Scrappy
Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy
Director: Chris Wedge
Writer: Jacob Jones
Voice Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kristen Schaal, Denis Leary, Will Arnett, Halle Bailey, Ramy Youssef, James Earl Jones
Plot: Rain pours in the streets of Los Angeles, as thunder and lightning lash out into dusk. As the storm continues, a squirrel scatters about, in search of some sort of shelter. Along the way, he runs into several obstacles, including a car splashing water onto him and even a rabid cat. By morning, a tired and beaten squirrel arrives at a tree by a local park, only to be greeted by the last creature he wants to hear the chipper voice of Silly (Kristen Schaal), another squirrel in the area.
Scrappy (Dwayne Johnson) does his best to fake a grin as the two climb up the tree, leading into the clear topic of the day, it’s raining. Silly is excited for the biggest storm of the year, while Scrappy has severe reservations, not unjustified either. Silly thinks Scrappy just needs to settle down and take in the sights and sounds of “home”. To Scrappy, this includes barking dogs, screaming children and annoying cars.
After some time, the storm comes to an end and the sun comes out, temporarily blinding Scrappy. Wanting to greet the world properly, Silly bids farewell to Scrappy and scampers off. Already feeling defeated about the day, Scrappy grabs onto the nearest acorn and trudges out of the tree. He maneuvers through the many people and their pets, hoping to escape the rush when hears several loud barks. Several pitbulls have surrounded Pugster (Kevin Hart), threatening to do a number on him. Scrappy steps in, warning them to leave the dog alone or he’ll find someone to take care of them. Not wanting any trouble, the pitbulls head off.
Pugster thanks Scrappy for the help, mentioning how the pitbulls got at him for a dog food issue. Scrappy appears nonchalant as he climbs up Pugster’s back. Despite initially not wanting to tell, Pugster’s insistence causes him to relent, admitting that he feels each day feels the same. He wants to know if there’s some sort of meaning and purpose to his life. Eventually, Pugster gets an idea, telling Scrappy that they should visit Hopper (James Earl Jones).
Scrappy is unimpressed, not willing to believe that a magical talking frog will solve all his problems. “Next you’ll tell me that if I wish upon a star, my dreams’ll come true, right?” Silly returns, having ‘befriended’ a pitbull, only for them to chase the three up a tree.
Up there, Pugster tells the legend of Hopper, a wise old frog who many people claim knows the meaning and purpose of life. Those who follow his teachings can find greater being and obtain higher knowledge.
“Sounds great! What’s the catch?” Scrappy asks.
“Oh yeah, that, uh, no one knows where he lives.” Pugster admits.
Silly then gets the idea to find Hopper and learn his teachings. Outnumbered (and in desperate need of something to do), Scrappy accepts the offer. First, they need to figure out their pitbull problem. One that is quickly solved when a rabbit named Cottontail (Denis Leary) hops into view, picking a fight with the pitbull and chasing him away. Pugster thanks Cottontail for the help, only for him to chase the dog for calling him a bunny.
Silly and Scrappy discuss where Hopper might be, with Scrappy suggesting they go around the world to find him. This is enough to get Cottontail and Pugster’s attention as Cottontail calls Scrappy crazy for even suggesting it. “I know, but if we don’t do something, it’s gonna be a boring day.” Scrappy states. To add some sort of incentive, Silly offers Cottontail a carrot once the trip is over. With that, Cottontail accepts and the four animals begin to make plans.
The next day, the animals put their plan into action, sneaking onto an airport dressed up as a businessman, stumbling onto an airplane. As they take their seat, Pugster claims that he has to go to the bathroom, Cottontail warns him not to or else he’ll shove a carrot down his-
“Hey now, let’s be nice!” Silly warns, claiming that kids may be watching. Scrappy merely looks out the window, wondering what this meaning and purpose of life is. When the plane lands, the animals make a run down the street until they find themselves in Canada, or as Cottontail calls it “Cuhneda”.
Hours pass by, and the group is doing no better on their trek. Pugster calls for a break, only for Silly to claim she can get further ground by flying. True to her word, Silly begins flying about in the sky, the others chasing after her through cars, buses and even horses before finally reaching the forests. Silly is having the time of her life gliding about before crashing onto a moose walking through the forests.
Upon hearing a larger crashing sound, the rest of the group scamper into the forest. Eventually, Scrappy finds a fallen tree, a dazed Silly and a moose on the ground. Scrappy calls for someone to wake the moose up, only for Cottontail to kick him. Surprisingly, this causes the moose to awaken as he excitedly rambles about how a flying mouse came to visit.
