"The Secret Life of Pets": on a short leash. Review of the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets" Animal names from the cartoon "Secret Life"
Another project of the Illumination Entertainment studio, which gave children the cartoons "Despicable Me" and "Minions", the new animated comedy "The Secret Life of Pets" has already shown excellent results at the box office. Not yet released on the screen in many markets, including in the CIS countries, the picture has already collected as much as 595 million dollars. This is with a budget of about 8 times less - 75 million. Not surprisingly, it has already been decided to shoot the second part, which will presumably be released in 2018.
Main character Terrier Max
Most critics agreed that the new cartoon is very reminiscent of our favorite "Toy Story". "It's like filming Toy Story, but instead of toy cowboys and astrorangers, pets are involved here: cats, dogs, budgie, hamster," critics write. And we stand in solidarity with our colleagues. So, plot. Terrier Max leads a comfortable life in Manhattan: he lives with his lonely and very busy owner and most of the time is left to himself. However, like all his neighbors: the snow-white orange Spitz Gidget (this is a girl who is in love with Max and then initiates a rescue operation to find him), Mel the pug, Buddy the dachshund, Chloe the mongrel cat, Peas the parrot and the hamster lost in the labyrinths of New York apartments with an unknown name.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
When the owners leave, the pets arrange such parties and friendly gatherings that it becomes a shame for the boring life of the owners, full of work. In general, everything is not bad with Max, and only when the hostess drags a new tenant into the apartment - a huge, shaggy dog Duke (the scriptwriters list him as a mongrel, but he looks like either a French shepherd dog - briar, or a representative of the Hungarian dog breeds: commander or bullets ), things will change for the worse. The competition for the attention of the mistress becomes so intense that as a result of the battles, both end up on the street as stray dogs.
Trailer for The Secret Life of Pets
If we hadn't seen Pixar's Toy Story before, The Secret Life of Pets could be considered a good work - it's a fun, hooligan, childish humor, beautifully animated film. In addition, the music is good in it, and the views of New York are generally beautiful (a film with such love for this city that the children's audience will definitely want to live in the Big Apple years later). True, if Pixar can take a high dramatic note - take at least one moment from "Toy Story" when the plastic astronaut realizes that he is not an astronaut at all, but just a toy, then in "The Secret Life of Pets" there is only a hint of heartbreaking moments. For example, one of the important scenes where the homeless Duke talks about the former owner came out rather restrained - where the kids were supposed to sob together with pity, this does not happen
On the other hand, in the cartoon we see a much more piercing theme - the theme of abandoned animals. Social problems don't sneak into cartoons that often, and here in the Brooklyn slums there's even a whole gang of ex-pets: it's the evil rabbit Snowball, who escaped from a magician and became the leader of thugs, his companion is an unfortunate pig who was tortured in a tattoo parlor, trying on her get tattoos, and many others. This part of the picture is especially interesting and resembles an attempt to create a gangster movie for children. At least interesting.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
The hooligan intonation of the picture "The Secret Life of Pets" will surely please teenagers very much - there are forbidden parties, and heavy metal, and jokes on YouTube, but it may alarm parents who want to protect their children from the adult world for as long as possible, where crime bosses live, vagabonds and helpless citizens (we are talking about a paralyzed basset).
However, the film has enough friendship, humor and morality to make it a good movie for the whole family. Kids need to unwind a little before heading back to school, and The Secret Life of Pets does just that. And don't miss the surprise - a short film about minions that comes at the beginning of the picture.
August is full of premieres - and finally, the cartoon from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures "The Secret Life of Pets" has reached our screens. We are looking for interesting facts about him.
Have you ever wondered what your pets do when you leave home? So the filmmakers, themselves big fans of cats and dogs, decided to look for an answer to this question. What came out of it - look at the movies, and we will tell you what to pay close attention to.
1.
