The Secret Life Of Pets 2 Dvd Menu

[Demeter Exekutor]

Theres big money in computer animation and no one knows that better than Illumination Entertainment. Launched in 2010 with the release of Despicable Me, the Universal Pictures-based production company has consistently churned out blockbuster family attractions and at budgets far less than those of competitors like Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks. Despicable Me 2, Illumination's most expensive production to date, cost just $76 million to make, which is significantly less than Pixar spent on A Bug's Life in the '90s even ignoring inflation. Despicable 2 grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide. Two years later, the spin-off Minions did reach ten figures globally.Last year marked the first time that two Illumination movies were released in the same calendar year. Though the studio has relied heavily on sequels and spin-offs, both were completely original works. And both added to Illumination's streak of commercial success. The Secret Life of Pets, released worldwide in the summer, was especially potent. It grossed $368 M domestic (fourth best for the year) and $875 M worldwide (sixth for the year) on a budget of just $75 M. It was the second big original animated hit of the year, following Disney's Zootopia, proving that as financially safe and certain as sequels might be, audiences could still flock to a compelling universe they had never before visited.Pets hooked moviegoers with a straightforward premise: what do animals get to up in the day when their owners are out at work or school? For those of you who don't work from home, the writers of the Despicable Me series (plus Brian Lynch of Hop and Puss in Boots) had a creative version of the less exciting reality. In their universe, pets get into all kinds of Pixar-inspired adventures. Our attentions are directed foremost at Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), a playful canine who is basically the soulmate of his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper). But one day, Katie brings home to her Manhattan apartment Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a huge, furry dog whom Max immediately perceives as a threat and tries to push out of the picture.Instead, Max and Duke end up, like most focal dogs of cinema, on an adventure. The two dogs lose their collars in a run-in with some alley cats. Picked up by a dogcatcher and destined for the pound, they instead escape and join a community of human-hating animals led by an outspoken bunny named Snowball (Kevin Hart). Gidget (Jenny Slate), a white Pomeranian enamored with Max, leads a charge to rescue the missing dogs. And of course, Max and Duke are doing all they can to make it home for a reunion with Katie.Pets is on the order of other Illumination efforts, which have appealed more to the general public than critics, cineastes, and awards-giving organizations. Forced to choose between "rotten" or "fresh", more critics have opted for the latter, but their enthusiasm has been measured and I haven't even been able to share that much.Pets at least is more diverting and tolerable than the broad slapstick-driven Despicable franchise. The filmmakers draw upon familiar pet behaviors and relationships to make the proceedings buoyant and harmless enough. Creativity and wit are in modest supply, especially when easily compared to something as creative and commentary-rich as Zootopia. But it's an obvious crowd-pleaser full of bits where you can practically hear young laughs even when you're watching it with only a cat nearby.A bloodthirsty hawk. Headbanging dogs that rock out to metal when their owners leave. The different world perspective of cats and dogs. This is the kind of material that makes up Pets. It might elicit light chuckles from animal-loving adults without kids. But it doesn't transport you, lift your spirit, touch your heart, or leave an indelible mark on you. It just kind of entertains you for 80 minutes plus credits.After winning over the public, Pets failed to factor into Hollywood's award season, settling for nods from the likes of the Annie Awards, People's Choice, and Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. It came to home video in time for Christmas in a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD combo pack that gets reviewed just in time for me to include the film in my 2016 Ranked & Reviewed countdown.

