Ash

"*Cheesy pop's not exactly my style.*"
— Ash on Buster Moon's choice of songs for her to sing

INFO
GALLERY

Ash  *Featured Article*  (March 2017)

Physical Information

Species
Crested porcupine

Gender
Female

Age
Late teens/Young adult

Status
Alive

Physical Appearance
* Brown fur
* Black and white quills
* Light gray shirt covered by black and gray mid-sleeved shirt
* Red, white and black checkered skirt with blue jeans underneath
* Dark blue and white lace-up sneakers

Personal Information

Aliases
* Babe (by Lance)
* Moody teenager (by Mike)
* Ash the porcupine

Occupation
* Singer
* Musicial performer
* Songwriter

Residence
Ash's apartment

Family
Lance (ex-boyfriend)

Allies
* Buster Moon
* Johnny
* Rosita
* Gunter
* Meena
* Porsha Crystal
* Miss Crawly
* Clay Calloway
* Lance (formerly)

Enemies
* Lance
* Becky
* Jimmy Crystal
* Jerry
* Jimmy’s Bodyguards

Likes
* Rock music
* Lance (formerly)
* Writing her own rock songs
* Clay Calloway (idol)
* Soda

Dislikes
* Becky
* Pop music
* Being cheated on
* Being told she can't write her own music
* Being put down/told what her worth is
* Lance's betrayal
* Feminine stuff

Production Information

Debut
*Sing*

Voiced by
* Scarlett Johansson
* Wanessa Camargo
* Ewa Farna
* Jarita Wan
* Gubik Petra
* Masami Nagasawa
* Tatyana Shitova

Songs Performed

Sing
* "I Don't Wanna" (audition)
* "Call Me Maybe" (briefly)
* "Set It All Free" (final act and *Sing on Tour*)
* "Groove Is in the Heart" (guitar riff in *Happy Holidays From Sing*)
* "Wonderful Christmastime" (*TV Spot*)
* "Faith" (*Sing on Tour*)

Sing 2
* "Heads Will Roll"
* "Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
* "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

**Ash** is a female crested porcupine who is one of the main characters in the movie *Sing*.
She is voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

Appearance
Ash is an anthropomorphic crested porcupine. She has light brown fur with black (with dark brownish impression) and white quills, with 5 quills next to her ears on each side of her face. She also has blue eyes, dark brown eyebrows, and a black nose. She wears black mascara and lipstick, as well as dark brown eye shadow.
In the first film, she wears a light gray long sleeved shirt under her black and grey striped mid-sleeved shirt, which has two quills pinned through the front along with 3 pins: a bow-tie shaped green pin, a circle shaped yellow pin, and a circled shaped white pin with a yellow circle. She also wears a red, white and black checkered skirt with blue jeans underneath and dark blue and white lace-up sneakers. Her outfit is similar in style to her former boyfriend Lance.
During rehearsals, Ash wore a sparkly light purple dress that went down to her feet, with frilly white layers underneath, a purple belt with a bow in the middle, and matching shoes, due to Buster Moon wanting to make her a "pop star princess". During her performance of "Set It All Free", she wears this dress, but she has cut up the bottom so that it is now above knee length and has a jagged hem, and she has also removed the bow from the middle. She wears this along with a red leather jacket, red stripped leggings, and black lace up boots. At the beginning of the performance, she wears Becky's red heart-shaped sunglasses, which she left in Ash's apartment when Ash kicked her and Lance out, and she throws them into the crowd after she begins performing. She also wears sparkly blue eyeshadow with this outfit.
In Sing 2, she has a new outfit similar in style to her previous one - she now wears a long sleeve black shirt underneath a red long sleeved shirt, with the front having white stripes extending across from the upper left sleeve, a red plaid skirt similar to her last outfit with black jeans underneath, red and black combat boots, and her red leather jacket from her ”Set It All Free” performance, which now has the two pins from her previous outfit on the left lapel. Her eyeshadow is now a lighter mauve color.

Her costume for *Out of This World* is light lilac with a long sleeved skirt that has gloves connected to it, a skirt, and leggings that cover her feet. The costume has white fishnet-like material covering the cloth and flares out on the shirt and at the end of the sleeves, and has large white sequins attached covering it, with the sequins on the skirt paired close together in a mermaid style. The skirt also has a gold belt around it. Ash wears purple lipstick with an abundant amount of purple eyeshadow, she has stars attached to the quills next to her ears, and she has Q-tip like attachments on the back that that make some of her quills look longer.
In Christmas-themed TV spots, Ash wore red and white earmuffs along with green jeans underneath her skirt.

