McDull is a piglet whose mother had planned to call him McNificent until second thoughts prevailed.

ECONOMIST: Sex, stars and small pigs

But the practice is banned when the pile collapses, injuring many competitors, and McDull never gets to demonstrate his Olympic prowess.

ECONOMIST: Sex, stars and small pigs

Born out of a popular Hong Kong comic strip, McDull may be about to become as well known as the horrible Eric Cartman.

ECONOMIST: Sex, stars and small pigs

McDull himself is a pug-nosed little porker with a big brown eye, a feature inherited from his mother, and he sounds rather like a Cantonese version of Babe, the movie pig who thought he was a sheep-dog.

ECONOMIST: Sex, stars and small pigs