Rudy: The Return of the Racing Pig (Rennschwein Rudi Rüssel 2 - Rudi rennt wieder!, in German) is a 2007 German film directed and produced by Peter Timm. It is a Sequel to Rudy The Racing Pig.
9-year-old Nickel lives with his father, Thomas, and the two spend time together when the latter is not at work. One day, while on a school field trip, Nickel befriends Rudy, a runt, and keeps him as his pet. When he comes home, he is upset to see that his dad has a new girlfriend, Anja, who moved in with her daughter, Felizitas (Feli, for short). Thomas wants to marry Anja, but the kids don't want them to, so they tell them how they feel through pranks. Eventually, Nickel has had enough and takes Rudy, along with Feli, to Porkland, unaware that two criminals are following them. Hilarity Ensues.
A TV series followed in 2008 with a similar story, but with minor changes.
Rudy: The Return of the Racing Pig provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: Throughout the movie, it appears that Nickel will keep Rudy as his pet, but decides to make the hard decision of letting him go to his family.
- A Boy and His X: Nickel keeps Rudy after he feeds him and rescues him from dogs. The two share a bond with each other and Nickel even lets Rudy sleep in his bed. But when Anja and Feli move in with his father, he and Feli run away to Porkland, where Rudy wins a race and saves him and Feli in a swamp. But after Rudy finds his family, Nickel decides to let him go and stays with his father and his new mother and stepsister, despite not wanting his father to marry Anja.
- But Now I Must Go: After rescuing Nickel and Feli, Rudy sees a group of pigs (possibly his family) and runs to see them, but lets the family kiss and hug him before joining.
- Excrement Statement: Nickel pees on Feli's drawing when she wants him to use the toilet sitting down.
- Gratuitous English: A girl is listening to English pop music in one scene.
- Housepet Pig: Rudy is picked up by a lonely boy named Nickles for a pet.
- Missing Mom: Nickel's mom is never seen in the movie and only appears as a picture on Nickel's door. According to the trailer, she died two years ago due to an unseen and unmentioned accident.
- Never Trust a Title: The movie mostly takes place in Nickel's house and Nickel gets the most screen time out of the whole cast, especially Rudy; Rudy doesn't actually race until the end of the movie.
- Potty Failure: Nickel never gets Rudy house-trained which results in Rudy having accidents.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Rudy, especially his squeaks.
- Spin-Offspring: Downplayed. Rudy's grandson, Rudy II, is the main focus of the movie.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Rudy loves baby formula and needs it since he is a runt.
- Toilet Humour: Rudy burps and farts after drinking his bottle.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Rudy is scared of dogs because they chased him when he fell into a puddle of muddy water. His fear of dogs later helps him win the race. This is Truth in Television as dogs view pigs as prey animals and will attack if the pig upsets them.