It soon dawns on the moose that Silly is not a mouse and he cowers in fear. Silly curls up towards the mighty creature and tries to calm him down. The moose sees her and, fully believing she’s a ball, trots away, bouncing Silly all the while. The group follow the mammal, attempting to stop him, all while Silly is being slammed onto mud, ant hills and even rocks before convincing the moose to stop so she can explain.
When the group finally reach Silly and the moose, they’re surprised to find they’ve formed a friendship and learn that the moose’s name is Caillou (Will Arnett). Caillou reveals that Silly told him about their quest to find “Mr. Hooper” and offers to help, claiming to have many talents proceeding to kick Cottontail to the nearest tree. Stunned, Scrappy welcomes Caillou to…whatever this is.
The critters soon venture off in search of Hopper, finding no luck every which way they go, all while listening to Pugster, Cottontail and Caillou banter. Despite appearing at the end of his rope, Scrappy calms himself, suggesting that they look for a boat and set sail. Excited, Pugster starts singing a sea shanty as Cottontail happens upon a small boat full of people.
Caillou absent-mindedly walks in, freaking out a child and causing everyone to flee, leaving the boat free for the animals. From there, “Captain Scrappy” (affectionately named by Pugster and Silly) sets sail. To where? Who knows. On their trip, the gang come across a terrible thunderstorm. The animals all do their best to pilot the ship, only to be engulfed by the waves.
Some time later, Scrappy is awakened to the sound of hisses, horrified to find he’s trapped in a snake’s clutch. She apologizes, not intending to squeeze him so much and introduces herself as Sultra (Hailee Bailey), a snake in Kenya. Scrappy then learns that a kindly eagle saw what had become of their ship and carried them to safety.
“He did run into a few complications.” Sultra sheepishly admits, pointing to Silly coughing up a fish, but that all is well (although noticeably, Silly is lot more snarky when checked on).
With Sultra as their guide, the gang venture to Kenya, observing all the animals and the human activities. Scrappy even picks up a few African words, much to his surprise. Things go terribly awry however when Caillou ventures off to a lion’s den, trying to sneak past one in order to play a joke.
“CAILLOU LOOK OUT!” Silly calls out, pointing to a ravenous lion who has discovered Caillou’s presence.
Caillou runs for his life, screaming for help. The other animals rush to his aid, Caillou standing at the top of a cliff, a group of lions circling towards him when Cottontail swoops in, grabbing one lion by the tail and pummeling him, sending him up and over the cliff and forcing the others to flee. Overly grateful, Caillou asks Cottontail how he can repay him.
“For one, you can get twenty feet away from me.” Cottontail answers, before admitting he’s glad that he’s safe.
The group all converge together when to everyone’s shock, Silly berates Caillou for putting himself through this, saying that he could’ve died. Pugster tries to calm things down, but Silly storms off, having grown “tired” of everything. Scrappy opts to go look for her, scurrying through the grasslands before finding Silly slumped by a watering hole. Silly asks Scrappy if he’s here to yell at her. Scrappy isn’t, wanting to know what’s going on.
“Lets see, I crashed into a moose, tasted rock, dirt, mud and even a fish, nearly watched someone I cared about get eaten and just embarrassed myself in front of everybody, need I go on?” Scrappy insists that Silly not. Silly admits that she feels like the biggest liability on this team. Everyone’s contributed something to this and now, it feels like she’s holding them back.
In a moment of sincerity, Scrappy tells Silly that she hasn’t held anyone back. If anything, it’s because of her that Caillou and Cottontail are on their team. If anything, she’s probably the most important one around. Silly thanks Scrappy for the pick up, but it’s clear something’s still on her chest.
Silly confesses that all her life, she’s felt like she has to stay positive in order to keep something good going and when things aren’t going her way, she gets stressed before finally exploding.
Scrappy says that it’s not healthy to bottle things up, so he tries not to. He’s not a therapist or a guidance counselor, but his idea of being honest is knowing when something’s wrong and when it’s enough. Silly thanks Scrappy, giving him a hug…
“Y’know, you’re a big softy under that grumpy face of yours!” Silly quips.
“Yeah, yeah,” an embarrassed Scrappy mutters, “just don’t mention it to the others, okay?”
Too little, too late as Pugster jokes about the squirrels going nutty for each other. Silly apologizes to the group and they make amends. Pugster then reveals that she found a map lying around while everything went on, handing it to Scrappy. Everyone climbs onto Caillou and the group venture off into the Savannah.
