‘Sir Billi’: The bizarre story of Sean Connery’s final film

Posted On January 18, 2025January 18, 2025

From breaking into Alcatraz with Nicolas Cage to helping Elliot Ness take down Al Capone in The Untouchables to being the face that launched the multi-billion dollar ‘James Bond’ series, Sean Connery left a massive impact on the world of film. Awards, adulation, and a knighthood all came his way before he passed away in 2020 at the age of 90.

Most people will probably assume Connery’s final film role was 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Scot played Allan Quartermain, the leader of the titular Avengers-style group of 19th-century literary figures, in a movie that did well at the box office but bombed critically. Connery called the production process a “nightmare” and fell out of love with acting as a result. Over the next few years, he rejected the roles of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series, Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, and The Architect in The Matrix Reloaded, before officially retiring from the business in 2006.

While Connery would never appear in a live-action movie ever again, he didn’t stay away from the silver screen completely. In 2012, after six years of nothing, the megastar lent his voice to an animated feature called Sir Billi. He took the part because he knew the director (Sascha Hartmann) and writer (Tessa Hartmann) through a mutual friend. The film was also promoted as Scotland’s first computer-animated feature, so Connery’s famous patriotism probably also played a part in his decision to sign on. 

The acting legend stars as Sir William ‘Billi’ Hardwick, a vet living in the Scottish Highlands. When a beaver named Bessie Boo escapes from a lorry taking her to Norway – beavers have been outlawed in Scotland because, of course, they have – a corrupt police officer named McKenzie (Ford Kiernan) attempts to hunt her down. Billi, his trusty skateboard, and his pet goat Gordon (Alan Cumming) team up with a family of rabbits to rescue Bessie and save the day. As unlikely as it seems, none of that is made up. 

Sir Billi also looks like it was thrown together in about five minutes, as well as having a completely bonkers plot. Allegedly produced on a budget of $19million, the animation is crude and, in some places, quite upsetting. The models’ elongated, bulbous faces are pure nightmare fuel, and the, umm, ‘flattering’ depictions of most of the female characters’ bodies are deeply disturbing on multiple levels. The film also contains several tacked-on references to some of Connery’s previous films, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Goldfinger, which only add to the fever dream quality of this truly cursed production. 

Critical reaction to Connery’s farewell was utterly savage. Sir Billi is among the few films to achieve a complete equivocal thumbs down from reviewers and audiences alike, finding itself at the bottom of the pile as clearly the worst picture Connery ever made — an even worse ending to Connery’s illustrious career than The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. 

Sir Billi is by far and away one of, if not the worst movie in Connery’s entire catalogue. He seemed very happy with retirement, so it made no sense for him to come back, especially for something like this. Thankfully, most people don’t know this film exists, so everybody can just remember the good times and sweep this monstrosity under the rug.

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