The Secret Life of Pets is a 2016 American 3D computer-animated buddy adventure comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment. It is directed by Chris Renaud and co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The film stars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Steve Coogan, Ellie Kemper, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Jenny Slate, and Albert Brooks.
The Secret Life of Pets premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 16, 2016 and was released in theaters in the United States on July 8, 2016 by Universal Pictures. Upon release, it received positive reviews and grossed $875 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing original animated film not produced by Disney or Pixar, and the sixth highest-grossing film of 2016.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Plot
A Jack Russell Terrier named Max lives with his owner Katie in a Manhattan apartment. While she is at work during the day, he hangs out with other pets in the building: tabby cat Chloe, pug Mel, dachshund Buddy, and budgerigar Sweetpea. One day, Katie adopts Duke, a large and shaggy mongrel from the pound, leaving Max jealous because of her divided focus on Duke. Enraged by Max's attitude towards him, Duke tries to abandon Max in an alley, but they are both attacked by a gang of alley cats led by Sphynx cat Ozone. The cats remove both dogs' collars and leave them to be caught by Animal Control. Duke fears that he will be put down if he goes back to the pound.
They are rescued by a rabbit named Snowball, the leader of "The Flushed Pets" - a gang of sewer-dwelling animals who hate humans because their owners abandoned and mistreated them. After Max and Duke pretend to despise humans as much as they do, the Flushed Pets invite them to join. Before they can prove their loyalty by allowing a one-fanged viper to bite them, Snowball learns from the cats that Max and Duke are domesticated. The two dogs escape the sewers and board a ferry to Brooklyn, inadvertently killing the viper in the process; Snowball vows to kill them and leads the Flushed Pets after them.
Gidget, a white Pomeranian who has a crush on Max, discovers that he is missing and recruits a shady red-tailed hawk named Tiberius to locate him. After looking over the city for Max, Tiberius returns carrying Ozone, whom Gidget coerces into telling what he knows about the dogs. Gidget and Tiberius then enlist Mel, Buddy, Chloe, guinea pig Norman, Sweetpea, and a paralyzed old basset hound named Pops to begin searching Manhattan. The group encounters Snowball, who vows to kill them as well, and Norman is captured as the rest of Gidget's team flees.
In Brooklyn, Max and Duke begin to get along with each other and raid a sausage factory for food. Duke tells Max about his previous owner, Fred, an elderly man who adopted him as a puppy and loved to spend time with him. One day, Duke got lost while chasing a butterfly and was caught by Animal Control, but Fred never came to claim him. Max convinces him to visit Fred's house in a nearby neighborhood, confident that Fred will still love him and take him back. When they arrive, though, they learn from a resident cat named Reginald that Fred died. Heartbroken and angst-ridden, Duke accuses Max of attempting to get rid of him and barks at the new homeowners, who had just returned to their "own" house and call Animal Control. The handlers catch Max, but Duke interferes long enough for Max to escape and ends up being captured instead.
While trying to rescue Duke as he follows the Animal Control van, Max is attacked by the vengeful Snowball who tries to kill him. However, Snowball's gang are captured, and Snowball realizes that he and Max must work together to rescue them. They drive and crash a city bus into the van on the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping traffic. The Flushed Pets arrive and corner Max, unaware of his partnership with Snowball, but Gidget and her team save him. The van rolls away; the captured Flushed Pets escape, but the van falls into the East River with Max and Duke inside. Max is unable to get the keys to Duke's cage, so Snowball jumps into the river to retrieve them, allowing Max and Duke to escape the sinking van. Once out of the river, Snowball realizes how good being heroic feels.
The entire group return to the apartment block by pig-driven taxi. Max expresses his appreciation and love for Gidget, who returns with affection. Snowball and the Flushed Pets then come up with a new plan to annihilate all humans, but Snowball is suddenly adopted by a little girl named Molly. At first, Snowball resists, but gives in to her sweetness and lets himself become a domesticated pet. The remaining Flushed Pets return to the sewers, the domesticated pets return to their homes and embrace their owners, and Max and Duke finally reunite with Katie, sparking a true friendship.
Pets Life Line Video
Cast
Production
In January 2014, it was announced that Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart had joined the cast of the film, with Chris Renaud set to direct from a screenplay written by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio, while Illumination Entertainment would produce, and Universal Pictures would distribute the film. In June 2014, Albert Brooks, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell and Ellie Kemper joined the cast.
