked by Rhys, who meets Peppa for the very first time. They have a big battle, but Rebecca Rabbit and Emily Elephant die in the fight, while Freddy, Richard, and Edmond are captured by Rhys. Danny attempts to use the unfinished invention on Rhys before he can escape, but he accidentally ends up aiming the fire at Peppa, but Pedro sacrifices himself. In his final words, Pedro confesses his love to Peppa before she kisses him on the cheek. However, Danny is jealous.

The surviving Peppa, George, Danny, and Susy head to the Ancient Lands, where they plan to just attack Rhys physically. When infiltrating, they find a lot of the animals that Peppa knows captured in cells, among them being Freddy, Richard, Edmond, Dr. Brown Bear, Mr. Bull, Mr. Potato, Dr. Hamster, and Policeman Stag, as well as the Queen and Father Christmas, the only two previously-known humans in the world. Rhys arrives and explains that humans used to be the only beings that lived in the world, before Rhys decided to experiment with animals to turn them into anthropomorphic mutants. The first experimented animal, Poopa Pig himself, was successful, but the formula accidentally spread out throughout the world and mutated nearly all humans in the world and turned them into the anthropomorphic animals that live the most now, with the only remaining humans being Rhys, the Queen, Father Christmas, (the latter two having been forced to hide the truth of the human era of the world ever since), and Mr. Potato (revealing him as a human mutated into a potato as a result of an error in the mutation). Rhys has been hidden from the world for 20 years and has now decided to finally get all animals extinct and make a formula to recreate humans again using his DNA, as the mutation virus was incurable.

Rhys captures Peppa, George, Danny and Susy and, having forced Edmond to make them alongside Mr. Potato in his Super Potato alter ego, activates a series of nuclear bombs across the world that will all explode in 10 minutes and destroy all animals at once. Mommy and Daddy Pig, at their home, are worried at Peppa and George not coming home yet. After seeing a news report from Rhys about the nuclear bombs, Daddy, knowing that he must save Peppa and George no matter what, finally believes in himself again and decides to hulk up, finally getting rid of his fat stomach and getting muscles and abdomen.



Daddy then runs to the Ancient Lands, where he manages to fight Rhys in a one-vs-one duel and knocks him unconscious by chocking him with his six-pack. Daddy then deactivates the nuclear bomb control, turning them all off, and frees Peppa and her friends. However, Rhys wakes up and goes enraged, and reactivates the nuclear bombs with no way to set them off. Upon this, the animals realize that they are doomed.

While panicking, the animals find a nearby rocket and they all go inside it to escape from Earth and survive. However, at the last second, Peppa kicks all the animals out of the ship and keeps it for only herself, claiming that she will finally rule her own world as she foretold her friends at the beginning of the movie, and escapes from Earth alone. Afterwards, the nuclear bombs explode, killing Peppa’s family, her friends, and all anthropomorphic animals in the world, with only she having survived out of the situation.

Rhys is happy for his success and sees a sunset in silence. Meanwhile, Peppa arrives on a distant planet to settle her own life. The film ends with a reprise of the Peppa Pig theme song, sung by Peppa from her new planet.

Voice Cast

 * Anya Taylor-Joy as Peppa Pig
 * Chris Pine as George Pig
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Mommy Pig
 * Paul Rudd as Daddy Pig
 * Chris Evans as Danny Dog
 * Jordan Peele as Pedro Pony
 * Kate McKinnon as Susy Sheep
 * Tina Fey as Rebecca Rabbit
 * TJ Miller as Richard Rabbit
 * Mindy Kaling as Candy Cat
 * Zoe Saldana as Zoe Zebra
 * Kristen Wiig as Emily Elephant
 * Channing Tatum as Edmond Elephant
 * Tom Holland as Freddy Fox
 * Helen Mirren as Madame Gazelle
 * Peter Cullen as Dr. Brown Bear
 * Julie Andrews as Granny Pig
 * Patrick Stewart as Grandpa Pig
 * Chris Pratt as Uncle Pig
 * Sarah Silverman as Auntie Pig
 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Chloe Pig
 * Dwayne Johnson as Mr. Bull
 * Awkwafina as Mrs. Rabbit
 * Michael Keaton as Mr. Potato / Super Potato
 * Lucy Liu as Dr. Hamster
 * Fred Armisen as Policeman Stag
 * Angela Bassett as the Queen
 * Ron Perlman as Father Christmas
 * Vin Diesel as Rhys, a human who wants to get Peppa and all of her friends and animals extinct.
 * Taika Waititi as the Narrator

