History YMMV / TheSecretLifeOfPets

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/TaraStrong, the only professional voice actor in the film (as opposed to all of the {{celebrity voice actor}}s), plays a character with virtually no lines. [[spoiler: She gets it a ''little'' better in ''Sing''.]]

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/TaraStrong, the only professional voice actor in the film (as opposed to all of the {{celebrity voice actor}}s), plays a character with virtually no lines. [[spoiler: She gets it a ''little'' better in ''Sing''.]]

** Creator/LouisCK's role as Max also raises quite a few eyebrows, as he really isn't a stand-up comedian you'd ''ever'' want to expect in a kid-friendly movie.

** There's an allusion to ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' during the scene with Snowball and the stray animals chasing Max and Duke, with a turtle shell being treated as a Koopa shell. A few years later, [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie Illumination adapted that series]]. For bonus points, both feature Brooklyn as prominent locations.

** There's an allusion to ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' during the scene with the Snowball and the stray animals chasing Max and Duke, with a turtle shell being treated as a Koopa shell. A few years later, [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie Illumination adapted that series]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[spoiler: Is Duke an UnreliableNarrator who ''knew'' that his owner had died, hence his hesitation to see Fred? Or did he not know and was hesitating because of how long he was at the pound?]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Max may not have been very nice to Duke on first impression, but Duke is still pretty hostile to Max, kicking him out of his own bed and eating his food just to spite him. Granted, Max did try to convince Katie to get rid of Duke soon after meeting him, which is what provokes Duke's bad behaviour in the first place, but he could've tried to prove they could get along, rather than give Max more reason to get rid of him. Not helping is when they [[spoiler: discover what happened to Duke's old owner,]] he suddenly gets angry at Max, believing he was trying to get rid of him again and as if what happened was somehow his fault.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Those who don't hate the film have generally agreed that, while the animation is great and there are a few cute scenes, it's an otherwise predictable, toothless plot with uninspired jokes. Even those who aren't bothered by its resemblance to ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' have said it's not even a ''good'' ripoff of it.
* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace with animals]] has been a popular criticism since the first trailer.

** A promo commercial for the film and Petsmart had "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Sympathy for the Devil]]" by Music/TheRollingStones playing in the background.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Max may not have been very nice to Duke on first impression, but Dukes is still pretty hostile to Max, kicking him out of his own bed and eating his food just to spite him. Granted, Max did try to convince Katie to get rid of Duke soonafter meeting him, which's what provokes Duke's bad behaviour in the first place, but he could've tried to prove they could get along, rather than give Max more reason to get rid of him. Not helping is when they [[spoiler: discover what happened to Duke's old owner,]] he suddenly gets angry at Max, believing he was trying to get rid of him again and as if what happened was somehow his fault.

* WhatAnIdiot: When Max rushes into the bathroom and frantically tries to tell his owner to get rid of Duke, all she hears, of course, is his barking. Did he ''honestly'' expect her to understand him?

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Max may not have been very nice to Duke on first impression, but Dukes is still pretty hostile to Max, kicking him out of his own bed and eating his food just to spite him. Granted, Max did try to convince Katie to get rid of Duke soonafter meeting him, which's what provokes Duke's bad behaviour in the first place, but he could've tried to prove they could get along, rather than give Max more reason to get rid of him.