Max

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## Max

* Adult
* Puppy

## Physical information

### Appearance

Medium white and brown Jack Russell terrier, short-haired

## Personal information

### Nickname(s)

* Maximilian (by Katie)
* TD (Tiny Dog) (by Snowball and Duke)

### Owner(s)

* Katie
* Chuck
* Liam

### Allies

* Duke (adopted brother)
* Gidget (girlfriend)
* Chloe
* Buddy
* Mel
* Sweetpea
* Norman
* Snowball
* Daisy
* Rooster
* Hu

### Enemies

* Sergei
* Little Sergei
* Circus Wolves
* The Turkey

## Production information

### Voiced by

* Louis C.K. (*The Secret Life of Pets*)
* Patton Oswalt (*The Secret Life of Pets 2* onward)

### Appearances

* *The Secret Life of Pets*
* *The Secret Life of Pets 2*
* *Super Gidget*

**Max** is a Jack Russell terrier and the main protagonist in *The Secret Life of Pets* and *The Secret Life of Pets 2*. He also plays a supporting role in the mini-movie *Super Gidget*. He lives in an apartment with his owners, Katie, Chuck, and Liam, and his adopted brother, Duke.

Max was voiced by Louis C.K. in the first film, then by Patton Oswalt in the sequel.

## Appearance

Max is a white and brown Jack Russell terrier. The fur on his ears, rump, tail, back, and the left side of his face is brown, while his belly, jaw, legs, and the right side of his face are white. The blue collar he wears has a gold metal tag with his name on the front.

## Personality

Max loves his owner Katie and has a strong emotional attachment to her, which leads to his refusal to share anything with Duke when he enters his life, especially their owner. The two are forced to live together despite their differences and become closer to one another during their adventure. Though he's quite lighthearted, Max is somewhat possessive of Katie whenever Duke comes along. His age based on his personality is presumably 2-3 years old (18-22 in human age).

## Plot

### *The Secret Life of Pets*

Main article: The Secret Life of Pets

In Manhattan, Katie found Max as an abandoned puppy in a cardboard box and adopted him as her pet, then took him back to her apartment in New York, where Max still lives happily with her. He spends his days waiting by the front door for Katie to return whenever she leaves and playing with his friends Mel and Buddy. One day, she comes home with another dog, a mutt she adopted named Duke. Although Max is immediately disgusted by Duke's lack of boundaries and selfish sleeping habits, his attempts to warn Katie about Duke are in vain as she's unable to understand his barking.

The next day, Max decides to displace Duke and become the object of Katie's affections once more. When Duke destroys a vase in the living space and spills dog food in the kitchen area, Max attempts to frame him by making more of a mess, knowing that Katie will assume Duke is the culprit.

Later on, the duo are taken for a walk by a dog walker to the dog park in Washington Square Park, where Max's insults make Duke very angry, which leads him to tricking Max away from the others to get him alone. Once out of sight, Duke forcibly drags Max out of the dog park and into downtown New York City.

They end up stuck in New York, far away from Manhattan, and are forced to work together to return home. In an alleyway on the other side of Manhattan, Duke attempts to throw Max in a trash bin, only to meet a cat named Ozone and his gang of stray cats. Though the pair escape the confrontation by running away screaming, two Animal Control officers place them in metal cages for transit to the city pound. However, they are rescued by a rabbit named Snowball, leader of a gang of abandoned pets, who frees them and crashes the van.

In Snowball's lair, Snowball reveals the existence of other secret abandoned pets in the city and recruits the two to The Flushed Pets. They end up escaping from Snowball through the sewer system which spits them out into the Hudson River - only for them to end up on a ferry to Brooklyn, in the opposite direction to home. Soon, they find a sausage factory, Weiner Kingdom, so they eat as much sausages as they can, but they are almost caught by the Animal Control officers. Max encourages Duke to find his former master, Fred; when they finally find Fred's house, they are told by a cat named Reginald that Fred passed away and the house belongs to another family.

Suddenly, the Animal Control officers appear with a new truck and they capture Duke, so Max runs after it. Meanwhile, Snowball, with some Flushed Pets members find Max, but Tattoo and Dragon are also captured. Therefore, Snowball and Max drive a bus to chase the truck and cause huge chaos, and Snowball passes out after the bus crashes on the truck. At first, The Flushed Pets think Max attacked Snowball and decide to take revenge on him, but they are stopped by Gidget, who keeps fighting against the attacking animals.

