Wat's Pig (1996) User Reviews

Superb Animation

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 18 January 2006]

Not unlike THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER this is the story of a baby prince who is kidnapped by the thief in the night and ends up being adopted by a pig . If the plot sounds kind of silly don't worry because it's an animated claymation cartoon . If it was live action the whole thing would of course be ridiculous but you can get away with bizarre frivolity in cartoons

With all these type of animated short stories the plotting and the story takes second place to the animation and when I say Peter Lord is the director of CHICKEN RUN that's all you need to know about the affectionate , effective type of claymation animation seen here . The story is told with a slit scan technique which keeps everything tightly paced and there's little dialogue which will help it in finding an international market . It was also Oscar nominated . Deservedly so

Tried and True

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 28 October 2021]

This is the classic story of two brothers, separated at birth, one becoming royalty and the other raised by a pig farmer. Of course, the royal kid becomes self centered and jaded, while the other becomes kind and grateful and strong. And then forces throw them together. It isn't any great shakes, but the animation is colorful and jolting and I liked that, even though the story has been told so many times.

Good short from Aardman Animations of twins separated as infants

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 23 March 2014]

This short was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short. There will be spoilers ahead:

This is an Aardman Animations stop motion animation short. It tells the story of twins born to the royal family. An attempt to kidnap both is foiled by a nurse who disrupts the kidnapping in progress, causing the kidnapper to drop one as he goes out the window.

During his getaway, he loses the other and speeds away. The infant winds up being raised by a pig. Flash forward to adulthood and we see (on a split screen) a day in the life of the two twins. The one left behind is a complete waste of space, an idler who does nothing worthy of mention, while the poor one works from before dawn to dusk.

As the kingdom faces the threat of an external invasion, the farmer is drafted to fight to defend the kingdom as the prince skulks and cowers. They meet by accident and the prince connives to get his twin to lead the army to a certain disastrous defeat while he sneaks away.

The ending is quite funny and very appropriate. The Oscar nomination was well deserved. This short is an extra on the Blu-Ray release of The Pirate: Band of Misfits. Both the film and this short are worth seeking out. Most recommended.

A study in identical twins separated as babies.

[TxMike · 19 November 2005]

This 11-minute film short is one of 4 different shorts on one VHS tape by Aardman Animations, the group that has given us the Wallace and Gromit animations. Of the four, this is the one I enjoyed the least.

At the beginning of the story we see a bandit in the night coming into the old castle and stealing the twin babies. The nanny comes in, the thief drops one of the twins, but goes off with the other on horseback. Guards are shooting at him with arrows, he is distracted, the other twin falls to the ground, and he leaves him there. The baby is cared for and raised by a pig.

That is all in the very beginning, the main of the story is the adult twins meeting again, one a soldier the other royalty, and the complications that ensue. While it is interesting to see the claymation, I wasn't particularly entertained by the story.

I still remember it from the animation festival

[lee_eisenberg · 9/10 · 19 November 2007]

I remember that I first saw "Wat's Pig" several years ago at the animation festival held in an independent theater in Portland. What an impressive piece of work. Watching it, one can see - and I mean see, as there's very little dialog - how the kidnapped brother lives a laborious life, while the other remains a worthless rich person. And who would have guessed that a pig could play this kind of role? I don't know whether this cartoon is currently available anywhere. If it is, then you should definitely find time to see it. It goes to show what one can accomplish through images. Very good.

So, to rework what another pig famously said: B-dip, b-dip...th-th-th-that'll never be all, folks!

I enjoyed this short film a lot--and isn't that why you watch a cartoon?

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 12 February 2008]

I have recently been watching gobs of Academy Award nominated animated shorts. In 1997, QUEST won the award and it was amazing visually. However, while WAT'S PIG was made in a more old fashion style (using claymation), I much preferred this film to the final winner. Part of it was that for a claymation film, it was gorgeous--with terrific backgrounds and characters. And, even more importantly, I enjoyed the film--and this should be the reason we watch cartoons and other animated films. It was funny and well-written.

The plot itself is a lot like a fairy tale. At the beginning of the film, the King and Queen have twin boys. One is kidnapped and the lost in the ensuing chase. The boy is discovered and raised by a pig farmer--unaware of the boy's identity. Years pass and the prince is a rather poor leader. Then, by chance, his brother (a pig farmer whose best friend is a pig) enters the picture to save the day.

See this film--it's good for a laugh.

Brilliant!!!!

[TOMNEL · 10/10 · 20 August 2006]

From the studio that brought us Wallace and Grommit comes this wonderful prince and the Pauper type tale. Two twin princes, one kidnapped at birth and found and raised by a pig. Both are now grown, one lives in a small cottage with his pig, the other is a stinking rich jerk. This deals with the prince finding out that this is his brother and deciding during a war that has started to switch places with his brother. Very little talking is in this film, most of it is lines limited to small words ("Me?"). This is by far my favorite Aardman short and is brilliantly animated and scored. Find this and enjoy! 11 mins. Not rated, contains mild violence.

11 minutes it sure didn't seem like that

[dsl3001 · 20 January 2007]

From the same studio that brought you the Wallace and Gromit cartoons. Comes the weird and funny PRINCE AND THE PAUPER tale.This sure got my cousin's interest in it and I like it a lot too.Only I would much prefer the Wallace and Gromit cartoons and movie also CHICKEN RUN for one special reason they are a little more funny than this Aardman short.though I thought the beginning part was funny.At the beginning I thought it was funny because when the nanny came and saw the bandit take her baby's and screamed.I thought she made a very funny scream I thought.though I was surprised to see that this short film was only 11 minutes it seemed more like it was 15 minutes probably because I was board but never mind.But still this short film is pretty funny you should try it sometime