Sing is a 2016 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film[4] produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the first film of the franchise of the same name. It was written and directed by Garth Jennings,[1] co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet (in his feature directorial debut), and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. The film stars the ensemble voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton and Nick Kroll. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the film focuses on a struggling theater owner who holds a singing competition to prevent his theatre from entering foreclosure, as well as how the competition interferes with the personal lives of its contestants.

Sing
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Garth Jennings
Written by	Garth Jennings
Produced by	Chris Meledandri Janet Healy
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Reese Witherspoon Seth MacFarlane Scarlett Johansson John C. Reilly Tori Kelly Taron Egerton
Edited by	Gregory Perler[1]
Music by	Joby Talbot
Production company	Illumination Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	September 11, 2016 (2016-09-11) (TIFF) December 21, 2016 (2016-12-21) (United States)
Running time	107 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$75 million[3]
Box office	$634.2 million[3]

The film features more than 60 songs from famous artists, mostly performed diegetically. It also has an original song by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande called "Faith," which was nominated for a Golden Globe.[5] It screened on the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016, premiered at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 3, and was released in the United States on December 21, by Universal Pictures. It grossed $634 million worldwide.

A sequel, Sing 2, was released on December 22, 2021.

Plot

In a city of anthropomorphic animals called Calatonia, koala Buster Moon owns a struggling theater, and is threatened with foreclosure by bank representative llama Judith. He decides to hold a singing competition with a prize of $1,000, but a typo made by his elderly iguana assistant Miss Crawly adds two extra zeros to the prize money. The misprinted flyers are blown out of the window by a fan before they can be proofread, and float across the city.

Crowds of animals gather to audition, and Buster selects his contestants. These include housewife and mother of 25 piglets Rosita; punk-rock porcupine Ash; teenage gorilla Johnny, son of mobster Big Daddy; street musician mouse Mike; a trio of dancing frogs; and opera singer camel Pete. Teenage elephant Meena fails her audition due to stage fright, Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend Lance is dismissed from the contest in favor of his girlfriend Ash which puts tension between them, and Rosita is paired with an exuberant pig named Gunter for a dance routine. After Buster discovers the flyers advertise a prize of $100,000, he joins his friend sheep Eddie on a visit with Eddie's wealthy grandmother, former singing star Nana Noodleman. Nana is reluctant to sponsor the prize money, but agrees to attend a private preview of the show before making a decision.

Pressured by her grandfather, Meena tries to ask Buster for another chance, but becomes his stage hand instead. When the frog trio breaks up and Pete is injured, Meena is offered to be in the show proper, but refuses due to her stage fright. Other problems soon arise; Rosita flounders in her dance routine with Gunter, believing her motherly duties have caused her to lose her passion; Ash discovers Lance cheating on her, throws him out, and later breaks down crying while rehearsing her assigned song; and Mike, certain the prize money is as good as his, buys a flashy car and swindles a group of bears in a card game. Johnny, forced by Big Daddy to be the getaway driver in a heist, sneaks away to a rehearsal but struggles to focus on his piano playing. Traffic prevents Johnny's return to the heist, resulting in Big Daddy's arrest, straining their relationship.

In desperation, Johnny attempts to steal the prize money for his father's bail, but when he sees a note on Buster's desk showing how much Buster appreciates his talents, Johnny resolves to focus on his musical career instead. On the day of the preview, the bears interrupt the show, demanding the money from Mike, who directs them to Buster. The bears open the prize chest, but it is nowhere near $100,000. Shocked by the lack of money, the rest of the contestants come on stage to question Buster, and the glass tank of luminescent squids lighting the stage breaks under everyone's weight; flooding, imploding, and demolishing the theater. Judith repossesses the lot and Buster takes up residence with Eddie. Depressed, Buster attempts to start over by opening a car wash.

Meena goes to the rubble of the theater and sings a song through her headphones. Buster overhears her and is inspired to stage an outdoor show just for the fun of it. Rosita and Gunter perform their song-and-dance combo, which finally makes her husband, Norman, notice her talent. Dozens of more animals are drawn to the theater when the show is broadcast on the news. Johnny's performance greatly impresses his father, who escapes from prison to reconcile with him and apologize. Ash sings her original rock song "Set It All Free," impressing Lance, who was watching her on TV. Mike, who had initially refused to perform for free, is taunted into returning and gives a stunning performance but is found and chased away by the bears.

