The Secret Life of Pets is an American media franchise created by Illumination. Directed by Chris Renaud, the series stars the voices of Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell and Dana Carvey among others. The first film, The Secret Life of Pets, was released in July 8, 2016 and received positive reviews from critics. The second film, The Secret Life of Pets 2, was released on June 7, 2019 in the US and received mixed reviews from critics. The series has grossed $1.3 billion so far.
The films follow a group of domesticated house pets who embark on various adventures outside of the comfort of their apartment complex.
Films[]
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)[]
- Main article(s): The Secret Life of Pets
The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)[]
- Main article(s): The Secret Life of Pets 2
Max faces some major changes after his owner Katie gets married and now has a child named Liam, much to his dismay, up to the point he becomes overprotective. On a family trip to the countryside, Max meets a farm dog named Rooster, and both attempt to overcome his fears. Meanwhile, Gidget tries to rescue Max's favorite toy from a cat-packed apartment, and Snowball sets on a mission with Shih Tzu Daisy to free a white tiger named Hu from a circus.
Short films[]
Norman Television (2016)[]
Included as a mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets' home media release, the short focuses around Norman from the film as he wanders the vents of Max's apartment and watches various scenarios of the residents.
Weenie (2016)[]
Included as the second mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets' home media release, it features a world of anthropomorphic sausages in which the Mayor shows a little sausage named Timmy how great it is to be a weenie.
Super Gidget (2019)[]
Included as a mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets 2's home media release. The plot focuses on the character Gidget imagining herself as a Superhero and saving Max from an army of squirrels.[1]
Video games[]
The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed[]
A free-to-play mobile game developed by Electronic Arts, titled The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed, was released in summer 2016. It is a match-3 game which featured the characters as one has its own level. In the game you combine different toys to earn points.
Theme park attraction[]
In April 2019, Universal Studios Hollywood announced a new attraction entitled The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! which was set to open on March 27, 2020.[2][3] However, the opening was postponed indefinitely due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.[4]
Reception[]
Box office performance[]
| Film | Release Date | Box Office Gross | All Time Ranking | Budget | References | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Foreign | Worldwide | Domestic | Worldwide | ||||
| The Secret Life of Pets | July 8, 2016 | $368,384,330 | $507,073,607 | $875,457,937 | 46 | 67 | $75 million | [5] |
| The Secret Life of Pets 2 | June 7, 2019 | $158,257,265 | $271,176,898 | $429,434,163 | 336 | 293 | $80 million | [6] |
| Total | $526,430,585 | $777,073,607 | $1,303,504,192 | $155 million | [7] | |||
Critical response[]
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret Life of Pets | 73% (227 reviews)[8] | 61 (39 reviews)[9] | A–[10] |
| The Secret Life of Pets 2 | 60% (154 reviews)[11] | 55 (26 reviews)[12] | A–[10] |
Cast and characters[]
| Character | Films | Short films | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret Life of Pets | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | Norman Television | Super Gidget | |
| 2016 | 2019 | 2016 | 2019 | |
| Max | Louis C.K. | Patton Oswalt | Patton Oswalt | |
| Duke | Eric Stonestreet | |||
| Snowball | Kevin Hart | |||
| Gidget | Jenny Slate | Jenny Slate | ||
| Chloe | Lake Bell | |||
| Pops | Dana Carvey | |||
| Buddy | Hannibal Buress | |||
| Mel | Bobby Moynihan | Bobby Moynihan | ||
| Katie | Ellie Kemper | |||
| Norman | Chris Renaud | |||
| Sweetpea | Tara Strong | |||
| Tiberius | Albert Brooks | |||
| Ozone | Steve Coogan | |||
| Tattoo | Michael Beattie | |||
| Molly | Kiely Renaud | |||
| Daisy | Tiffany Haddish | |||
| Liam | Henry Lynch | |||
| Rooster | Harrison Ford | |||
| Sergei | Nick Kroll | |||
| Lead Wolf | Michael Beattie | |||
| Cat Lady | Meredith Salenger | |||
| Chuck | Pete Holmes | |||
| Harold | Danny Mann | |||
| Marilyn | Lori Alan | |||
| Infester | Gilbert Gottfried | |||
Crew[]
| Year | Film | Directed by | Co-Directed by | Produced by | Written by | Music by | Edited by | Production Company | Distributed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Secret Life of Pets | Chris Renaud | Yarrow Cheney | Chris Meledandri Janet Healy |
Brian Lynch Cinco Paul Ken Daurio |
Alexandre Desplat | Ken Schretzmann | Illumination | Universal Pictures |
| 2019 | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | Jonathan del Val | Brian Lynch | Tiffany Hillkurtz |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/home-entertainment/secret-life-of-pets-2-comes-home-to-sit-n-stay/
- ↑ Glenn, Brian. ""The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!" coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2020", April 10, 2019.
- ↑ Aguilar, Matthew. "The Secret Life of Pets:Off the Leash Ride Opening Date Announced by Universal Studios", February 20, 2020.
- ↑ Fadroski, Kelli. "Universal Studios Hollywood and CityWalk close businesses due to coronavirus", Los Angeles Daily News, March 16, 2020.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets (2016) - Box Office Mojo". https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=illumination2015.htm. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets 2 - Box Office Mojo". https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1719436801/. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets Movies at the Box Office - Box Office Mojo". https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=petsfranch.htm. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets (2016)". Fandango Media. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_secret_life_of_pets. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets Reviews". CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-secret-life-of-pets. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)". Fandango Media. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_secret_life_of_pets_2.
- ↑ "The Secret Life of Pets 2 Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-secret-life-of-pets-2.