Let us not hear the original voices of the voice acting, but it is interesting to know that well-known and beloved actors had a hand in the creation of the cartoon (or rather, the voice). Comedy cartoon - the same company of comedians. Louis C.K. speaks for Max, the protagonist, Duke is voiced by Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet, and Snowball goes crazy with Kevin Hart.
2.
Before the film, you will see a short film with your favorite heroes - minions: "Minions against the lawn."
3.
Minions will appear in the cartoon more than once. An attentive viewer will see a postcard with them on the refrigerator in Max's house, Mal the pug will come dressed as a minion to the party, and we won't tell you about one more time - see for yourself. Just a hint - they will appear in the scene with Norman the guinea pig.
4.
The filmmakers made Easter eggs not only for past, but also for future projects. So during the chase scene on the bus, you can see the poster of the cartoon "The Path to Glory" - about animals that are casting in the voice show.
5.
The song Leonard the poodle puts on after his owner leaves is "Bounce" by System of a Down.
6.
The guys from the animal control service have a very interesting license plate - Gotcha 2. What happened to Gotcha 1, we, apparently, will never know. But let's guess...
7.
The music for the film was written by Oscar-winning Alexandre Desplat. The filmmakers were delighted with his work: “We worked with Alexander for the first time and were amazed by the energy and style that his music was saturated with, — He speaks Chris Meledandri, founder of Illumination Entertainment. - AT she guessed shades of Gershwin's style ( American jazz composer and pianist of the early 20th century author ), but at the same time it was a full cinematic soundtrack. The result is great orchestral music with some jazzy elements. This is one of the most majestic soundtracks I have ever heard, it made me look at the picture in a completely different way. ”.
8.
In the cartoon, the creators compared New York to the Emerald City of Oz, only not made of emeralds. but from concrete.
9.
Real dogs came to the premiere of the film in New York - the prototypes of the main characters.
10.
Max Chris Meledandri was inspired by his own wire-haired fox terrier.
11.
At the end of the film, Meledandri talks about the significance of The Secret Life of Pets for the studio as a whole and for each of the specialists individually: Pets play a huge role in our lives, probably because they love us unconditionally and wholeheartedly. We live in an imperfect world that changes at the speed of light. We get a lot of negative emotions - at school, at work, on the Internet. We hide behind avatars, secretly hoping to be loved for who we really are. However, no matter how difficult life may seem to you, relationships with pets remain simple to the limit: we are adored. This simplicity will resonate with the heart of any person, regardless of age and nationality, and will explain why the smaller brothers play such an important role in the culture of our civilization..
At the heart of this cartoon is an unmistakably simple premise, already stated in the title: what if pets do not wait obediently in the hallway when the door closes behind the owners, but lead their own independent life? An excellent question, from the answer to which a multi-figure and multi-character animated comedy is born, an impeccably unobtrusive family entertainment that can both laugh and touch the audience of almost any age. An important (but not mandatory) condition: it would be nice if this viewer had their own experience with one or another pet. Ideally - with a dog, since they are still the majority here.
The main character and narrator in The Secret Life of Pets is an optimistic Jack Russell Terrier named Max, living soul to soul with his mistress Katie. Until one day she brings a new dog, Duke, from the shelter - a huge, shaggy, completely ill-mannered and not the fact that thoroughbred (similar to briara 
). Brawls between the newfound rivals lead to the fact that both find themselves on the street and away from home. Now their task is to return to Katie, turning from opponents into bosom friends along the way. At the same time, Max's friends (a motley team from a narcissistic dachshunds 
, obtuse pug 
, phlegmatic cats 
, parrot 
and a lost guinea pig and in love with him spitz beauty 
Gidget at the head) will go in search of the missing dogs.