The truck is thrown out of Brooklyn Bridge and hung above the river. Max tries to reach the truck, but he along with the truck fall into the river, and he is unable to unlock Duke's cage. Snowball suddenly jumps into the river and finds the key as it floats on the water, so he passes it to Max to unlock the cage. Later, Tattoo drives a taxi and bring every animals home. Max confesses his love for Gidget, but he is interrupted by the other pets, Mr. Pops especially as he expresses his disgust for their romance.

Max and Duke go home before Katie's return, and they are taken to the balcony and watch the scenery of Manhattan in the night together.

### *The Secret Life of Pets 2*

Main article: The Secret Life of Pets 2
The film starts out with Max narrating about how he is not a kid person. Duke tells him that having a kid seems like fun, but Max disagrees. A beagle tells him that it's not fun, and once a kid comes into his and Duke's lives, they'll change. Max thinks that he won't ever have to worry about a kid, but his owner, Katie, eventually meets a guy named Chuck. They eventually get married. Max likes Chuck. A little while later, Max realizes that Katie is pregnant. She gives birth to a baby boy named Liam. Max is confused by the new child, but realizes that he isn's a threat because he sleeps all day. However, he starts getting tormented by Liam when he starts talking and crawling. Max tries to hide from the child, but to no avail. One day, Liam hugs Max and says: "I love you Max-y," which causes Max to start liking him. Max and Duke start bonding with the child and teach him to do things such as how to walk. Being Liam's "parent" isn't all fun and games, however, because Max feels the need to keep a constant watch on him 24/7. Doing this causes Max to suffer from anxiety and develop a nervous tic (scratching himself).

The next day, Max has a conversation about Liam with Snowball. He also makes fun of him for wearing a superhero costume. He tells him that Liam's head is in the 80th percentile and that he still has a peeing habit. Snowball warns him that Liam is eventually going to grow up and "leave the nest", but Max denies this and thinks that Liam will stay with him forever. Unfortunately, Duke tells him that Liam left. Max then sends Buddy, Mel and Norman to look for him. Buddy and Mel can't find him, but Norman find him eating a cookie at a shop with Chuck. Max is relieved but also irritated because Chuck took Liam somewhere without him.

Katie distracts Duke by playing fetch with him so that she can take Max on a walk. Max is initially happy with the idea, but becomes scared when he sees a Golden Retriever panicking about going to the vet. Max feels betrayed and refuses to move. Katie tells him that the vet will help him, and Max is dragged in there by force. In the waiting room, Max meets various animals with behavior disorders, such as an angry cat, a hamster having an external crisis, a dog who always believes that he's a bad dog and two creepy kittens that say: "We start fires!". Max gets scared and falls off the chair.

Max comes home with the cone of shame. Katie feels bad for him, but tells him that he needs it until he stops scratching himself. Max's mood changes when he sees Busy Bee, his favorite toy. Unfortunately, the cone prevents him from getting Busy Bee out of the table. Luckily for him, Duke tells him that they're going on a trip. Max then tries to find a pet who can take care of Busy Bee while he's gone.

He goes to Chloe's apartment to see if she'll watch him, but she's too interested in playing with a doorstop. Then he goes to Gidget's apartment to find her in the dishwasher. He tells her that he's going on a trip and that he wants her to take care of Busy Bee. She gladly accepts to take care of him. She also sees Busy Bee as her child and Max as her husband. Max is weirded out by it at first, but then accepts it, hinting that he may have a slight crush on her.

On the way to Uncle Shep's farm, Max and Duke enjoy the car ride there. They stick their heads out of the car window, hang with Liam and eventually go to a rest stop. As Duke and Max are about to mark a tree, Liam is about to do it too. Katie takes him away from the tree and lets the dogs do their business. When Max arrives at the farm, he is asleep. He wakes up to find chickens flying. Max is overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and smells of the farm and isn't sure of what to make of it, but Duke loves it. Duke runs around the farm and Max tries to find him. He watches Duke taunt a cow and then get taunted back. Max misses New York, but Duke is convinced that Max will eventually love the farm. Unfortunately, Max doesn't realize that he's being stalked by a turkey. He looks back to see it staring at him, then is starts to chase him. Max runs around the farm in panic until the local farm dog, Rooster, howls at the turkey. The turkey stops chasing him and walks away in fear. Max and Duke watch the Welsh Sheepdog, but then hear Uncle Shep ringing his triangle for dinner.

