Sing (2016 American film)

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***Sing*** is a 2016 American computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Garth Jennings, co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet and stars the ensemble voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, and Tori Kelly. Its characters are anthropomorphic animals, and it centers on Buster Moon, a struggling koala theater owner who decides to hold a singing competition, as well as how the competition interferes with the personal lives of its contestants. This is the first film of the franchise of the same name.

The film features more than 60 songs from famous artists, mostly performed diegetically, and also has an original song by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande called "Faith," which was nominated for a Golden Globe. It screened on the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016, premiered at Microsoft Theater on December 3, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 21. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed $634 million worldwide.

Two sequels, *Sing 2* and *Sing 3*, were released on December 22, 2021 and December 15, 2028, respectively.

## Plot

In a city of anthropomorphic animals called Calatonia, koala Buster Moon owns a struggling theater, and is threatened with foreclosure by bank representative Judith, a llama. He decides to hold a singing competition with a prize of $1,000, but a typo made by his iguana assistant Miss Crawly adds two extra zeros to the prize money. The misprinted flyers are blown out of the window by a fan before they can be proofread, and float across the city.

Crowds of animals gather to audition, and Buster selects his contestants. These include housewife and mother of 25 piglets Rosita; punk-rock porcupine Ash; teenage gorilla Johnny, son of mobster Big Daddy; street musician mouse Mike; a trio of dancing frogs; and opera singer camel Pete. Teenage elephant Meena fails her audition from stage fright, Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend Lance is dismissed from the contest, and Rosita is paired with an exuberant pig named Gunter for a dance routine. After Buster discovers the flyers advertise a prize of $100,000, his ram friend Eddie convinces him to arrange a visit with his wealthy grandmother, former singing star Nana Noodleman. Nana is reluctant to sponsor the prize money, but agrees to attend a private preview of the show before making a decision.

Pressured by her grandfather, Meena tries to ask Buster for another chance, but becomes his stage hand instead. When the frog trio breaks up and Pete is injured, Meena is added as an act. Other problems soon arise; Rosita flounders in her dance routine with Gunter, believing her motherly duties have caused her to lose her passion; Ash discovers Lance cheating on her, throws him out, and later breaks down crying while rehearsing her assigned song; Meena's stage fright prevents her from performing; and Mike, certain the prize money is as good as his, buys a fancy car and swindles a group of Russian bears in a card game. Johnny, forced by Big Daddy to be the getaway driver in a heist, sneaks away to a rehearsal but struggles to focus on his piano playing. Traffic prevents Johnny's return to the heist, causing Big Daddy to be arrested and angrily disowns Johnny. In desperation, Johnny considers stealing the prize money for his father's bail; however, when he sees a note on Buster's desk showing how much Buster appreciates his talents, Johnny resolves to focus on his musical career instead.

On the day of the preview, the bears interrupt the show, demanding the money from Mike, who directs them to Buster. The bears open the prize chest, but it is nowhere near $100,000. The glass tank of luminescent squids lighting the stage breaks under the bears' weight, and the ensuing flood guts and implodes the theater. Judith repossesses the lot, and Buster, who had been living at the theater, takes up residence with Eddie. The contestants try to cheer him up, but Buster is too depressed to listen, and tries to start over by opening a car wash.

When Meena goes to the rubble of the theater and sings a song on her headphones, Buster overhears her, and is inspired to stage an outdoor show just for the fun of it, for Meena and Rosita's families. Rosita and Gunter perform their song-and-dance combo, which finally prompts Rosita's husband, Norman, to notice her talent. Dozens more animals are drawn to the scene as the show is broadcast on the news. Johnny's performance greatly impresses his father, who escapes from prison to reconcile with him and apologize. Ash sings her original rock song "Set It All Free", impressing Lance, who was watching her on TV. Mike, who had initially refused to perform for free, is taunted into returning and gives a stunning performance, and soon after escapes from the still-pursuing bears. Finally, Meena overcomes her stage fright and delivers a performance which literally brings down the house. The show is a success and impresses Nana, who was in the audience. She buys the lot, and the theater is rebuilt and reopened.

## Voice cast

* Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, an optimistic koala who plans to save his theater from closure by holding a singing competition
* Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, a domestic pig who gave up her teenage music dreams to become a devoted housewife, and mother of 25 piglets
* Seth MacFarlane as Mike, a white mouse and street singer with a big Frank Sinatra-esque voice and an arrogant attitude
* Scarlett Johansson as Ash, a teenage crested porcupine punk rocker who takes part in an alternative-rock music duo with her boyfriend Lance
* John C. Reilly as Eddie Noodleman, a sheep and Buster's friend who doubts the future of the theater
* Taron Egerton as Johnny, a teenage mountain gorilla who wants to sing, though his father would rather have him follow his criminal footsteps
* Tori Kelly as Meena, a teenage Indian elephant with an exquisite voice and severe stage fright
* Jennifer Saunders as Nana Noodleman, Eddie's grandmother who was a famous singer in her glory days
	+ Jennifer Hudson as Young Nana
* Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana with a glass eye who is Buster's administrative assistant
* Peter Serafinowicz as Big Daddy, a mountain gorilla gang leader who wants his son Johnny to follow in his crime business
* Nick Kroll as Gunter, a passionate dancing domestic pig who is partnered with Rosita for the show
* Beck Bennett as Lance, a crested porcupine and Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend
* Jay Pharoah as Meena's grandfather, Meena's unnamed grandfather who pressures her to overcome her stage fright
* Nick Offerman as Norman, a domestic pig and Rosita's workaholic husband
* Leslie Jones as Meena's mother
* Rhea Perlman as Judith, a brown llama from the bank who warns Buster that his theater will be repossessed if he does not pay.
* Laraine Newman as Meena's grandmother
* Adam Buxton as Stan, a mountain gorilla who is a member of Big Daddy's gang
* Brad Morris as an unnamed baboon whom Mike attacks for not donating more money to his street performances
* Bill Farmer as Bob, a dog and news reporter who documents Buster's singing competition

The voices of Rosita and Norman's piglet children were provided by Oscar, Leo, Caspar, and Asa Jennings, the children of Garth Jennings, the film's writer and director. Jennings had directors Edgar Wright (as a goat) and Wes Anderson (as Daniel, a giraffe who auditions with the song "Ben") provide "additional voices", continuing a tradition of the three friends appearing in each other's films. An archival recording of Shooby Taylor, who died in 2003, singing "Stout-Hearted Men" was used for the singing voice of a hippopotamus that worked at a pharmaceutical company.