Talking animals are all the rage it seems, with ZOOTOPIA and THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS raking in the box office dough this year. The company behind the latter, along with the DESPICABLE ME movies, has put together an animated spin on the popularity of signing competition shows – think American Idol, The Voice or America’s Got Talent… but with animals.

Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is a koala who owns a classic theater with a respectable history, but he desperately needs to breathe new life into its walls. But with little money to his name, Buster needs something that will get a lot of attention without generating a huge bill. So he decides on a singing competition, which will have a grand prize of one thousand dollars, his last cash to speak of. But his old and kooky secretary accidentally prints the flyer to say $100,000 as a grand prize, which of course generates a LOT of interest. A worn out mother pig named Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) sees the contest as a chance to get away from her home life, a teenage elephant named Meena (Tori Kelly) sees it as a chance to become a star, a gorilla named Johnny (Taron Egerton) sees it as a chance to escape his criminal family, a mouse named Mike (Seth MacFarlane) sees it as a chance to be something more than a street performer, and a teenage porcupine named Ash (Scarlett Johansson) sees a opportunity to break away from her domineering boyfriend. They all enter with dreams of big money, but when Buster realizes his major error, he turns this competition into a major multi-act production, thinking this would keep his participants happy and potentially save his struggling business.

There’s not many surprises in SING as it almost feels like it just as easily be the plot of a live action film with human characters. But the visuals are fun and funny, and the numerous catchy tunes being belted out work rather well within the story. The various characters are great to look at from a visual standpoint, especially since their animal bodies never really define their personalities, with the one exception of Ash and her porcupine quills. The voice cast is quite inspired, with each actor perfectly fitting their respective roles. I particularly like Seth MacFarlane as the crooner mouse with a big city attitude, and Taron Edgerton as the British gorilla with good intentions. There’s also a great older diva character voiced by Jennifer Saunders who has the power to save the theater, but just doesn’t feel it’s the same place she helped define all those years ago… you can likely guess where that plot line ends up. The only voice that feels a little out of place is Matthew McConaughey, but it’s probably because the design of his koala character just doesn’t look as polished as the others on screen.

Helmed by first-time director Christophe Lourdelet and co-director Garth Jennings (SON OF RAMBOW), SING also has a surprising amount of heart and sincerity hidden within the catchy tunes and comedic sequences. The concepts of becoming famous start off as the driving force behind each character getting into this mess, but they soon realize that just having the opportunity to share their voice and enthusiasm is the better reward. It’s a sweet story with good messages, and a nice treat to carry moviegoers through Christmas. Illumination Entertainment has crafted another great film, which even has a fun nod to THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS if you watch closely. Wear some comfortable shoes when you check this out, you’re going to be doing a lot of toe-tapping while you smile and clap.

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