Later that night, Duke tries to get Max to catch a firefly. Max initially refuses because he is worried about Liam, but Duke tells him that he'll be okay. Max tells Duke that he'll catch one. He does do it, but he can't get it off of his tongue. He notices a water bowl nearby, so he drinks out of it, unaware of who it belongs too. It turns out that the bowl is Rooster's, and he lets out a growl to let him know it's his. Max is startled by him. Rooster lectures Max about the bowl. Duke comes over to apologize, but Rooster gets even more annoyed when Duke calls him "Mr Chicken". Rooster tells him that his name isn't Mr. Chicken and takes it as a challenge. Max is quickly put in his place by the farm dog. Rooster eventually introduces himself as Rooster. Max is about to introduce himself, but Rooster notices that Liam is in a play pen. He wonders if Liam has a fever, but Max tells him he's in there because Liam likes to run. Rooster tells him to just let the kid run, but Max tells him that he usually ends up a tree if he does that. Rooster sees no problem with it, but Max does. Max tells him that he could fall and hurt himself. Rooster tells him that it's not a big deal and that Liam will learn not to climb up trees. He then tells Max and Duke about the time he chewed on an electrical cord for the first and last time. Max tells him that he likes to protect Liam from everything. Rooster lets out a chuckle and tells him that he wrong. Once Rooster walks away, Max gets very angry. Max is about to trash talk him, but Duke notices that Uncle Shep is letting the family in his house. The dogs are about to come inside, but Uncle Shep makes them sleep outside by force. In a panic, Max tries to get him to let him and Duke inside, but to no avail. Max is forced to accept that he and Duke will be sleeping outside.

Max struggles to sleep outside because he is worried about Liam. He tries to get Duke to check on him with him, but Duke is sound asleep. To Max's relief, Liam is found sound asleep and unharmed. Max can now rest since Liam is okay, but he quickly gets paranoid when he hears a bird chip. Max becomes scared when he hears various noises of the countryside, such as an owl hooting and a coyote howling. Max eventually screams in fear, but he becomes calm when he realizes that there is nothing scary nearby him. However, he gets ambushed by a fox. It looks like Max is about to end up as its meal, but Rooster saves him and scares the fox away. After Rooster is done fighting the fox, Max thanks him and tells him that he couldn't see it because of the cone. Rooster tells him to get rid of it, but Max explains that his doctor wants him to wear it. Max is about to go on about how his doctor is crazy, but is taken aback when Rooster pulls his cone off by force. He then tells him that he's cured and walks away. Max then expresses his dismay about being on the farm.

The next morning, Max is still irritated about being on the farm. His owners are having a picnic. Since Max won't eat his food, Duke starts eating it. Max sees that Liam wants him and Duke to read him *Little Red Riding Hood*. Even though Duke tells him that they can't read, Max gets Liam to open the book so that they can figure the story out from the pictures. Max enjoys the story at first because he sees that Little Red Riding Hood is delivering cookies to her grandma. However, his joy turns into fear when he sees "grandma" eat the girl because she is actually a wolf. Max lies to Liam about the ending so that he doesn't freak out. Rooster tells him that that's not the real ending, which causes Max to get very angry at him. Liam eventually sees the ending and says: "No!" Max gets irritated and tells Rooster not to freak him out. Liam is fine though, because he turns the page and sees that the wolf is defeated. Rooster tells Max that Liam is fine and that he's the one who's scared of everything. Max denies this and tries to get Duke to back him up, but Duke can't think of anything that Max isn't afraid of.

Later that afternoon, Duke and Max watch Rooster herd cattle. Duke thinks it's cool, but Max tells him that it's nothing special. Both dogs notice that a pig gets out of his pen. Duke suggests getting Rooster to help, but Max believes that he's more than capable of getting the pig back in the pen himself. It's easier said than done because the pig is too stubborn to move. Duke tells him that he should nip at him to move. Max ends up biting the pig's tail. The pig squeals, runs around in circles and throws Max into the sheep fence. The fence breaks and all the sheep escape. Rooster notices the commotion and gets mad at Max for letting them out. Rooster is able to get all the sheep back in the fence except for a lamb named Cotton, who wandered off into the woods. Rooster forces Max to go get Cotton with him. Max tries to get Duke to come with, but Rooster only wants Max to come with. The terrier reluctantly goes along with the Welsh Sheepdog into the woods.

