WHEN A GROUP OF PIÑATAS LEARN THEIR INTENDED FATE, THEY BAND TOGETHER TO ESCAPE
Crafted with love by a local piñata-maker named Jorge, we first meet our piñatas as they greet the newest addition to the family: Pancho the pig. Through Pancho’s eyes, we discover the desire each of them has to be selected for the ‘fiesta in the sky’ – the moment each piñata is hoisted above admiring children who revel in their beauty and bask in their glory.
One day however, when Donna the duck is chosen to attend the party, the other piñatas are met with a horrible reality: they are not selected for the party to be glorified, they are hung up to be destroyed!
The piñatas are panic-stricken. Led by Miguel and Cynthia, Pancho and the other piñatas attempt to escape their violent fate, when a mangled Donna returns to them with some wisdom: “To be a piñata is a celebration!” – a statement lost on the worried piñatas.
Soon it is Pancho’s turn for a very special party (Lola’s birthday) and he tries once again to foil his creator Jorge and escape. But when the children, led by Lola in her wheelchair, are heartbroken to find their beloved piñata has gone missing, Pancho realizes that perhaps Donna was right after all: he has a greater purpose as a piñata to make children happy, even if it means sacrificing himself… With a gulp, he returns to the party.
After Pancho has been all-but destroyed, Jorge offers to throw Pancho in the garbage, but Lola stops him. “Abuelo, why are you throwing away my beautiful chanchito?” Jorge is then reminded that the gift of a piñata is that they live in our hearts forever. Thus, he bandages Pancho and lays him to rest happily on Lola’s bedroom dresser, forever to be admired – exactly the way he is.