How Hong Kong embraced movies about a cartoon pig, McDull, that celebrated the city and the never-say-die spirit of its people
- McDull was a Hong Kong comic strip character before becoming the star of 2001 animated film My Life As McDull – ‘a celebration of the city’, says a film writer
- The story of a pig who tries to make life better for himself and his mother struck a chord with Hong Kong audiences, and spawned a number of sequels
Hard work and a never-give-up attitude have always been considered virtues in Hong Kong, and they are exemplified by the cute little pig in the 2001 animated film My Life as McDull.
McDull, who lives with his mother in a run down, working-class district of Hong Kong, is a little slow, and his achievements always fall short of his dreams.
But the pig, who originally appeared in a popular comic strip in Ming Pao Weekly, a Chinese-language Hong Kong magazine, never stops trying to make a better life for himself and his mother. He finally achieves a modicum of happiness in his job as an office worker.
“The fact that McDull always keeps trying really appealed to the Hong Kong audiences of that era, ” says Hong Kong-based film journalist Mathew Scott. “It was a time when the city really wasn’t sure of what was to come.”
“There was a sense of celebration when it was released – it was a celebration of one of the city’s unique characters, and of life in the city, too,” Scott says. “McDull loves what Hongkongers love and the film really celebrates street life and family life here.”