Meena overcomes her stage fright and delivers a performance which literally brings down the house. The show is a success and impresses Nana, who was in the audience. She buys the lot, and the theater is rebuilt and reopened.

Voice cast

Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton, and Nick Kroll at the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The voices of Rosita and Norman's piglet children were provided by Oscar, Leo, Caspar, and Asa Jennings, the children of Garth Jennings. Jennings had directors Edgar Wright (as a goat) and Wes Anderson (as Daniel, a giraffe who auditions with the song "Ben") provide "additional voices", continuing a tradition of the three friends appearing in each other's films.[13] An archival recording of Shooby Taylor, who died in 2003, singing "Stout-Hearted Men" was used for the singing voice of a hippopotamus.[14]

Production

In January 2014, it was announced that Garth Jennings would write and direct an animated comedy film for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, about "courage, competition and carrying a tune".[15] It was originally titled Lunch,[16] then retitled Sing.[7]

On January 14, 2015, Matthew McConaughey was cast in the film's lead voice role.[6] Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy produced the film.[6] On June 17, 2015, it was confirmed that McConaughey's character was named Buster and that John C. Reilly would voice Eddie, a sheep and Buster's best friend.[8] In November 2015, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly and Taron Egerton had joined the cast.[7]

According to a Hollywood Reporter interview and article, "The film contains 65 non-stop pop songs", the rights to which cost 15% of the film's $75 million budget.[17] The animation was created entirely in France by Illumination Mac Guff.[18]

Music

Release

The almost complete[19] film was screened as a work in progress beginning September 11, 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[20] Universal Studios released the film on December 21, 2016.[21]

Home media

Sing was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 21, 2017. It includes three short films: Gunter Babysits, Love at First Sight, and Eddie's Life Coach.[22]

Reception

Box office

Sing grossed $270.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $363.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $634.1 million, against a production budget of $75 million.[3] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $194.2 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs, with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from home media, placing it seventh on their list of 2016's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[23]

In North America, the film opened alongside Passengers and Assassin's Creed, and was expected to gross around $70 million from 4,022 theaters over its first six days of release.[24] The film made $1.7 million during its Tuesday night previews.[25] It went on to gross $35.2 million in its opening weekend (a six-day total of $75.5 million), finishing second at the box office behind Rogue One, which was in its second week.[26] It rose 21% in its second weekend to $42.9 million, remaining in second, and grossed $20.8 million in its third week and finishing third.[27] Sing holds the record for being the highest-grossing film to never finish first at the North American box office, beating My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($241.4 million in 2002).[28]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 188 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Sing delivers colorfully animated, cheerfully undemanding entertainment with a solid voice cast and a warm-hearted – albeit familiar – storyline that lives up to its title."[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[31]

Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote, "In a year full of talking-animal hits, Sing isn't quite as strong a number. It's a tale that might not be particularly thought-provoking but sure is toe-tapping."[32] In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Katie Walsh called Sing, "a cute movie with genuinely funny moments (keep an eye out for the koala car wash), and some great tunes to boot."[33] The Arizona Republic's Bill Goodykoontz was rather mixed about the movie in his review and overall said, "Sing is like an album with a good song here and there, but too much filler and not enough hits."[34] Reviewing the version of the film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Stefan Pape of the British website HeyUGuys gave the film a mixed review of 2/5, stating that "Garth Jennings's Sing effectively acknowledges early on that it's following a completely unoriginal formula, and yet carries on regardless."[35] While Peter Debruge of Variety, who also saw the film during the same festival, did not find the subplots to have any "profound life lessons," he overall praised Jennings' direction, the cast's voice performances and the film's silliness.[36]

Accolades

Sequel

A month after the film's release, Universal and Illumination announced plans for a sequel with writer/director Jennings, producers Meledandri and Healy, and the original cast returning for it. The film was originally scheduled for release on December 25, 2020, but the date was pushed back to July 2, 2021, accommodating the release of The Croods: A New Age.[44][45] Sing 2's release date was further pushed back to December 22, 2021.[46]

References

External links

• Official website
• Sing at IMDb
• Sing at The Big Cartoon DataBase

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