The Secret Life of Pets (franchise)
The Secret Life of Pets is an American 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 Secret Life of Pets
2016–present
- The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
- The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
- Norman Television (2016)
- Weenie (2016)
- Super Gidget (2019)
The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed
The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!
The films follow a group of domesticated house pets who embark on various adventures outside the comfort of their apartment complex.
Short films[edit]
Norman Television (2016)[edit]
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)[edit]
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.
Video games[edit]
The Secret Life of Pets: Unleashed[edit]
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 match-3 game which featured the characters as one has its own level. In the game the players could combine different toys to earn points. The game was removed from the App Store and Google Play Store on May 22, 2017, the same day as Minions Paradise.
Theme park attraction[edit]
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,[3][4] but the opening was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak.[5] The attraction eventually opened on April 16, 2021.
The ride's queue is themed after Katie's apartment, and features animatronics of Max and Duke 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.[6]