Music and soundtrack
In December 2015, it was announced that Alexandre Desplat would score the film. The soundtrack was released on July 1, 2016 by Back Lot Music.
All music composed by Alexandre Desplat, except "We Go Together" by The Sausage Factory Singers.
Release
The film was originally scheduled to be released on February 12, 2016, but was pushed back to July 8, 2016. It was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D using DMR. The Secret Life of Pets premiered at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 16, 2016, and was screened at VidCon. The film is accompanied by a Despicable Me short film entitled Mower Minions.
Home media
The Secret Life of Pets was released on Digital HD on November 22, 2016, and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD on December 6, 2016. In addition to the short film Mower Minions, which was released theatrically with the feature film, the releases also include two short films: Norman Television and Weenie.
Reception
Box office
The Secret Life of Pets grossed $368.4 million in the USA & Canada, and $507.1 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $875.5 million. Its stellar run internationally helped push Universal Pictures [International] past the $1 billion mark for the tenth consecutive year, and aided Illumination Entertainment to pass the $4 billion mark for the first time since 2010. It is currently the fifth highest-grossing wholly original film of all time, behind Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Zootopia and Avatar. It is the sixth highest-grossing film of 2016, the 12th highest-grossing animated film, and 48th highest-grossing film.
North America
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross around $70 million in its opening weekend, with some predictions going as high as $100 million. It received the widest release for an animated film as well as for a PG-rated film (breaking Shrek Forever After's record) and the seventh widest of all-time overall, across 4,370 theaters, the widest release since The Dark Knight Rises. It made $5.3 million from Thursday night previews in 3,009 theaters, which is the second biggest of all time for Illumination, behind only Minions ($6.2 million), and the third biggest of all time for an animated film, behind Finding Dory ($9.2 million) and Minions. This was followed by a record-breaking $38.3 million opening day gross (including previews), the biggest for an original film. In its opening weekend, it exceeded expectations and grossed $104.4 million, finishing first at the box office. Its debut is the sixth-biggest for an animated film, the sixth-highest weekend debut in July and the fourth-biggest opening weekend for Universal Studios. It also set the record for largest opening for an original film, eclipsing the $90.1 million debut of Inside Out.
In its second weekend, the film made $50.8 million (-51.5%) while maintaining the top spot despite facing stiff competition with newcomer Ghostbusters. Although it slipped into second place as a result of being overtaken by Star Trek Beyond in its third weekend, it was still able to fend off the two other new releases - Lights Out and Ice Age: Collision Course - by earning another $29.3 million. It passed $300 million on its twenty sixth day - the same day it crossed $400 million worldwide - becoming the seventh film of 2016, the seventh Universal Pictures film (the first for the year), and the twelfth animated film overall to reach the benchmark.
Outside North America
Internationally, The Secret Life of Pets received a scattered release from June to September in a total of 69 markets, and faced competition from other animated films such as Finding Dory and Ice Age: Collision Course in the course of its release. In total, it had No. 1 openings in 45 markets and recorded the biggest opening for an original animated film in 17 territories, and the No. 1 animated film of 2016 to date in 13 markets. It topped the international box office in its ninth weekend after earning $43.8 million in 53 markets (dethroning Suicide Squad). However, this wasn't the film's biggest single weekend gross. Its biggest weekend gross was actually in its seventh weekend when it grossed $69.3 million. That weekend it was No. 3 behind Suicide Sqaud ($133.3 million) and Chinese film Time Raiders ($64.6 million).
It was released in the U.K. and Norway two weeks ahead of its U.S. release, where it grossed a combined total of $14.1 million in the two markets. Prior to its official debut in the United Kingdom and Ireland on June 24, the film had two days worth of previews on June 18 and 19, from which it made £3.63 million ($5.2 million) in two days. This figure was later counted in the film's official opening weekend. It went on to score the fourth biggest original animation opening weekend ever there, with £9.58 million ($13.4 million) from 592 theaters. It trailed behind Inside Out, Monsters, Inc., and Up. Excluding previews, its total three-day opening was $8.1 million. This was amidst Brexit and despite facing competition from Independence Day: Resurgence. The film held off extremely well in its second and third weekend falling just 20% and 24%, earning £4.47 million ($6.1 million) and £3.62 million ($4.8 million) respectively despite facing some competitions. It has topped the box office for three consecutive weekends and has grossed total of $41 million there. In Norway, it took the number one spot as well, with $778,000. It scored the biggest animation opening of 2016 and the second biggest of all time overall in both Taiwan ($2 million)--behind Madagascar, and Hong Kong ($1.9 million)--behind Inside Out.