VIDEO and AUDIOIllumination's animation may be far less dazzling than their better, pricier competition, but just like that, it transfers to Blu-ray with nary a hitch. The 1.85:1 visuals are as sharp, colorful, and clear as they are meant to be. The 7.1 Dolby Atmos/TrueHD soundtrack is also better than average with some creative sound design tastefully enveloping the viewer on a regular basis. BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGNAs on other Universal/Illumination home video releases, this one touts the inclusion of mini-movies above all other bonus features. The three original short films evidently warrant prominent mention on front and back covers, plus their own section on the menu.The mini-movies are: Norman Television (4:01), a riff on Rear Window involving the guinea pig in Jimmy Stewart's role; Weenie (4:05), like a PG-rated version of a Sausage Party song; and the pre-feature theatrical companion Mower Minions (4:27), in which those familiar yellow henchmen take on a landscaping job to pay for a blender they see advertised on television."The Making of the Mini-Movies" (7:23) supplies some behind-the-scenes on all three of those shorts, a fitting and welcome inclusion. (Heavily accented speakers are subtitled.) The regular bonus features begin with "The Humans That Brought You Pets" (8:43), a section consisting of profiles of five crew members: executive producer Chris Meledandri, producer Janet Healy, director Chris Renaud, co-director Yarrow Cheney, and co-writer Brian Lynch. Each short lets Meledandri share some thoughts before letting the subject speak about their own work and their experiences with pets."Animals Can Talk: Meet the Actors" (3:49) obviously shows off the voice cast.The amusing, standalone "All About the Pets" (6:26) sees an animal trainer show off a variety of common household pets to actors Kevin Hart and Eric Stonestreet. Imagine a late night talk show segment. "Hairstylist to the Dogs" (3:41) lets a groomer and Stonestreet demonstrate some techniques for cutting dog hair."How to Make an Animated Film" (4:13), one of two Blu-ray exclusives, offers a very brisk guide to that, touching on everything from animation to scoring."Anatomy of a Scene" (4:46), the other exclusive, doesn't so much live up to its title as give us more making-of that would seem to belong to a different featurette (presumably the previous one). "The Best of Snowball" (1:15) is nothing more than a highlight reel of Kevin Hart's bunny character."Lovely Day" lyric video (2:23) presents Bill Withers' enduring 1977 song with animated lyrics and Pets characters."Hot Dog Sing-Along" sees the weinies from the film and corresponding mini-movie singing "We Go Together" (1:12) from Grease.Brian the Minion on Pets serves up three Fandango shorts, in which silhouettes of Minions are laid over clips of Pets (and the mini-movie Norman TV) MST3K-style. Each runs under a minute and devotes more than enough time to promoting the source."GoPro: The Secret Life of Pets" (2:04) compares footage of skydiving, surfing, and other activities that evidently inspired the animal animation in the film.Finally, there is an extended Sing trailer, which runs 4 minutes and 2 seconds, which is noticeably longer than the disc-opening preview for the same film.The discs open with trailers for Sing, Kubo and the Two Strings, "Little Big Shots", Phantom Boy, and Universal Studios' Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Oddly, these are not accessible by menu, apart from the different Sing preview I already discussed.The main menu simply loops a montage of clips and score.Joining the two plain discs inside the slipcovered keepcase is a booklet that supplies not only your Digital HD with UltraViolet code and directions, but another code to get a free digital movie when you sign up to receive email updates from Universal.CLOSING THOUGHTSThe Secret Life of Pets doesn't have the wit or entertainment value to justify the huge crowds it drew last summer. It is a jaunty crowd-pleaser, designed to win over animal lovers, but no more than that, which makes it seem mediocre among new computer-animated features. Universal's combo pack is full of extras, many of them light and short, some of them enlightening, and most of them entertaining. If you or your children loved the movie, maybe it's worth a purchase, but I can't recommend it as anything more than broadly appealing comedy.Buy The Secret Life of Pets from Amazon.com:

Blu-ray Combo / Blu-ray 3D Combo / DVD / 4K Ultra HD / Instant Video

Taking place in a Manhattan apartment building, Max's life as a favorite pet is turned upside down, when his owner brings home a sloppy mongrel named Duke. They have to put their quarrels behind when they find out that an adorable white bunny named Snowball is building an army of lost pets determined to take revenge

REVIEW: It is about time to finally see Illumination Entertainment branch out of their Despicable Me properties and finally do something new. I'm not going to count The Lorax as an original film for them because that's an adaptation, but THIS is original [for Illumination to say the least].

Though The Secret Life of Pets is extremely gorgeous to look at, the story is as generic as every 3rd animated film has. Its the carbon copy, 2 unlikely characters who at first start off hating each other must put their differences aside to get back home. This is the type of story that was popular back in the 90s and was perfected by Disney films such as Toy Story in 1995 and Homeward Bound in 1993. It is good that this film only takes place in one whole day and takes a small little concept to a big adventure within that time span, but If it did had deeper character moments it would be high up there, but unfortunately there are unnecessary montages such as Max and Duke having their own sausage party hallucination. Even the third act ends with a big over the top fight scene which seems every Illumination film has to have in the end for they are unable to end a film sometimes. Though the film has a very strong and rather heartfelt ending, it takes a while to get to it.

3a8082e126