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The Secret Life of Pets | 2016 | PG | - 1.3.2
A spoiled Jack Russell terrier (voiced by Louis C.K.) lives in a New York City high rise, when his owner (voiced by Ellie Kemper) adopts a rescue dog, an unkempt, klutzy Newfoundland (voiced by Eric Stonestreet). The two dogs squabble and end up in the pound, where a feisty white rabbit (voiced by Kevin Hart) saves them and demands that they join his anti-human gang of discarded pets. Also with the voices of Jenny Slate, Dana Carvey, Steve Coogan, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks. Directed by Chris Renaud & Yarrow Cheney. [1:31]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A female dog knocks a male dog down and licks his face several times. A rabbit quickly kisses a small dog. A male dog on a walk smiles at a female French poodle as the "Saturday Night Fever" theme plays; the poodle looks blankly and walks away.
► A small female dog says about a male dog, "I love him. I love him with all of my heart." An actor dramatically tells an actress on a telenovela that if she loves a man, she must go and save his life. A nearly blind old dog tells a cat that she is attractive and tells other cats and dogs that she is his girlfriend. A cat reminds two male dogs that their friend, another male dog, taught them to sit comfortably after being fixed (neutered).
► Sausages in a hallucination wear bikini outfits, but have no body parts (please see the Substance Use category for more details).
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VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A rabbit tells two dogs that they must have a viper bite them for a gang initiation as a large snake head thrusts toward the camera with a long slithering tongue; the huge snake roars like a dragon a few times, it opens its mouth and fangs over a foot in length snap into place, it chases the two dogs, but two piles of broken cement and two-by-four rubble land on its head, a brick wall falls on top of the rubble, and the top of the wall catches fire (we hear the snake is dead and animals cry) and the rabbit vows to kill the two dogs.
► Two dog catchers run into a sausage factory where cases of sausages fall onto their heads and the screen goes black and we later see bandages on their heads and one neck. A rabbit karate chops a dog catcher and kicks another dog catcher, who rolls down the sidewalk and hits a street sign. Two dogs escape from a dog catcher's van and we later see a wide head bandage on the first man and a cervical collar around the other man's neck. Two dog catchers chase a dog into an alley where they find another dog and put them both in an Animal Control van; one dog tells the other that he originally came from the pound and his life will end if he goes back.
► A van falls off a bridge into a river with a dog caged inside and another dog clinging to the outside; both dogs hold their breath and a rabbit jumps into the water, retrieves the keys and floats them to the free dog to release the trapped dog (all three animals swim to the river bank and collapse, gasping). Several angry homeless animals and a group of pets fight on a bridge, kicking, punching, and falling onto the metal flooring; one dog karate chops dozens of animals that fall unconscious. Human hater animals chase two dogs through dark sewer water puddles and float on flowing green water, landing in a river; some animals bump into a screen on one water pipe and cannot continue to chase.
► A dog grabs another dog's leash, pulling him through NYC traffic, where the one dog slams against a windshield, bushes and the pavement, then tosses him into a garbage can in an alley and leaves; the dog climbs out and a clutter of over 50 hissing, dirty, ragged cats surround him, and throwing him around like a ball, then tying him up in cloth and hanging it from a clothesline (the clutter leader is hairless, wrinkly, pink, and has holes in his ears like Swiss cheese). Two dogs argue, growl, and bark at each other, knocking glass vases and papers off tables in an apartment; we see breaking vases and hear some tinkling of the glass.
► A dog sees a hawk chained in a dirty old roof shed, enters, and steps onto a large pile of rodent skeletons; after an argument and shouting, the dog recruits the hawk to help find a lost friend and the hawk brings back a cat, the dog punches the cat in the face several times before receiving the needed information and then three dogs, a cat, a parakeet, and a hawk start search-and-rescue for two lost dogs; the animals walk over roofs, jump obstacles, slide down a long chute from a roof and fall onto the hawk on the ground (he is not hurt). A dog and a rabbit steal a van and drive erratically, smashing other vehicles, street signs and a fire hydrant; the van tips and slides on its side, stopping as it hits a wall (animals are unhurt). A rabbit, a pig, a lizard and a chameleon chase a dog caged in an Animal Control van; dog catchers capture the rabbit's three partners, then the dog and the rabbit steal a city bus and chase the van; the rabbit swerves, sliding sideways, and driving backwards before sliding to a halt on a bridge as other cars swerve and screech their brakes and the van goes over the side and catches in scaffolding (the animals escape unharmed). Two dogs visit one of the dog's old house, where a cat hisses and tells them the former owner died; the first dog shouts at his friend and barks loudly at the new residents, who call Animal Control, which captures the dog. A dog wears a strong metal muzzle and bangs its head against bars of a cage until a rabbit frees him and takes him and two other dogs into dank, wet, dark sewers; the rabbit yells at guard-snakes, who back off and let the group pass.
