The Secret Life of Pets 2

Kevin Hart

Jenny Slate

Tiffany Haddish

Lake Bell

Nick Kroll

Dana Carvey

Ellie Kemper

Chris Renaud

Hannibal Buress

Bobby Moynihan

Harrison Ford

June 14, 2019 (other countries)

***The Secret Life of Pets 2*** is a 2019 American 3D computer animated comedy film produced by Illumination, directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan del Val, and written by Brian Lynch. It is the sequel to *The Secret Life of Pets* (2016) and the second feature film in the franchise. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt (who replaces Louis C.K.), Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll,Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, and Harrison Ford.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 7, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $113 million worldwide.

## Plot

Sometime after the events of the first film, Max (Oswalt) and Duke's owner Katie (Kemper) marries and has a child, Liam (Henry Lynch). At first, Max feels uneasy by his presence but eventually grows an affinity to him. Thinking of how dangerous the outdoors could be for Liam, Max develops an itch and gets a dog cone as treatment. Max's luck changes when Duke reveals that the family is taking a road trip outside of the city.

When Max and Duke's family reaches a farm, Max feels unaccustomed to the farm's ways, including the farm's tough sheepdog, Rooster (Ford). After an incident with the farm's sheep, Rooster takes Max out to find one of the missing sheep that ran away. Rooster's teaching and encouragement to Max about acting unafraid prompts Max to successfully retrieve the missing sheep. Rooster allows Max to stay with him overnight as a result. Before departure, Rooster gives Max one of his handkerchiefs as a souvenir.

Earlier, before Max left, he had entrusted his favorite toy, Busy Bee, to his girlfriend, Gidget (Slate). Unfortunately, Gidget loses Busy Bee in a cat-infested apartment inhabited by a cat lady. After training received by Chloe (Bell) on how to "be a cat", she sneaks in and successfully retrieves Busy Bee. Unintentionally, she gets hailed as the "queen of cats" after a staged defeat of the "red dot".

Meanwhile, Chloe and Snowball (Hart) meet Daisy (Tiffany Haddish), who explains that she needs "Captain Snowball" Snowball's superhero persona, to assist her with rescuing a white tiger named Hu. While on flight to the city, Daisy encountered him being held captive by the abusive Russian circus owner Sergei (Nick Kroll). Daisy and Snowball sneak in and find Hu. With much difficulty from Sergei's black wolves, they free Hu from the circus; however, in the heat of the escape, Daisy accidentally drops her flower clip, which the wolves use to track her down.

She and Snowball take him to Pops' apartment. Pops reluctantly lets Hu stay for a night, but due to his destruction of the apartment afterwards, Hu is kicked out so they hide him in Max's apartment. Around then, Max and Duke's family returns from the trip. Sergei and his wolves track Daisy down and capture Hu. Daisy sees Sergei escaping in his train so Snowball, Max, and hamster Norman chase the train down while contacting Gidget for assistance. She and the cats take the cat lady's car.

Snowball and Max defeat Sergei's pet monkey and the wolves respectively, and free Daisy and Hu. Max, using his newfound bravery Rooster gave him, successfully infiltrates the train, where he and the rest of the animals kick Sergei off the train. Before the ringmaster could kill them, Gidget knocks him out with the cat lady's car and offers the animals a ride back home. Life resumes normally, with Max's family saying goodbye to Liam as he enters his first day of preschool.

In a mid-credits scene, Snowball creates a rap troupe, which only lasts a few moments before his owner Molly enters the room.

## Cast

* Patton Oswalt as Max, a Jack Russell Terrier.
* Eric Stonestreet as Duke, a large, brown, shaggy Newfoundland mix who lives with Max.
* Kevin Hart as Snowball, a white rabbit and former flushed pet.
* Jenny Slate as Gidget, a white Pomeranian and Max’s girlfriend.
* Tiffany Haddish as Daisy, a Shih Tzu.
* Lake Bell as Chloe, a morbidly obese and apathetic grey tabby cat.
* Dana Carvey as Pops, an elderly Basset Hound who is paralyzed in his back legs.
* Ellie Kemper as Katie, Max and Duke's owner, Chuck's wife and Liam's mother.
* Chris Renaud as Norman, a guinea pig.
* Hannibal Buress as Buddy, a laid-back dachshund.
* Bobby Moynihan as Mel, a hyperactive pug.
* Harrison Ford as Rooster, a Welsh Sheepdog.
* Tara Strong as Sweetpea, a green and yellow budgie parakeet.
* Meredith Salenger as a cat lady.
* Henry Lynch as Liam, Katie and Chuck's son
* Nick Kroll as Sergei

* Sean Giambrone as Cotton, a young sheep whom Max and Rooster save from a cliff.
* Michael Beattie as Lead Wolf, the leader of Sergei's trained wolves.
	+ Beattie also voices a skinny cat
* Kiely Renaud as Molly, Snowball's owner.
* Garth Jennings as a hamster

## Production

On August 2, 2016, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced a sequel to the 2016 animated film The Secret Life of Pets with director Chris Renaud and writer Brian Lynch returning. Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy would produce the film. In November 2017, it was announced that Louis C.K. would not be reprising his role as Max after being accused of and later admitting to sexual misconduct with five women.

In April 2018, it was announced that Patton Oswalt will replace C.K. as Max while Hart, Stonestreet, Slate, Kemper, Bell, Carvey, Buress, and Moynihan will reprise their roles. Additional casting includes Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Harrison Ford, and Pete Holmes.

## Release

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is scheduled to be released on June 7, 2019 by Universal Pictures. It was previously set for a July 13, 2018 release, then on July 3, 2019. The film was released in the United Kingdom two weeks earlier on May 24, 2019.

Leading up to the movie’s release, a few character trailers were issued, featuring Max, Chloe, Snowball, Daisy, Gidget, and Rooster, respectively. On April 11, 2019 (National Pet Day), the first official full trailer dropped. The final trailer was released on May 16, 2019.

## Trivia

The first The Secret Life of Pets film that Patton Oswalt voices Max