Astley/Baker script
On April 6, 2023, on the official Peppa Pig Twitter account, it was announced that an animated theatrical feature-length film based on the franchise was in the works. In an interview, series co-creator Neville Astley said that the film was now openly discussed due to the commercial success of Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which showed that “every single big children’s franchise can be made in film, no matter which one”. The film would be distributed by Lionsgate, who previously distributed My Little Pony: The Movie, another Hasbro franchise. Astley and co-creator Mark Baker, after leaving the series after 2021, were hired to write and direct the film.

Astley and Baker’s script was finished by May 2023, prior to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. It was set to follow a simple, unambitious premise; it was set to follow Peppa and her family going on a road trip across the world. It would follow the style of two amazing films, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017) and The Addams Family 2 (2021). However, when the duo showed the script to Lionsgate later that month, they hated it, ripped it to pieces, threw it to a fire, and proceeded to punch Baker in the face, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lionsgate later said that they were not looking for a faithful adaption to the franchise’s decade-old episodes, but for a darker, more satirical and widely different take on the characters and their adventures, citing the unanimous disaster that was Foodfight!: It’s About Time (2023) as a reason for the type of story they wanted to tell this time.

Hiring of Frake-Waterfield
On June 1, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who made the independent horror film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, signed on to direct and co-write the film, replacing Astley and Baker. However, the duo remained as producers. Lionsgate hired Frake-Waterfield since he had experience with adapting long-cherished children’s properties to the big screen in a parody fashion, which is the style they were looking for the film. Frake-Waterfield said that the fact that the film was heavily financed by an actual studio in contrast to the independent funding for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey allowed him to make a “more opportunistic script” while keeping some of the parody and dark vibes of Blood and Honey.

Since Frake-Waterfield is not a WGA writer, he managed to write the script normally during the WGA strike. Frake-Waterfield patiently wrote the script under a 2-month deadline, taking his time. On June 4, Lionsgate set the film for a release date of May 31, 2024, to celebrate the franchise’s 20-year anniversary. Lionsgate explained that the script being written just Lee’s than a year before the film’s release was not an issue, given the franchise’s known simple animation utilizing CelAction.

On June 16, Frake-Waterfield was informed by Lionsgate that the script had to be submitted that day within an hour, despite him being very far from finishing it and being uninformed of the deadline, having still not written the film’s climax. To meet up for the deadline, he cut nearly all of the final battle he originally planned in a treatment, leaving just one fight of Daddy Pig against the main antagonist Rhys. He also made a “quick resolution” for the film’s ending, with Peppa leaving her family and friends perish on Earth thanks to Rhys’ nuclear bomb while she escapes to another planet. Frake-Waterfield did not know that the show would still run and air during the film’s release, leaving the film in danger to be deemed as non-canon to the franchise. To try to solve this continuity error and save the film from being deemed non-canon, he talked with Astley and Baker to set the film at the end of the series’ timeline, set after the inevitable final episode that would exist in the future. He submitted the unpolished, “final” draft to Lionsgate exactly 1 second before the deadline.

The film was originally supposed to include the show’s original voice cast, with Amelie Bea Smith, John Sparkles, Morwenna Banks, Richard Ridings, Oliver May, and Alice May, with Ridings voicing the film’s villain. However, after they finished recording their lines, Frake-Waterfield decided to replace all of the voice actors for the film in favor for celebrities. Anya Taylor-Joy was announced to replace Smith in the titular role of Peppa Pig for the film on December, with Chris Pine voicing George, Julia Louis-Dreyfus voicing Mommy, and Paul Rudd voicing Daddy. The rest of the very large cast was announced on January.

Release
The Peppa Pig Movie had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme D’Or. it was theatrically released on May 31, 2024, coinciding for the franchise’s 20th anniversary. The film was banned in China and Australia, keeping up with the actual series being banned.

