Sing

By: John Delia

Probably the silliest of animated films this year, that’s good thing for Sing. Enjoyable, very funny, touching and oh incredibly wacky the family film targets children, but the adults will enjoy it a lot more than the average toon. I’m surprised the filmmakers waited so long to put the film in theaters, but with no children’s anime to stop it from becoming a blockbuster it’s a very possible chance it will.

Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey voiced), the grandson of a theatre owner, has the tough job of bringing the venue back to its glory after he inherited entertainment palace. Heading for oblivion, he will have to come up with entertainment that will bring in the crowds or it’s doomsday for the young entrepreneur. With his back to the wall he comes up with a contest of the best singer that will win $1,000 and every cent he has to his name.

His assistant Karen Crawly (Garth Jennings) doesn’t have a clue about her job, but takes orders just the same. One of her duties is to print out the flyers that will be spread all over town for the competition. But, unbeknownst to Buster, Miss Crawly makes a typo on the flyer offering $100,000 to the winner and a gust of wind blows them all over the city.

The candidates line up for the auditions in droves, taking the whole day to go through the contestants a la “The Voice” style. Directors Christophe Lourdelet and Garth Jennings (who also wrote the script) put their funny cast of animal characters to the test as they try to win the big money. The singers who are likable, lovable, kooky and corny take the stage one by one belting songs, crooning and even dancing to their lyrics. The show’s a stitch and the theater owner Buster Moon has all the pain, nervous condition and problems that every production manager has when they are in a serious bind.

Needless to say, the film really makes the grade for the holidays and sets its sights for a huge box-office because of school break. Nicely animated, the characters take on the soft puffy animation that the producer Janet Healy and Associate Producer Brett Hoffman have used in their films Despicable Me and Secret Lives of Pets. Huggable and squishy is the thing right now in animation for families and especially the youngsters.

Sing has been rated PG for some rude humor and mild peril. The music is snappy and sung by some favorites like Steve Wonder, The Spencer Davis Group, Gypsy Kings, Queen and Jennifer Hudson. The cast even belts out some cool tunes as well and I especially liked Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” sung by actors Nick Kroll and Reese Witherspoon.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very funny film for the whole family. (4.5 of 5 stars)