Abilities
Along with being able to sing, Ash also plays an electric guitar. Her guitar through most of the movie is red and white, with a green star sticker and what appears to be scribbles in yellow and white marker. However, the guitar she uses during her performance is black and white. She also has the ability to write songs, as she writes her own original song, "Set It All Free" for her performance, which was inspired by her getting over Lance cheating on her.

Personality
Ash is a prickly teenage porcupine with a punk rock attitude. She auditions for the competition with her egotistical, unsupportive jerk of a boyfriend who eventually cheats on her with Becky, unable to see just how much he is holding her back. In rehearsals, her rebellious nature continually puts her at odds with Buster, who envisions her as a pop star princess whereas Ash wants to write her own authentic rock songs that reflect her unique style.

Biography
*Sing*
Truly a rocker at her heart, Ash's passion for playing rock music causes conflict between her and her boyfriend Lance, causing her feelings for him to blind her to his massive ego. In her introduction scene, she and Lance fail to land a gig at a restaurant, and afterwards Lance tells her that he's the lead singer and she's the backup vocals, and Ash apologizes for "getting carried away". While boarding the train, flyers for Buster's singing competition get stuck to Ash and Lance's quills. Ash takes one off of Lance, who had accidentally boarded the train without her. She runs after him showing him the flyer. The two perform at the auditions, but Buster only wants Ash, whom he describes as "loud and horrible but shows promise". Despite leaving with Lance after this, her yearning to make a name for herself and for Lance as true rock stars leads to her deciding to accept her earned place in Buster's singing competition even though Lance didn't make the cut. She tells Lance that she's doing this for them, but Lance believes she's just "selling out".
As a rocker and a teenager, she has her pride and a rebellious streak displayed by her sarcastic wit and a passive-aggressive defiance towards Buster's attempts to make her perform as a "pop star princess", suggesting she sing what Ash calls "cheesy pop" songs such as "Call Me Maybe", with Buster saying that the song is "made for her" due to being a teenage girl, and wear a sparkly purple dress on stage, which disagrees with her own ambition to be a rocker in her own right. Later on, at her apartment, she and Lance laugh at the songs Buster picked for her. Ash says she was considering writing her own song, but Lance scoffs at this, saying to just do what Buster says so that they can win the money, and that writing songs isn't easy, despite him making it look easy.
Ash returns to her apartment one night after rehearsals, and she sees Lance singing Jack White's "Love Interruption" with another female porcupine. The two almost share a kiss before Ash interrupts questioning what is going on, to which the girl responds by introducing herself as Becky. Shocked and angry, Ash kicks both of them out. Lance blames Ash for this, saying she was never around anymore, and Ash says she was doing it for them. Ash then slams the door on them, right after Becky attempts to tell her that she left her sunglasses inside, and she is left heartbroken. This affects her emotionally during her next rehearsal, where she attempts to sing "Call Me Maybe" while wearing the dress Buster picked out for her, but midway through she breaks down crying. Buster, oblivious to her being cheated on, asks if she's crying over having to wear the dress, which makes her cry more and shoot out her quills. Backstage, she is cheered up by Rosita and Gunter, with them saying she's too good for him and Rosita offering her gum or candy from her purse.
Ash begins to get over Lance by writing her own song called "Set It All Free". She plays it for Buster during rehearsals, and he is very impressed and tells her she should perform it. But despite this, Ash, after leaving the site of the destroyed Moon Theater, looks upset when she sees Lance and Becky performing at the same restaurant she and Lance tried to get a gig at before, causing her to run off. However, alongside the rest of the performers, Ash showed determination in performing and does not care about the prize money or the fact that Moon lied to them about how much money was being offered, and they all help fix the stage to perform on. Ash, who has altered her performance outfit to fit her style, performs "Set It All Free", finally showing the world her passion and spirit. Her performance also draw the intention of Becky and Lance, who are watching it on TV. Becky turns off the TV, saying she isn't that good. Lance agrees with Becky as she leaves the room, but once she's gone he quickly turns the TV back on, looking very impressed. Despite her prickly performance, with her unintentionally shooting her quills everywhere during the guitar solo, she is given a thunderous applause and Buster calls her "a genuine rockstar". She is also seen cheering on the other performers, and at the end of the movie she attends the grand reopening of the Moon Theater.

*Happy Holidays from Sing*
Ash has fun at an ice rink while "Sleigh Ride" plays. After Gunter switches the track with his holiday dance remix of "Groove Is in the Heart", she skates while playing guitar accompaniment and dragging Gunter on a speaker. At the end, she poses with the rest of the *Sing* cast.

*Sing on Tour*
**Pre-Show** Ash practices in her dressing room. Mizuki, who was instructed by Buster to introduce the audience to Ash, is excited to meet her idol, but the porcupine immediately runs out, claiming that her routine won't work. She tells Mizuki she will be back later, but by the end of the pre-show her whereabouts are still unaccounted for.