The very idea - "what if they think and talk, should we turn away?" - and the specific scenario of "The Secret Life of Pets" make the new cartoon related to the classic of American animation - Pixar's "Toy Story". There were also two bosom enemies who are trying to return to the owner, and a company of toys of various sizes and varieties (including a dachshund!). Critics even talk about plagiarism. The fact of a suspicious similarity is obvious, but what to do if only Pixar is still able to generate truly original stories in Hollywood animated films? "The Secret Life of Pets" is far from originality, however, its authors treat other people's wandering characters and stories correctly - they ingeniously rewrite them and witty make them serve new tasks. And this cartoon actually has a lot of predecessors, Toy Story alone is indispensable: here are Lady and the Tramp, and 101 Dalmatians, and The Road Home: The Incredible Journey.
The most unexpected element of The Secret Life of Pets is the theme of a secret underground of animals abandoned by people who have found refuge in the sewers and dream of one day destroying the entire human race. The gang is led by a snow-white rabbit, cruelly abandoned by a magician, his closest henchman is a pig, expelled from the tattoo parlor after the place for tattoos ran out on its skin (where it served as a live demonstration mannequin). Among others - snakes and crocodiles, dogs and cats, various rodents and birds. This paradoxical line calls into question the idyll in the relationship between people and the smaller brothers, in which the central characters naively believe. But if the confrontation between humanity and the animal world really exists, then in it the creators of the cartoon clearly protect the interests of animals, and not narcissistic and deaf to the world of bipeds. In this sense, The Secret Life of Pets is closely adjacent to the other two outstanding cartoons of the year about a utopian world without people -
A second-rate script, but graphically successful and rather funny cartoon about the adventures of small animals in a big city.
Terrier Max lives happily in New York with his owner Kathy. Suddenly, the woman brings home another dog named Duke, and Max's happiness comes to an end. The new pet not only attracts the attention of the hostess, but also forces Max out of his bed. The terrier responds with the same coin, and the enmity of the pets leads to the fact that they find themselves away from home and without collars. Soon after, Max and Duke end up in the hands of stray dog hunters, but the hapless dogs are rescued by a radical abandoned animal organization led by Snowball the rabbit. To flatter their new acquaintances, Max and Duke assure Snowball that they've done away with their owners and run away from home. Meanwhile, Max's friends in the high-rise building notice the neighbor's absence and organize a rescue operation.
Finding inspiration in brilliant classical works is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can’t learn bad things from the masters, and even a weak copy of a masterpiece can give an acceptable result. On the other hand, if the public remembers the creation that you are imitating, then the flaws of the clone will be clearly visible, because it will be easy to compare and determine where the master worked and where the journeyman worked.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
Gidget's owners appearing at the end of the film are caricatures of comedians Louis C.K. (voice of Max) and Ellen DeGeneres (voice of Dory in "Finding Dory")
As you might guess, The Secret Life of Pets is a variation on the Toy Story theme, only with fluffy and feathered pets instead of plastic dolls. Of course, the new cartoon is not an exact copy of the first Pixar masterpiece. The team of the American-French studio Illumination Entertainment, which gave the world the cartoons Despicable Me and Minions, respects itself too much to tear everything from its competitors and declare the tape an original work. But the plot parallels are quite obvious, and, unfortunately, the 2016 tape looks weaker than the picture with which the full-length computer animation began.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
Snowball's account of his fallen comrade-in-arms Ricky is a parody quote from the classic "black" drama The Boys Next Door. Snowball was originally voiced by black comedian Kevin Hart.
No, the graphics and animation of "The Secret Life" is all right. If cartoons were only judged by the picture, then The Secret Life would claim a high score - although not as high as the score of the amazing Zootopia. But, of course, it would be strange if the real New York were as magical, charming and amazing as a fantastic city with several climatic zones. Illumination did a great job of turning New York into a flourishing metropolis-candy, but the emphasis on believability prevented the artists from going further and having a blast.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
Unfortunately, when you move from the picture of The Secret Life to its script, the problems of the cartoon immediately catch your eye. If "Toy Story" and "buddy movies" like it are built around a forced partnership of two colorful and very different characters who bring each other to white heat until they learn to appreciate their differences, then Max and Duke turn out to be, as they say in America, "brothers from different mothers." They don't look alike, but they act and think in exactly the same way. So the dogs become a cohesive team almost immediately after they get into the bind, and this makes the tape much more boring than it could be if Max and Duke continued to dive. In addition, such a scenario deprives the picture of what should have been its central intrigue. What's the point of a full-length adventure if the characters start acting like brothers in the first half of the movie?