Max struggles with catching up with Rooster in the woods. He gets stuck in a thorn bush and gets really dirty. Max tells Rooster to leave him behind, but he insists that the city dog has to go with him. They eventually find Cotton eating apples on a tree that is about to fall off a cliff. Rooster tells the young lamb that Max will save him because Rooster is too heavy to go down and save Cotton. Max tells him that he's unable to go down and save Cotton because he is too scared. Rooster tries to encourage Max by telling him: "The first step of not being afraid, is acting like you're not afraid." These words prompt Max to save the lamb. Max is able to get Cotton out of the tree safely, but Max slips and falls off the cliff. Luckily, Rooster grabs his collar and drags him to safety. Max feels proud of himself for facing his fears to save Cotton. As they head back to the farm, Duke wants to know what happened. Max tells him that it was intense and gets Rooster to tell more of the story. He responds with: "Some stuff happened, now it's over." Both Duke and Max are amazed by his story.

Later that night, Max hangs out with Rooster. He doesn't feel scared around him, the farm or the turkey that's been stalking him. Max tells him that they're about to leave, but is interrupted by the herding dog's howling. Max asks if he should go, but Rooster tells him that it's just what country dogs do. He then invites him to howl with him. At first, Max lets out a weak howl. Rooster tells him to howl deep from the gut. This time, Max lets out a stronger and louder howl. The two dogs spend the rest of the night howling before they go to sleep.

The next morning, Rooster gives Max one of his bandanas. This is also the day that Max heads back to the city. Max shows off his bandana to Duke and Liam. The family heads back to New York City. Duke says goodbye to Rooster and Max thanks him. This causes Rooster to become sad.

Back in the city, it is now nighttime. Chuck puts Liam to bed while Max and Duke join him. Max says that it's good to be home before falling asleep. He is later woken up by Snowball, Daisy and Hu the tiger. Max is shocked that they snuck Hu into his apartment. Snowball quickly pins the blame on him for coming home from the farm early. Daisy stops their arguing and points out that a pack of wolves from the circus are nearby. Unfortunately, they have spotted the gang. Snowball quickly accepts his fate, but Max acts brave and attempts to stop the wolves. He tells Snowball that he is finding his "inner Rooster". After he went to face the wolves, Sergei was about to attack Max, but he fell on a basement. He manages to escape it and soon finds Hu locked up in a cage that's carried by a truck. Snowball finds Max and they think of what to do to save Hu and Daisy. They then contact Gidget for assistance and chase down the train. Max then ends up being chased by the Circus Wolves but managed to defeat them in no time. Soon, he decides to rescue Hu but Sergei's monkey Little Sergei fell on top of him and they both fell down from the train. Max then chases the train just in time and attacks Sergei and Max. Snowball, Daisy, and Hu manage to escape until Sergei threatens to kill them. Fortunately, Gidget arrives in a car driven by the Cat Lady and rescues Max. He then embraces Gidget and reunite with his friends as they meet again. Soon, they go back to New York and everything was back to normal. Max learned to be brave and feels happy and proud for Liam as he enters preschool.

## Quotes

* “I live in this city whole my life. I'm Max, and I'm the luckiest dog in New York because of her. That's Katie.”
—Max introduces himself.

* “Is IT, Duke? Is it?”
—Knocks over things in order to frame Duke.

* “You're drivin' like an AN-i-mal!”
—When in a bus driven by Snowball

* “You are home.”
—to Duke.

* “We're alive!”
—to Rooster after saving Cotton

* “I'm not so nervous around the farm or you or..the turkey who won't stop following me! Yeah I see you, you weirdo!”
—to the turkey when he catches it following him

## Trivia

* Meledandri’s terriers influenced the look of Max: "I think I found myself not consciously pushing (the character design of) Max towards a terrier, but kind of unconsciously pushing Max towards a terrier."
* Another dog is also named Max in the 2018 animated film *The Grinch,* also produced by Illumination.

## Videos

The Secret Life of Pets - Meet Max & Gidget (HD) - IlluminationMeet Max - The Secret Life of Pets
## References

1. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2016/05/07/the-secret-life-of-pets-movie/84023610/