Film Review: "The Secret Life of Pets" (2016).

"Ever wonder what your pets do when you're not home?" This is The Secret Life of Pets. This computer-animated comedy film co-directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, written by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and produced by Illumination Entertainment. Max is a spoiled terrier who enjoys a comfortable life in a New York building until his owner adopts Duke, a giant and unruly canine. During their walk outside, they encounter a group of ferocious alley cats and wind up in a truck that's bound for the pound. Luckily, a rebellious bunny named Snowball swoops in to save the doggy duo from captivity. In exchange, Snowball demands that Max and Duke join his gang of abandoned pets on a mission against the humans who've done them wrong.

In 2012, the film was in development during the production of Despicable Me 2, with Renaud attached as director. At that time, Illumination's CEO Chris Meledandri pitched him an idea on a film about what pets do when their caretakers are away. While Renaud found the premise interesting he and his team did not know what form the story would take, with them at one point considering making it a murder mystery, before deciding to make something "that was a bit more relatable". The team used Jean-Jacques Sempé as an influence in designing the environment and attention was specifically paid to keep the designs "very vertically oriented" In keeping with the tradition of old WB cartoons, the owners faces are almost never seen. The home of the Flushed Pets was created to "hint at the darker side" of pet ownership "without, hopefully, getting too heavy, as well as to explore "this whole mythology in New York of the world that’s unseen," while still maintaining the pet theme. The animation was created entirely in France by Illumination Mac Guff.

The film features the voice talents of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Tara Strong, Steve Coogan, and Albert Brooks. The cast gave engagingly comical performances as the various pets.

The Secret Life of Pets is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own. Since animals so often steal the show in animation, the film smartly turns the whole operation over to loveable pets with minds and lives of their own. The setup is pure Looney Tunes, and indeed, the film is at its best when trading in the anything-for-a-laugh prankery that was a specialty of the Termite Terrace crowd. The film is a 3D cartoon comedy of whiplash-quick laughs, funny punch lines and a wickedly gimmicky appreciation for 3D. Kids will dig it, adults will smile with amusement, and no one will be any different afterward than they were walking into the theater. Neither as rich in story nor stunning in animation as Pixar offerings, the film instead settles for simply being goofy good fun, and it hardly seems like settling at all.

Simon says The Secret Life of Pets receives:

Also, see my review for Despicable Me 2 and Minions.