The Secret Life of Pets (franchise)

Last updated
The Secret Life of Pets
The Secret Life of Pets logo.svg
Created by
Original work The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
Owner Universal Pictures (via Illumination)
Years2016–present
Films and television
Film(s)
Short film(s)
  • Norman Television (2016)
  • Weenie (2016)
  • Super Gidget (2019)
Games
Video game(s)The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed
Audio
Soundtrack(s)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!

The Secret Life of Pets is an American media franchise created by Illumination. Directed by Chris Renaud, the franchise stars the voices of Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Tara Strong, Hannibal Buress, and Bobby Moynihan, among others. The first film, The Secret Life of Pets , was released on 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.

Contents

The films follow a group of domesticated house pets who embark on various adventures outside the comfort of their apartment complex.

Films

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Max's luck changes when his owner Katie brings home a new dog named Duke. They have to put their differences aside when they get lost in New York in order to stop a rebellious group of abandoned pets and return home.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)

Max and Duke's owner Katie now has a child named Liam, which causes Max to become excessively protective, but a road trip to the countryside will change his mind. Meanwhile, a reformed Snowball helps a white tiger named Hu find refuge from an abusive circus owner.

The Secret Life of Pets 3

In March 2022, in an interview on the podcast The Gary and Kenny Show, Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination, stated that a third film is in development. [1]

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. [2]

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 was a match-3 game which featured the characters as one has its own level. In the game the players could combine different toys to earn points. The game was removed from the App Store and Google Play Store on May 22, 2017, the same day as Minions Paradise .

Theme park attraction

In April 2019, Universal Studios Hollywood announced a new dark ride attraction entitled The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! which was set to open on March 27, 2020, [3] [4] but the opening was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] The attraction eventually opened on April 16, 2021.

The ride's queue is themed after Katie's apartment, and features animatronics of Max and Duke explaining the ride's plot, which involves the park guests, now "transformed into puppies," getting ready to be adopted. The ride itself is a highly immersive dark ride with a wide assortment of special effects and over 60 animatronics of characters from the franchise. Riders exit through the gift shop, themed to a pet adoption center. Outside the building's exit, guests can chat with a live-voiced animatronic of Snowball, similar to the meet-and-greet animatronic Donkey from Shrek that is located in several Universal Parks. [6]

Reception

Box office performance

FilmRelease DateBox Office GrossAll Time RankingBudgetRef.
DomesticForeignWorldwide Domestic Worldwide
The Secret Life of PetsJuly 8, 2016$368,623,860$507,074,301$875,698,1614667$75 million [7]
The Secret Life of Pets 2June 7, 2019$158,980,250$272,184,209$431,164,459336293$80 million [8]
Total$527,604,110$779,258,510$1,306,862,620$155 million [9]

Critical and public response

FilmCriticalPublic
Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore PostTrak
The Secret Life of Pets 70% (240 reviews) [10] 61 (39 reviews) [11] A− [12] 85% [13]
The Secret Life of Pets 2 60% (164 reviews) [14] 55 (26 reviews) [15] A− [12]

Cast and characters

CharactersFilmsShort films
The Secret Life of Pets The Secret Life of Pets 2 Norman TelevisionSuper Gidget
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
MollyKiely Renaud
Daisy Tiffany Haddish
LiamHenry Lynch
Rooster Harrison Ford
Sergei Nick Kroll
Lead WolfMichael Beattie
Cat Lady Meredith Salenger
Chuck Pete Holmes
HaroldDanny Mann
Marilyn Lori Alan
Infestor Gilbert Gottfried

Crew

RoleMain films
The Secret Life of Pets The Secret Life of Pets 2
Directed by Chris Renaud
Co-director:
Yarrow Cheney
Co-director:
Jonathan del Val
Produced by Chris Meledandri
Janet Healy
Written by Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio

Brian Lynch
Brian Lynch
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Edited by Ken Schretzmann Tiffany Hillkurtz
Production Company Illumination
Distributed by Universal Pictures

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References

  1. "The Not Despicable Producer of Despicable Me". The Gary and Kenny Show (Podcast). Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  2. ‘Secret Life of Pets 2’ Comes Home to Sit ‘n’ Stay | Animation Magazine
  3. Glenn, Brian (April 10, 2019). ""The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!" coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2020" . Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  4. Aguilar, Matthew (February 20, 2020). "The Secret Life of Pets:Off the Leash Ride Opening Date Announced by Universal Studios" . Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  5. Fadroski, Kelli (March 16, 2020). "Universal Studios Hollywood and CityWalk close businesses due to coronavirus". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  6. "Ride Review: The Secret Life of Pets - Off the Leash". Theme Park Insider. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  7. "The Secret Life of Pets (2016) – Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. "The Secret Life of Pets 2 – Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  9. "The Secret Life of Pets Movies at the Box Office – Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  10. "The Secret Life of Pets". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved October 10, 2021. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  11. "The Secret Life of Pets". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  12. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 9, 2019). "Sequelitis Scorches Franchises To Box Office Lows: 'Secret Life Of Pets 2' $46M+, 'Dark Phoenix' Burnt To A Crisp With $33M+". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  13. D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 11, 2016). "'Secret Life Of Pets' Wakes Up Summer's Second Half With $104M+ Opening – B.O. Postmortem". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  14. "The Secret Life of Pets 2". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved October 10, 2021. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  15. "The Secret Life of Pets 2". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 6, 2019.