Illumination’s animated films Singing And Sing 2 are about as harmless, innocuous and subservient as they come: that’s what they are “Let’s put on a show!” films in which animals voiced by celebrities (Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll, Tori Kelly, Bono and many more) have small problems and fears, which they calm down by singing pop music covers to an enthusiastic audience. There’s a lot of running around, things falling and boom, and then there’s a big finale where they all sing together. Netflix’s new short Sing: Thriller does all that in 10 minutes, with fewer emotional arcs, fewer celebrities and just one pop cover: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The short film is mostly just a glimpse into the extended cast of the two films after the events of Sing 2: They now have a successful theater that hosts sold-out musical revues, the latest of which is a horror jukebox musical called GMO. (The one fun, surprising idea of the short is that this is a musical about genetically modified plants, in this case menacing, anthropomorphic (or animalpomorphic?) singing and dancing plants created by a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist. Or maybe the title stands for Grotesque monstrous organisms. But it’s a wink and you’ll miss it, which the short doesn’t really take advantage of.)
In the show, the once shy elephant Meena (Kelly) is menaced by pumpkin kids singing “Thriller,” which eventually turns into a cast revue featuring opera pig Gunter (Kroll), rock star porcupine Ash (Johansson) and pianist gorilla. Johnny (Taron Egerton). After the performance, the group goes to a party at the house of superstar Clay Calloway (played by Bono in Sing 2but doesn’t appear here), but director-producer koala Buster Moon (McConaughey) gets into trouble, complete with the other half of “Thriller” and an animated animal version of the famous zombie dance from the Michael Jackson video.
And… that’s about it. Just as in Illumination’s most famous films – the Despicable Me series and the offshoots of the Minion films – the Minions periodically appear covering well-known tunes, where the joke is basically, “Hey, you know this song, but now sung with a stupid accent by crazy people. creatures,” the Sing series is largely just an amiable excuse to watch animated animals dance and perform songs that have a great cultural reputation.
Singing was a huge hit: in 2016 it earned over $630 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million, while Sing 2 was a smaller but still respectable success at $400 million. But they aren’t hugely memorable films either. They are easy for children to put on and run in the background. (Which may be Netflix’s intention; as of this writing, Singing will automatically play on Netflix immediately afterwards Sing: Thriller – and Sing is currently number 5 on Netflix’s top 10 most-streamed movies.)
But Sing: Thriller still feels like a bit of a coup for Netflix – written and directed by Singing And Sing 2 writer and co-director Garth Jennings, made in a manner that seems identical to the theatrical films, and featuring much of the cast. Reese Witherspoon, Nick Offerman, Seth MacFarlane and other regulars are noticeably absent, but this is still a far cry from Netflix’s visually and narratively simplified specials. The bad guys. Anyone with a mild fondness for the Sing films should find more of this.
Sing: Thriller now streaming on Netflix.