The Secret Life of Pets: Animated fun from the makers of “I – Simply Incorrigible” in which pets, left home alone, indulge in their sometimes unusual personal hobbies.
Plot and background
In keeping with the “I – Simply Incorrigible” series, whose creators are on board again here, the pets’ quirks and behaviour are first presented in a humorous way. Led by the clever terrier Max (in the original Louis C.K.; in German Jan Josef Liefers), various pets of a neighbourhood are shown. Cat Chloe (Lake Bell; Martina Hill), for example, can hardly wait to snatch the chicken from the fridge, budgie Sweetpea enjoys the television and the air current from the fan, poodle Leonard listens to rocking sounds from the sound system and pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan; Mario Barth) takes great pleasure in chasing away the squirrels on the tree outside the window. Max, on the other hand, simply eagerly awaits the return of his mistress. He is unsettled, however, when the mongrel Duke (Eric Stonestreet; Dietmar Bär) appears and is about to challenge Max’s status in the group. When the two end up on the streets of New York in the course of their rivalry, they meet Snowball (Kevin Hart; Fahri Yedrim), a rabbit who, due to his release by a previous owner, mobilises a pack of released pets to vow revenge on their former owners and those pets who replaced them. Duke and Max must band together to warn their masters, mistresses and friends about the angry mob.
Background on “Pets “
The animal adventure is directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, who have already worked together on the “I – Simply Incorrigible” films. The voices of man’s animated best friends in the original are provided by Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart, among others, who are acting as voice actors for an animated film for the first time. Steve Coogan (“Philomena”), Ellie Kemper (“Bride Alarm”) and Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”) can also be heard in other speaking roles. In addition to the “Tatort” investigators Jan Josef Liefers, Dietmar Bär and Fahri Yedrim, the German version also features Frederick Lau (“Victoria”), Jella Haase (“4 Kings”), YouTuber LeFloid and the old hands Dieter Hallervorden (“Honig im Kopf”) and Uwe Ochsenknecht (“Stadtlandliebe”).
