Pre-Christmas, my brother and I were exchanging ideas about gifts for the kids. I needed ideas for my nephew and he wanted the same for his nephew and niece here.
Considering the boy only wanted an iPhone, or a Wondercore smart sit-up machine (not happening!) it was getting tough to think up something suitable.
Then my brother came up with the idea of a cinema gift card or something so the children could have a treat on him and their aunty. Perfect!
So today we went to watch Sing! The Movie.
- singing
- animation
- songs
- cute animals
- music
They had it all!
(D’ya get the idea that I may like music?)
We loved it!
The characters were so likeable, I don’t quite know which was my favourite!
Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, the main character, is a koala bear who was following his dreams with his theatre, and when things start to go belly up, he tries all sorts to save it.
Then there is Eddie Noodleman, Buster’s rich partner. A sheep from great theatre stock. The grandson of the great Nana Noodleman, voiced by both Jennifer Hudson (young Nana) and Jennifer Saunders (older Nana). Nana was a theatre singer of high calibre in her performing days, and she inspired Buster to want to own a theatre!
Buster decides to hold a talent show for singers, in an attempt to raise interest in his venue, and much-needed funds to keep in business. But his secretary, the hapless Ms Crawly, an ageing iguana, manages to print flyers advertising a $100,000 prize instead of the $1000 that Buster had planned on awarding.
The interest in the prize money piques the interest of many animals within the city, all hungry for either fame, or the money, or both, and a huge queue of auditionees assembles (rather like The X-Factor!)
There are good, and bad, and plain weird, (again, like The X-Factor!) but the finalists are whittled down to the motley crew below.
We have Mike the crooning mouse, voiced by Seth McFarlane, who does indeed have a wonderful voice, but is far too sure of himself, and expects to win big money.
Then there is Johnny the teenage cockney gorilla. I think he was one of my favourites! He works with his father, who runs a heist gang, organising large-scale robberies, but Johnny’s heart isn’t in it. All he really wants to do is sing. With this father/son relationship, I really felt a great similarity to Phil Mitchell and his son Ben, from Eastenders! There you have a macho father unable to accept his child’s homosexuality, and here you have a dad who can’t believe his son would rather sing, than be a getaway driver!
Check out this video of him singing!
Then you have Reese Witherspoon voicing Rosita the Housewife pig with an amazing voice. This competition could change her life, though she doesn’t dance, so Buster pairs her with Gunter, a German pig who is extremely flamboyant! Gunter is hilarious!
Here is a clip of them together!
Meena is the shy teenage elephant who is bitten severely by the stage fright bug… will she get a chance to actually sing, or be relegated to stage hand? She’s another character I developed a soft spot for!
Finally, we have Ash, the feisty porcupine rock singer, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Originally part of a rock group fronted by her boyfriend, she is singled out as the one with the voice by Buster, which leaves her in an uncomfortable position with her other half. needless to say, it leads to heartbreak, but every cloud has a silver lining…
I don’t want to tell you too much about the rest of the story, but there is drama, tension, humour and glow-in-the-dark squid!
It is well worth a trip, with or without the children. They will love it for the animation, and feel-good factor. If you are like me you will love it for all the great songs that are played through it! I wanted to sing to each snippet I heard, and the performances were so great that at the end of the last one, I wanted to clap! I reined myself in, only to turn around to see my Lil Princess clapping away! She has good taste, that girl!
Here is the trailer if you haven’t caught it on TV yet!
All that is left for me to say is go watch it!!!!!
But I Smile Anyway... 