Sing 2
Sing 2 is a 2021 American animated jukebox musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings. Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, and Nick Offerman reprise their roles from the first film, with Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, and Bono joining the cast. The plot involves Buster Moon and his group putting on a show in Redshore City while working to impress an entertainment mogul and enlist a reclusive rock star to perform with the group.
Sing 2 had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 14, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22 by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $408 million against a budget of $85 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2021 and the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2021. A further sequel is in development.
Plot
Sometime after the events of the first film, Buster Moon is thriving with his newly rebuilt theater; Johnny, Rosita, Gunter, Meena, and Miss Crawly work as his cast and crew, while Ash performs as a soloist at a rock club. Buster's show fails to impress Crystal Entertainment's talent scout dog Suki Lane, who tells Buster he would not make it in Redshore City. Encouraged by Nana Noodleman, Buster rounds up his crew and they travel to the city to make an impression.They are denied entry into Crystal Entertainment but sneak in for an audition with entertainment mogul wolf Jimmy Crystal. As Jimmy is uninterested in Buster's original show pitch, Gunter suggests a space-themed sci-fi musical that features songs from Clay Calloway, a legendary rock star lion who disappeared after his wife Ruby died 15 years prior. Intrigued, and assuming that Clay will be a part of the show, Jimmy greenlights it and lets Buster and his friends stay at his hotel during production.
Miss Crawly finds where Clay lives and goes to visit him, but he scares her away with a paintball gun. During rehearsal, Rosita reveals to have a fear of heights after discovering she needs to make a high jump, prompting Jimmy to insist Buster have his daughter Porsha play her part instead. Buster reluctantly writes Rosita a minor role. Top choreographer monkey Klaus Kickenklober is hired to teach Johnny to dance, but is unnecessarily harsh, causing Johnny to struggle and fall behind. Johnny later comes across a street dancer lynx named Nooshy, who takes over as his teacher. Meena is cast in a romantic scene with Darius, an egocentric actor yak, but is unable to act the part convincingly, having never been in love before. She later meets and falls in love with an ice cream vendor elephant named Alfonso, who mistakes her as a goddess. Jimmy eventually finds out that Buster never contacted Clay about the show and threatens to hurt Buster if he does not deliver.
Ash and Buster visit Clay to convince him to be in the show. He refuses at first, finding it too emotionally painful to perform after his wife's death, but Ash changes his mind. Back at the theater, Buster offers Porsha to switch roles with Rosita, as Porsha's acting skills are poor. Porsha misunderstands this as Buster firing her and leaves the set. After news of the "firing" is broadcast on television, an outraged Jimmy nearly drops Buster off the roof of the hotel, before locking him in his closet. Suki frees Buster and warns him to get out of Redshore City before Jimmy can kill him. Clay arrives with Ash at the hotel room with the crew, and advises Buster not to run and hide as he did. After overhearing Jimmy insulting him and his crew and lying about them on television, Buster decides to put on the show that night behind Jimmy's back. Porsha rejoins the show, Johnny summons his father's gang who are now released from prison on community service to keep Jimmy and his bodyguards at bay, and Rosita arranges for her husband Norman and their children to distract hotel security.
During the show, a jealous Klaus takes the place of Johnny's performance partner to undermine his number, but Johnny defeats Klaus with encouragement from Nooshy and the other dancers, finally earning Klaus' respect. Porsha performs a high-energy song and dance number in the minor role originally given to Rosita, standing up to her enraged father. Meena visualizes Darius as Alfonso and successfully performs a romantic duet with him. In a final attempt to stop the show, Jimmy, at his breaking point, drops Buster from a catwalk, which forces Rosita to overcome her phobia and make the jump to rescue Buster. When the time comes for Clay to take the stage, he claims he is not ready yet. Ash leads the crowd in a rendition of one of Clay's songs, giving him the courage to perform. After the curtain call, Jimmy tries to take the credit for the successful show, but is instead arrested for his crimes by the police for attempting to kill Buster.
Some time later, Buster and the crew set out to return to Calatonia, with Nooshy, Porsha, and Clay joining them, Suki stops them and tells them that a major theater called the Majestic wants to put on the show, As they put on their first official performance, Buster watches from the VIP Section, Proud to have succeeded in Redshore city.
Voice cast
- Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, a koala who owns the New Moon Theater
- Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, a pig and mother of 25 piglets who recently realized her singing dreams
- Scarlett Johansson as Ash, a porcupine punk rock guitarist
- Taron Egerton as Johnny, a teenage gorilla singer and pianist
- Bobby Cannavale as Jimmy Crystal, a white wolf and media owner who owns Crystal Entertainment
- Tori Kelly as Meena, a slightly shy teenage elephant with an exquisite singing voice
- Nick Kroll as Gunter, a passionate dancing pig and Rosita's dance partner
- Pharrell Williams as Alfonso, an elephant and ice cream vendor who becomes Meena's love interest
- Halsey as Porsha Crystal, Jimmy's daughter who is a talented singer
- Chelsea Peretti as Suki Lane, Jimmy's haughty Saluki assistant and talent scout
- Letitia Wright as Nooshy, a lynx street dancer who becomes Johnny's dance instructor
- Eric André as Darius, an egocentric yak who plays Meena's love interest in the show
- Adam Buxton as Klaus Kickenklober, a harsh and prideful proboscis monkey dance instructor. Buxton previously voiced Stan in the first film.
- Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana with a glass eye who works as Buster's assistant
- * Jennings also voices the bus terminal, and the airbag from a rental car
- Peter Serafinowicz as Big Daddy, a mobster gorilla and Johnny's father who is now on work release
- Jennifer Saunders as Nana Noodleman, a sheep and former singing star
- Nick Offerman as Norman, a pig and Rosita's husband
- Bono as Clay Calloway, a white-maned aged lion who was once a rock star legend until his wife Ruby died
Amongst the voices of Rosita and Norman's piglets is Matthew McConaughey's daughter, Vida Alves, who voices the piglet that goes splashing in chocolate. Director Jennings' wife, Louise, voices a dog worker making Meena's costume for the show, while the couple's four children, Asa, Caspar, Leo and Oscar, are among the piglet voices.
As with the first film, Jennings' filmmaker friends Wes Anderson, Chris Renaud, and Edgar Wright all have cameos in the film, with Anderson as a tarsier night cleaner, Renaud as Linda Le Bon's show announcer, and Wright voicing a dog cop and a pig chauffeur. Scott Mosier, director of The Grinch and the short film Eddie's Life Coach, voices Mason, a walrus worker making the sets for the show.
Production
On January 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced a sequel to their 2016 animated film Sing was in development. Writer/director Garth Jennings and producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy return along with voiceover stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly.In December 2020, Bobby Cannavale, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, longtime Illumination collaborator Pharrell Williams, Bono and Halsey were added to the voice cast. Work on the film shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was done remotely following the temporary closure of Illumination Mac Guff.
The scope of the theatre in the finale was a major stepping stone to take over 10,000 animals for the crowd department, old and new ones designed by longtime Illumination artist Eric Guillon who worked on Sing and designed the new characters in the sequel like choreographer Klaus and the tarsiers. Fashion brand Rodarte designed some of the costumes used in the film.