Actors: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper
Directors: Chris Renaud
Rated: PG
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Run Time: 91 minutes
Film: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 5 out of 5 stars
3D: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 4 out of 5 stars
From the moment I saw the first teaser for “The Secret Life of Pets“, I knew that Illumination Entertainment had another hit on there hands. The characters are amazing and the film is filled with laughs from beginning to end. It has jokes for kids and parents as well. In fact, my family (no lie) quote this film AT LEAST once a day since the first time that we have seen it. It packs a really solid voice cast including Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart and many others. I hope that they have some sort of plans to follow up with this series because they really have a winner here! Can’t wait to see what Illumination, home of the Minions, does next!
Official Premise: Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debut that finally answers the question: what do your pets do when you’re not home? When their owners leave for the day, pets from the building gossip with their friends, satisfy their sweet tooths, and throw outrageous parties. But when a pampered terrier (C.K.) and his unruly new “roommate” from the pound (Stonestreet) get lost in the urban jungle of New York City, they must put aside their differences to survive the epic journey back home.
Universal released this film in in various formats i.e. Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Ultra HD. The animation and colors are so vivid and vibrant and this film looks extraordinary with it’s 4K transfer. I was blown away with this presentation. The 3D presentation on this film was also top notch. As we are whizzing through the streets of New York as well as close up encounters with fellow characters like Viper, the effects are spot on! If you can watch this film in either of those formats, I highly recommend it for sure! The audio tracks also are epic with a revolutionary Dolby Atmos track as well as wall shaking Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Universal delivered for sure with A/V presentation here for sure!
The special features are all short and sweet and worth checking out if you enjoyed this flick. Kids can enjoy as well. There are three mini-movies included. One we saw before the film in theaters “Minion Mowers”, which is hysterical. There are also two new ones set within the world of “The Secret Life of Pets”. First is NormanTV, which features the gerbil from the film crawling through the buildings vents. The last one is an animated musical tale of the hot dog brand that Max and Duke end up at. These are a great addition to the film itself and are also available if the film is redeem digitally as well, so that’s a nice bonus.
Next up, we have “The Humans That Brought You Pets” which feature interviews with Producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, Directors Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud, and Writer Brian Lynch. “Animals Can Talk: Meet the Actors” are speed chats with the cast talking about their roles. “All About the Pets” features cast joking on set with animal trainer Molly O’Neill. “Hairstylist to the Dogs” features Duke’s voice actor Eric Stonestreet talking grooming with Stylist Jess Rona. “How to Make an Animated film” and “Anatomy of a Scene” go behind-the-scenes. Lastly there is a nice collection of “The Best of Snowball” and some sing-alongs and trailers.