The Secret Life of Pets is an American animated media franchise created by Illumination. Directed by Chris Renaud, the franchise stars the voices of Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Tara Strong, Hannibal Buress, and Bobby Moynihan, among others. The first film, The Secret Life of Pets, was released on July 8, 2016 and received positive reviews from critics. The second film, The Secret Life of Pets 2, was released on June 7, 2019 in the US and received mixed reviews from critics. The series has grossed $1.3 billion so far.
The films follow a group of domesticated house pets who embark on various adventures outside the comfort of their apartment complex.
Films Film Release date Director Screenwriter Producer(s) The Secret Life of Pets Chris Renaud Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio& Brian Lynch Chris Meledandri& Janet Healy The Secret Life of Pets 2 Brian Lynch The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
Max's luck changes when his owner Katie brings home a new dog named Duke. They have to put their differences aside when they get lost in New York in order to stop a rebellious group of abandoned pets and return home.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
Max and Duke's owner Katie now has a child named Liam, which causes Max to become excessively protective, but a road trip to the countryside will change his mind. Meanwhile, a reformed Snowball teams up with a Shih Tzu named Daisy to help a white tiger named Hu find refuge from an abusive circus owner.
The Secret Life of Pets 3 (TBA) In March 2022, in an interview on the podcast The Gary and Kenny Show, Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination, stated that a third film is in development. Work on the film's script had begun by 2023.
Short films Norman Television (2016) Included as a mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets home media release, the short focuses around Norman from the film as he wanders the vents of Max's apartment and watches various scenarios of the residents.
Weenie (2016) Included as the second mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets home media release, it features a world of anthropomorphic sausages in which the Mayor shows a little sausage named Timmy how great it is to be a weenie.
Super Gidget (2019) Included as a mini-movie on The Secret Life of Pets 2 home media release, the plot focuses on Gidget imagining herself as a superhero and saving Max from an army of squirrels.
Video games The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed A free-to-play mobile game developed by Electronic Arts, titled The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed, was released in summer 2016. It was a tile-matching game which featured the characters as one has its own level. In the game, players could combine different toys to earn points. The game, along with Minions Paradise, were both removed from the App Store and Google Play Store on May 22, 2017, the day Illumination and Electronic Arts' partnership had ceased.
Theme park attraction In April 2019, Universal Studios Hollywood announced a new dark ride attraction entitled The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! which was set to open on March 27, 2020, but the opening was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The attraction eventually opened on April 16, 2021.
The ride's queue is themed after Katie's apartment, and features animatronics of certain characters such as Max, Duke, and Snowball, explaining the ride's plot, which involves the park guests, now “transformed into puppies”, getting ready to be adopted. The ride itself is a highly immersive dark ride with a wide assortment of special effects and over 60 animatronics of characters from the franchise. Riders exit through the gift shop, themed to a pet adoption center. Outside the building's exit, guests can chat with a live-voiced animatronic of Snowball, similar to the meet-and-greet animatronic Donkey from Shrek that is located in several Universal Parks.
Reception Box office performance
Film Release date Box office gross All-time ranking Budget Domestic Foreign Worldwide Domestic Worldwide The Secret Life of Pets July 8, 2016 $368,623,860 $507,074,301 $875,698,161 46 67 $75 million The Secret Life of Pets 2 June 7, 2019 $158,980,250 $272,184,209 $431,164,459 336 293 $80 million Total $527,604,110 $779,258,510 $1,306,862,620 $155 million
Critical and public response
Film Critical Public Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore PostTrak The Secret Life of Pets 61 (39 reviews) 85% The Secret Life of Pets 2 55 (26 reviews)
Cast and characters Characters Feature films Short films The Secret Life of Pets The Secret Life of Pets 2 Norman Television Super Gidget Snowball Kevin Hart Max Louis C.K. Patton Oswalt Patton Oswalt Gidget Jenny Slate Jenny Slate Duke Eric Stonestreet Chloe Lake Bell Pops Dana Carvey Buddy Hannibal Buress Mel Bobby Moynihan Bobby Moynihan Katie Ellie Kemper Norman Chris Renaud Sweetpea Tara Strong Tiberius Albert Brooks Ozone Steve Coogan Tattoo Michael Beattie Molly Kiely Renaud Daisy Tiffany Haddish Liam Henry Lynch Rooster Harrison Ford Sergei Nick Kroll Lead Wolf Michael Beattie Cat Lady Meredith Salenger Chuck Pete Holmes Harold Danny Mann Marilyn Lori Alan Infestor Gilbert Gottfried
Crew Role Main films The Secret Life of Pets The Secret Life of Pets 2 Directed by Chris Renaud Yarrow Cheney Jonathan del Val Produced by Chris MeledandriJanet Healy Written by Cinco PaulKen DaurioBrian Lynch Brian Lynch Music by Alexandre Desplat Edited by Ken Schretzmann Tiffany Hillkurtz Production company Illumination Distributed by Universal Pictures
References