In Argentina, the film had a record-breaking No. 1 debut with $4 million from 195 screens -- the biggest opening weekend ever for an animated film and the second biggest opening ever for any film (behind Furious 7). Similarly, Chile also recorded the second biggest animated opening ever with $1.7 million (behind Minions). Colombia also opened No. 1 with a huge $1.5 million. In Mexico, other than opening at No. 1, it posted the biggest original animated opening of all time with $7.6 million, surpassing the studio's own previous record holder Inside Out. Also in Russia, it scored the biggest original animated opening and the second biggest ever for an animated film, behind Minions with $16.3 million, although this included $6.4 million five days worth of previews. It went on to become the highest-grossing film of the summer that year. In Japan, the film opened on August 11 - the date of Japan's first Mountain Day national holiday - with Toho-Towa distributing, and earned $4.6 million on 370,000 admissions for its two-day opening weekend dethroning Shin Godzilla off the top spot. The cumulative total for the four-day holiday (August 11-14) was $9.7 million. Similarly, it had number one debuts in Germany ($7.1 million) and France ($5.9 million), Australia ($5.6 million), Italy ($5.1 million), Brazil ($4.4 million), Spain ($4.5 million), Poland ($1.7 million), Singapore ($1.3 million), Belgium ($1.2 million) and Denmark ($1.2 million), Indonesia ($1.1 million), the Philippines ($1 million) and South Africa ($463,000). In Germany, it scored the best animated opening since Minions. It topped the box office in Israel for five straight weekends and in Australia, Russia and Spain for three weekends. In Japan, the film was the highest grossing foreign release of the weekend, holding the spot for four consecutive weekends.
In China - the world's second biggest movie market - the film opened on a Tuesday, earning a modest $5.2 million on its opening day. Through Sunday, it delivered a six-day opening of $29.3 million and $15.5 million for the weekend alone (Friday to Sunday), with per screen averages over $500 per screen per day. In both instances, it was behind the local film Time Raiders. In South Korea, despite debuting in fifth place, it had a solid opening of $6.9 million. Elsewhere, it grossed $2.7 million in the Netherlands, $1.2 million in Sweden and in Hungary it scored the biggest opening of the year with $738,000, and also in Portugal ($965,000), Latvia ($224,000), and South Africa.
In terms of total earnings, its biggest markets are China ($58 million), United Kingdom and Ireland ($47.2 million), Japan ($41.6 million) and Russia ($34.2 million). It became the third highest-grossing film of all time in Russia, behind Avatar and Zootopia, and the highest-grossing film of 2016 in Spain.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 74% based on 192 reviews with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fast-paced, funny, and blessed with a talented voice cast, The Secret Life of Pets offers a beautifully animated, cheerfully undemanding family-friendly diversion." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars and called it "an animated fluffball-a sort of Toy Story with pets does everything to drive you crazy and ends up being totally irresistible." Scott Tobias, writing for NPR, characterized the film's concept as "Toy Story but with house pets", highlighting the film's "thinly distinguished characters" and "gloppy sentimentality". Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three out of four stars and said "In much the same way that the smash Zootopia demonstrated that creatures of different culture and class and species are better off when they come together, The Secret Life of Pets is a testament to teamwork and friendship and fixing the rifts that divide us. Let the fur - and the warm, fuzzy feelings - fly."
However, some critics disliked the film's unexpected similarities with Pixar's Toy Story. Matthew Parkinson of The Escapist compared the plots of both films and wrote that "The Secret Life of Pets feels like one of those hour-long ripoffs you'd see on a children's television network". Ethan Anderton of the website /Film criticised the film's characterisation, and noted that the relationship between Max and Duke was akin to "Woody and Buzz Lightyear all over again".
Accolades
Sequel
A sequel, with director Chris Renaud, producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and writer Brian Lynch was announced in August 2016. Initially scheduled to be released on July 13, 2018, it was pushed back to July 3, 2019 on January 25, 2017.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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