Quotes

"*Sorry, I get carried away.*"
— Ash, to Lance after their gig at Harry's Bar

"*Would you stop? I'd only be doing it for us.*"
— Ash, to Lance when he's not accepted in the show

"*I am* NOT *singing this.*"
— Ash, when Buster Moon chooses "Call Me Maybe" for her to sing

"*Wow, it's like you can see inside my tiny teenage mind!*"
— Ash, sarcastically

"*Baby, I'm back.*"
— Ash

"*I did it for us, Lance! You and me!*"
— Ash, kicking Lance out of her apartment when she catches him with Becky

"*Come on, Moon. You can't just hide out in your buddy's pool house.*"
— Ash, trying to cheer up Buster

"*What do you mean, "done"? Come on!*"
— Ash, when Buster says he's done with show biz

"*Deal with it, sweetheart!*"
— Ash

Trivia* Ash is known as "The Rocker", according to the Sing Website.
* Her introduction scene is the third of five.
* Her rehearsal performance of "Call Me Maybe" was the second of four.
* Her final performance of "Set It All Free" was the third of five.
	+ She wore Becky's heart-shaped sunglasses while singing "Set It All Free", but threw them into the audience during her song, symbolizing her moving on and letting go of her thoughts of Lance and Becky.
	+ When she finished the performance, she slides across the stage and looks to the audience as they went into silence. This scene is a reference to the film Back to the Future when Marty finished playing the song Johnny B. Goode.
* When extremely emotional, she tends to shoot some of her quills outward; however, porcupines in real life cannot actually do this. She does this twice in *Sing*:
	+ When she breaks down crying during her rehearsal of "Call Me Maybe"
	+ During her performance of "Set It All Free", while playing the guitar solo
* Ash is one of the few characters to call Buster by his first name. The first character was Eddie.

Gallery

Videos

References

1. ↑ Peji, Annjanell (July 24, 2016). Illumination Entertainment's musical comedy 'Sing' to hit cinemas on December 21. *International Business Times*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Ash the porcupine (Scarlett Johansson)..."”
2. ↑ Williams, Kathryn (September 30, 2016). Taron Egerton has landed a new film role as a singing gorilla. *WalesOnline*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Sing also stars Scarlett Johansson as Ash the porcupine..."”
3. ↑ Yuko, Elizabeth (November 26, 2016). Hear Scarlett Johansson "Set It All Free" On The Sing Soundtrack. *Refinery29*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"ScarJo voices Ash the porcupine in the film..."”
4. ↑ Murray, Rebecca (December 21, 2016). 'Sing' Movie Review: Finishes Up 2016 on a High Note. *ShowbizJunkies*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Mike the mouse is on the run from mobsters while Ash the porcupine is dealing with trying to stay true to herself and let her talent shine through."”
5. ↑ Donnelly, Erin (December 22, 2016). Did This Kids Movie Make A "Becky With The Good Hair" Joke?. *Refinery29*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Scarlett Johansson's character, Ash the porcupine, comes home to find her ego-maniac boyfriend, Lance, with another girl."”
6. ↑ Holmes, Adam (January 25, 2017). Sing 2 Is Happening, Here's When It's Coming Out. *CinemaBlend*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Scarlett Johansson as Ash the porcupine..."”
7. ↑ Hogan, Michael. "Garth Jennings: 'I was so stressed, awake at 3am thinking: What have I done?'", *The Guardian*, January 29, 2017. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"How did the singer Tracey Thorn inspire Scarlett Johansson’s character, Ash the porcupine?"”
8. ↑ Pincus-Roth, Zachary. "From 'Game of Thrones' to a Subaru ad, here’s what makes Washington Post readers cry", *The Washington Post*, November 21, 2017. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"My daughter watches "Sing" nearly every day, and every day when Ash the porcupine takes the stage to sing "Set It All Free," I cry."”
9. ↑ Truitt, Brian. "A-list animals 'SING' together", *USA Today*, November 10, 2015. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
10. ↑ Murthi, Vikram (July 08, 2016). Your Favorite Stars Are Singing, Dancing Animals In New 'Sing' Trailer — Watch. *Indiewire*. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Ash (Scarlett Johansson), a crested porcupine in an alt-rock band with her boyfriend."”
11. ↑ Gilbert, Sophie. "Sing, a Sad Meditation on Show Business, for Kids", *The Atlantic*, December 21, 2016. Retrieved on July 19, 2018. “"Is that Scarlett Johansson playing a crested porcupine punk-rocker in an emotionally abusive relationship?"”