The days pass by and the grass turns into sand as Caillou collapses by a pyramid. Sultra looks around, finding they’re in Egypt. Caillou groans, begging for water. Sultra and Scrappy opt to stay by Caillou while the others seek help. As the hours roll by, Scrappy begins to succumb to the heat, seeing Sultra as a long string of cheese and Caillou as roast beef.
Just before Scrappy becomes irrecoverably delirious, Pugster and Silly swarm in, carrying their friend away. Caillou and Sultra follow suit, watching Scrappy go in and out of consciousness before being splashed into the water.
When Scrappy wakes up, he’s greeted by a camel named Omar (Ramy Youssef) asking if he enjoys the water. Caillou sure is, thanking Omar for sharing the waterhole. Scrappy then falls back to sleep. When he wakes up again, Scrappy finds that the watering hole is gone. Scrappy questions how this is possible…
“My, my, what a thirsty squirrel!” Omar calls out, claiming that Scrappy drank all the water from the hole. Scrappy claims innocence, only for Omar to emerge, having played a trick. In actuality, he’s back by the pyramids. At the end of his brain capacity, Scrappy asks Omar if he knows anything about Hopper. Unfortunately, Omar has no recollection of a frog named Hopper.
Defeated, Scrappy walks off, having given up the quest. Pugster tries to bring him back, but it’s hopeless. They don’t even have a way home. They can take it from here, he’ll find his own way. As the rest of the group travel on their own, a sandstorm begins, blinding everyone involved. Despite their best efforts, they struggle through the sand, Cottontail nearly being blown away at times. Things get worse when a group of buzzards in need of some lunch swarm in. Realizing what they need to do, Silly flies off in search of Scrappy.
Among the dust and sand, Silly finds Scrappy by the pyramids, calling for help. Scrappy, not wanting to interfere any further, resists.
“Why should I help you after I turned you all away?!” Scrappy cries out.
“Because you’re our friend.” Silly says, reaching out to him.
Scrappy hesitantly reaches out to Silly, being whisked to the scene, his friends trapped in the eye of the storm, the buzzards swarming around, ready for a feast.
“HEY YOU!” Scrappy calls out, storming towards the scene. “Leave my friends alone.”
The buzzards turn their attention to the squirrels, intrigued by a potential appetizer, only for Silly to take flight, confusing the buzzards with her aerial moves. Scrappy motions for Cottontail to knock some sense into the birds. Disaster ensues when a buzzard breaks free and swoops up from the sky, scratching Silly with his talons.
With Scrappy all alone, the buzzards circle him, preparing for his end, only for Pugster to rush in, barking about and chasing the buzzards before Caillou and Omar kick them out of sight. As the sandstorm ends, the gang go in search of Silly, Sultra finding her among the sand. Scrappy picks her up, the group fearing her dead.
Except, Silly’s not. The sand cushioned the fall. She has a scratch and is a little shaken up but is fine. Scrappy thanks everyone for the help, finally admitting that they’re all really good friends. Pugster tells Scrappy that he’s been a friend to them. It only makes sense. That evening, Scrappy and Silly look up at the stars, Scrappy admitting that he doesn’t really care if they find Hopper or not at this point. All that matters is that they’re safe.
Several days later, the group venture off into the ether, their search for Hopper continuing until finally, they wind up back in Los Angeles, perplexing Scrappy. The group wander into the park, not much having changed when Pugster notices something. He walks up to it, before excitedly calling for everyone to follow him. As it turns out, Hopper has been by the pond all along.
At first, Scrappy is disappointed, realizing that they went through all this trouble for a pond. Hopper is quick to point out that some trouble is worth going through to get what you want.
“I mean, you’re right…but it kinda feels like it was all for nothing, y’know?”
“Oh, but you have earned something!” Hopper proclaims, having heard of their journey through other critters, opting not to intervene as he wanted them to discover the meaning and purpose of life themselves. “And it seems, you have succeeded.” Hopper claims, observing Scrappy’s new friends.
So, what is the meaning and purpose of life? For some, it’s as simple as jumping from pad to pad, or as complex as a trip around the world. But the journey is worth less if you have not earned something along the way. Friendship, camaraderie, devotion to the other, that’s what was gained in this adventure, and if you let it in, Hopper finds that you can reach your own summit, improving on yourself and becoming better from where you started.
Everyone agrees, satisfied with Hopper’s teaching and heads off. Scrappy stays behind, thinking to himself when Silly calls for him. Scrappy rushes up to the gang, sitting on top of Omar as they observe a beautiful sunset. With that, Pugster asks Scrappy a question.
“You think this is what friendship is like?”
Scrappy stops, stares at the others and smiles.
“Yes, yes it is.”
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