► Two party scenes feature animals gyrating to loud music, breaking a few knickknacks and pushing things off tables. A cat at a party falls onto a couple of tables, slopping dishes of food to the floor, then slides across a long table, becoming coated in chip dip and cheese curls. Animals at a party run off-screen when a pet owner whose head is above the frame appears and asks his dog if he was a good boy; a pig falls out of the ceiling to the floor with a crash and the man yelps, his hands flying up in alarm. A bird pecks a dog, a dog licks dinner dishes, and another dog accidentally bangs against a window. A dog falls out a window and lands safely on an awning. A dog with wheels on his back legs says he is paralyzed; he walks out onto a building roof, falls over a slanted solar panel and the camera cuts to him standing on a window washer's platform. A cat screams and falls onto a window washer's platform, about two feet from the roof. A dog with short legs falls onto his face three times as one front leg gives out (he is unhurt). An alligator roars into the camera in one scene. A cat falls through a window to another apartment, breaks knickknacks on a table, chases a small red light, runs off screen and we hear crashing. A hamster sits on another dog's head and lifts the dog's baggy eyelids up so he can see. A dog takes another dog's bed and snores loudly.
► A rabbit introduces two dogs to a gang of hundreds of angry ex-pets, called "The Flushed Pets," whose owners discarded them; the gang consists of small lizards, iguanas, chameleons, tarantulas, snakes, birds, fish, alligators, rodents, ferrets, raccoons, Sea Monkeys, a goat, a llama, a pig, cats and dogs; some cats and dogs wear arm slings or medical cone-collars and the rabbit says, "All of us have suffered at the hand of humans," and they say, "They loves us, then they throw us out." We see an altar with lit candles on which is a picture of a white duck, and a rabbit says he will avenge the duck's death (we do not hear how he died). A battered cardboard box marked "Free Puppies" is shown on a NYC street and we see one small puppy left in it, looking up with a hopeful face. A pig covered in tattoos and with an earring and a snout ring says he used to live in a tattoo parlor, until the trainees got done practicing on him and threw him out. A homeless rabbit says his magician owner gave up magic and turned him loose. A frightened squirrel screams at a hawk. Two dogs tell a gang of human haters that they killed their owner with a spoon and a blender. A dog says that he got loose one day, chased a butterfly or a car, and was captured by Animal Control, but his owner never came for him. A pig steals a taxi cab and drives about two dozen animals home; a man hails the cab, then jumps back and yelps as an alligator falls off the back of it and runs off-screen. A rabbit on a sidewalk tells three friends that they must plot revenge against humans as a preschool girl approaches and the friends dive into a manhole.
► Several animals dress up as an old woman wearing a long dress and shawl, pushing a baby buggy, but we can see the woman has four feet; a pig is the woman's head and a human woman speaks to her and screams when she sees the pig face. Many tarantulas and snakes stream over a back car window while children inside applaud.
► A dog jumps into a hanging plant, lifts one hind leg, and his face looks relieved (urination suggested, but no stream or sound is heard). A dog is excited and a pool of urine appears where he is sitting. A dog lifts its leg against a fire hydrant and the dog is swept off-screen by a speeding van. A dog drags its behind across a carpet. A rabbit shouts angrily and drops pellets of defecation behind him. A dog shouts at squirrels in a tree that he and his friend marked the tree (urinated on it) and the squirrels throw acorns down on their heads. A dog licks slime onto another dog's face, a rabbit drools saliva and another dog slobbers saliva into the camera. A woman brushes her teeth, but does not spit and we see no foam. A lizard opens a sliding glass window with its wet, sticky tongue. A dog drinks water from a toilet and falls into the water that we cannot see. A cat vomits up a dog collar (no fluids come up). A dog spits out wood after angrily snapping a small tree branch in his teeth. A cat spits out a chicken bone while sitting in a refrigerator.
LANGUAGE 2 - 4 mild scatological terms, name-calling (weird, weirdo, crazy, stupid, dumb, dummy, idiot, genius, crybabies, lazy, despicable, little raisin, tiny dog, fat dog, kitty cat, bad dog, bad bird, raccoon, liar, slow pokes, suckers, old-blanket kind of a dog, death-of-all-good-things), exclamations (heck, oh nuts, what the ..., geesh, shut-up, mind your own business), 3 religious exclamations (Oh My God, By God, Holy Schnitzel).
SUBSTANCE USE - Two dogs sneak into a sausage/hot dog factory where they eat hundreds of sausages and act drunk (they slur their words with dizzy facial expressions) and hallucinate an Esther Williams type production number of dancing and singing sausages wearing grass skirts and bikinis with mustard and ketchup on their heads as hairdos, and a dog says that his owner gave him a pill and he woke up in the sky (in an airplane).
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Owning and caring for a pet, stewardship of animals, animal cruelty, abandonment, death, loneliness, hunger, danger, fear, anger, determination, courage, cooperation, teamwork, friendship, love, respect, trust, appreciation.
MESSAGE - When you adopt appropriate pets of any kind, make sure to give them consistent good care and a forever home.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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