AllMovie

Master animator Hayao Miyazaki directs this tale about a former World War I flying ace who is also a pig. Slouching toward middle age, Porco Rosso makes his living by flying about in his bright red bi-plane and fighting sky bandits who prey on cruise ships sailing the Adriatic. When he's not engaging in dogfights, this porcine pilot lives on a deserted island retreat. Porco Rosso was once a strapping young man, but after his entire squadron was wiped out, he was mysteriously transformed into a pig. Rosso is defeated in a dogfight against a dashing American rival, who has been hired by the dastardly bandits. With his plane damaged, he finds a repair hangar near Milan run by an aging mechanic named Piccolo, and his spunky granddaughter Fio. Initially skeptical of her mechanical prowess, Rosso is amazed when she and a legion of local women fix his plane. Soon, Porco Rosso is ready to battle his rival.