Marketing
The film’s very first teaser trailer was released on January 2024, and revealed the film’s huge cast. The trailer garnered 439.56 million views worldwide in 24 hours, surpassing Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) to become the most-viewed trailer in that timeslot. A second trailer was released on March. The final trailer was released on CinemaCon 2024.

Box Office
The Peppa Pig Movie grossed $762 million in the United States and Canada, and $947 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.709 billion. It is the highest-grossing animated film of all time (surpassing The Lion King (2019)), the highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada (surpassing Incredibles 2), and the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 (behind Avatar: The Seed Bearer), as well as the 9th highest-grossing film of all time.

United States and Canada
In the United States and Canada, The Peppa Pig Movie was projected to gross $1-5 million in its opening weekend. The low projections were cited due to the “low interest” kids have on Peppa Pig nowadays. However, after the film made $92.5 million on its first day (the 6th largest opening day for a film in the United States and Canada), including $15.3 million from Thursday night previews, it was reported that the film could gross as high as $50-70 million. The film ended up grossing even more than the re-adjustments, going on to debut $205 million domestic, finishing first at the box office. The film also debuted $457 million globally, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie to have the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film ever and the 7th biggest global opening weekend for a film ever. This also surpassed The Lion King (2019) to have the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in the United States and Canada.

The film made $97.1 milllion on its second weekend and $69 million on its third, both surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) to have the biggest second and third weekends for an animated film. The film continued to dominate the box office on its fourth weekend and surpassed the billion-dollar mark on June 21, becoming the 12th animated film of all time to do so. The film was dethroned on its fifth weekend by Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two, while still grossing additional $30 million.

Other territories
The Peppa Pig Movie had the biggest audience in the United Kingdom, where the franchise was born, becoming the highest-grossing film in the country ever with $157 million (surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)). Also on Mexico, the film became the highest-grossing film of all time in the country, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with $103.8 million. The film’s other biggest markets were France ($86.2 million), Japan ($84.6 million), India ($65 million), and Germany ($63.4 million).

Critical Response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 33%, based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The critical consensus says, “As occasionally funny of a parody as it is utterly bizarre and dark, The Peppa Pig Movie will not satisfy or attract the franchise’s preschool audience nor the adults it seems to pander towards.” It is the highest-grossing film ever made with the lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 49 critics, citing “generally unfavorable reviews.” Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of “B” on an A+ to F scale.

Tomson Supretalchukaquitamunach Jr. from Screen Rant gave the film one and a half out of five stars, writing, “It’s not surprising from director Rhys Frake-Waterfield to turn this long-cherished animated preschool domain into a dark, violent, and bizarre sort-of-survival film that can’t decide whether to be taken seriously or not. And unfortunately, it never works either way”. Calum Marsh from The New York Times felt the story was “so crazy and convoluted that it fails to truly deliver the parody vibe that the premise offers” and called the film “unfunny”. Shaun McInvented from IGN negatively compared the film to Foodfight!: It’s About Time, another film with a similar troubled production, saying that “the unpolished script and it’s issues are easy to see through, and the attempts at satire and mocking of the franchise and it’s decade-long-known characters never feel satisfying or earned”.

Christian Zilko of IndieWire, who gave a mixed review on Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, said that the film suffered similar problems to that film, lacking a cohesive story and lamented it’s generic animation, criticizing the decision to use the exact same animation software and style as in the show for a full-on theatrical film, and noted that the $120 million budget was mostly spend on paying the all-star cast to participate on the film. Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a D+, criticizing the dark humor, poor animation, convoluted story and the voice performances, feeling that “the 25+ celebrity actors involved sound and express their lack of interest in the film or the franchise”. Nick Allen from RogerEbert.com wrote that the film failed as both a Peppa Pig film and a dark comedy, citing it’s confusing story, misguided dark tone, poor script, and clear meddling during production as the reasons to why the film failed.

Converserly, Imnota Reel-Persone from The Fake Reviewer gave a positive review, writing that while the story was confusing and the tone as unfitting, the film delivered on its premise of a Peppa Pig parody far from the show’s preschool audience, citing some of the jokes as funny and praising Vin Diesel’s villain role. He also praised Peppa’s characterization in the ending as fitting with her actual behavior in the series.