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
Other characters in "The Secret Life" also do not demonstrate the screenwriting skills of the authors of the tape. The picture is so lazy that it has three white and fluffy characters who turn out to be "tough guys". This is a tiny Snowball, pushing around even hefty crocodiles, a Spitz neighbor Gidget who is secretly in love with Max, who organizes a rescue expedition and turns out to be a karate master, and a nameless poodle who loves heavy metal. It was possible to joke like that once, twice - it's already a bit too much, and three times - a frank inflection. In general, the film has a lot more characters than good ideas associated with them, and this overloads and clutters up the production. A potentially entertaining film turns into a flurry of characters, many of which are included in the script only so that as many dolls can be released based on the Secret Life.
Frame from the cartoon "The Secret Life of Pets"
Perhaps the most obvious script fiasco of the tape is the way it presents its few serious, dramatic scenes. So, at a certain point, Duke tells how he got into the dog shelter, and finds out what happened to his former elderly owner. If this was a scene from a Pixar cartoon, the audience would cry sobbing from the surging feelings. And Illumination presents Duke's story as dry information for information that does not cause any emotions. Perhaps director Chris Reno did not want children to cry in the middle of a comedy-adventure canvas. But then why even include potentially tear-jerking material in the film? After all, it is already clear that Duke needs a house and that Max should make room, since this is what his mistress wants.
Good afternoon dear readers❤
I have a certain love for cartoons. No matter how old I am, I will continue to watch them. The cartoon is a little adventure in childhood.
The cartoon is completely related to pets. I love them and everything about them. Many of my friends said that they would definitely go to this cartoon, but I did not understand what it was connected with. I was already beginning to think that this was some incredible masterpiece. Whether my expectations were justified, you will find out a little later.
▆▅▄▃▂ "The Secret Life of Pets" ▂▃▄▅▆
I went to a session at the Luxor cinema for 140 rubles (vip seat). Honestly, I was surprised that the tickets are so cheap.
The cartoon is intended for children over 6 years old. Lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.
▆▅▄▃▂ Heroes ▂▃▄▅▆
△△△ Terrier Max △△△
Max is the main character. He loves his mistress Keti very much and is a truly devoted and faithful dog.
△△△ Spitz Gidget
△△△
I can say that she became my favorite character in this cartoon. A very lively and strong-willed dog that is ready to do everything for the sake of her lover.
△△△ Chloe the cat
△△△
Not quite a sweet and kind cat, rather she is very lazy. However, it's fun to watch her antics.
△△△ Pug Chalk
△△△
Very funny and positive character. I love this breed of dog, so I couldn't help but like this hero.
△△△ Dog Duke
△△△
He is also the main character who unexpectedly appears in Max's life. Initially, it seems that he is an evil hero, but this is not at all the case.
△△△ Rabbit Snowball △△△
Such a cute-looking rabbit, which is not cute at all. He is the main villain, but without such characters, I would definitely fall asleep on the cartoon.
There are also minor characters that I will not describe, but they are quite funny.
▆▅▄▃▂ My opinion ▂▃▄▅▆
The cartoon of the place is interesting, sometimes funny. I noticed that the adults laughed more than the children themselves. Personally, I smiled a couple of times during the session, the jokes were very typical of American cartoons.
1.5 hours flew by very quickly, but I didn’t get any pleasure or good mood. The plot of the cartoon is weak, typical and sometimes boring. I expected much more. The trailer was more interesting than the cartoon itself.
▆▅▄▃▂ Outcome ▂▃▄▅▆
Thank you all for your attention❤
