History WesternAnimation / Sing

A sequel, ''WesternAnimation/Sing2'', was released on December 22, 2021. All main voices return with the exception of [=MacFarlane=] and Reilly. And newcomers Creator/BobbyCannavale, Music/{{Halsey}}, Music/PharrellWilliams, Creator/LetitiaWright, Creator/ChelseaPeretti, Creator/EricAndre, and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] joined the cast.

** Johnny the gorilla's father is a [[KillerGorilla violent thug]], just like the rest of his gang. Johnny himself averts this, being a GentleGiant.

** Rosita goes to great lengths to keep her house clean and orderly, which is in line with how pigs act in real life. On the other hand, her workaholic husband Norman and her 25 kids can be real slobs like [[MessyPig stereotypical pigs]]. {{Justified|Trope}} in the latter case since they are pretty young kids.

** The first one is focused on [[spoiler: Rosita, Ash, and Johnny. Rosita can't manage to dance well in spite of Gunter's help and is close to giving up, Ash breaks up with her boyfriend after discovering he has cheated on her[[note]]professionally, by working with another musician, though possibly more as they were clearly about to kiss before Ash interrupted[[/note]] and left her brokenhearted, and Johnny indirectly causes his father to get arrested, has IHaveNoSon thrown at him and tries to steal the "$100,000" prize to pay his bail. Thankfully, they all rebound from it.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Johnny confessing to his father Marcus that he was in the singing competition and Marcus initially [[IHaveNoSon rejecting him]] because of it can also be read as a ComingOutStory. Especially since the song he performs at the climax of his arc is an Music/EltonJohn cover.

** [[spoiler: Johnny's dad, who originally told him IHaveNoSon, is impressed when he sees him performing on TV and proudly declares him his son, before immediately remembering what he said before and becoming sad over it. He breaks out of jail just to apologize to Johnny and tell him how proud he is of him.]]

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers make it look like Mike is some kind of criminal or bad guy, when he's actually just a greedy street musician who gets into trouble ''after'' he joins the auditions.

** Johnny sings Elton John's "I'm Still Standing". The song is about someone who moved forward after breaking up from a toxic relationship. Johnny was filled with guilt for having unintentionally let his dad's gang be arrested, was disowned by Marcus and saw his dreams collapsing with the theater. After going through so much, it would make sense if he stopped singing, but Johnny promptly rejoined the theater gang to help rebuild the stage and sing with all his heart. Best of all, his singing makes his dad realize how much of a jerk he had been and motivates him to do everything in his power to make amends, instead of "fading away" like the protagonist's lost lover in the song.

** After Marcus says his final, bittersweet goodbye to Johnny, he backs away from the boy and the shadows casting on him from overhead briefly resemble the bars of a jail cell - signifying how, even though he's started to mend his bond with his son, there's still going to be a lot of distance between them in the days to come, as a consequence of his other actions throughout the film.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Several of the key dramatic points of the movie, such as the [[IHaveNoSon conflict between Johnny and his father]] are spoiled by the third trailer, as are parts of the final show (particularly Rosita's).

''Sing'' is a 2016 computer-animated JukeboxMusical from Creator/{{Universal}} and Creator/IlluminationEntertainment. The film was directed by Creator/GarthJennings and Christophe Lourdelet, the former having previously directed ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', with Jennings also writing the screenplay.

-->'''Buster:''' "You're a female and you're a teenager. This song was made for you!"\\
'''Ash:''' "Wow! [[SarcasmMode It's like you can see inside my tiny teenage mind!]]"\\
'''Buster:''' "I know, right?"

-->'''Nana''': "...And that theater of yours... It was a palace of wonder... and magic..."\\
'''Buster''': "But Nana, It's still is..."\\
'''Eddie''': "Yeah, right!"\\
'''Buster''': "*nudges Eddie*"

** Johnny sings Elton John's "I’m Still Standing". The song is about someone who moved forward after breaking up from a toxic relationship. Johnny was filled with guilt for having unintentionally let his dad's gang be arrested, was disowned by Marcus and saw his dreams collapsing with the theater. After going through so much, it would make sense if he stopped singing, but Johnny promptly rejoined the theater gang to help rebuild the stage and sing with all his heart. Best of all, his singing makes his dad realize how much of a jerk he had been and motivates him to do everything in his power to amends, instead of "fading away" like the protagonist's lost lover in the song.

* CallBack: When Buster decides Johnny should play the piano for his performance, Johnny tells him, "I haven't played piano since I was a kid." When Johnny is performing, one of the lines he sings is: ''"feelin' like a little kid"''

* StockScream: The Wilhelm scream is heard when Ray the Snail is crushed underneath Richard's foot.

* PricklyPorcupine: Ash and Lance, who are both punk rock porcupines [[VagueAge in their late teens]]. Ash, while generally nice is the [[DeadpanSnarker snarkiest]] out of the main cast, especially around Buster, and she has a tendency to shoot her quills when she gets emotional. On the other hand Lance is a complete jerk who eventually [[spoiler:cheats on Ash with another porcupine girl named Becky.]]

* AcquiredErrorAtThePrinter: The prize money was supposed to be $1000 ([[spoiler: or at least, that's what Buster claimed it was]]), but Ms. Crawly's GlassEye slips out of her socket and hits a couple zeroes, and [[RuleOfDrama well...]]

** Johnny and his father prove this is the case. While their relationship for the majority of the film is tense and argumentative at best and downright malicious on Marcus' part after his arrest, there's no denying Johnny's desire to please his father nor Marcus' desire to make amends after he sees Johnny singing on stage. It comes to a head when [[spoiler:Marcus breaks out of prison and is pursued by helicopters as he goes to tell his son that he does love him, and he's really very proud of him, before giving himself up again.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: The Bears are the main villains as they cause the destruction of Moon Theater and try to murder Mike twice but Judith the bank owner becomes the BigBad of Buster's story though she isn't nearly as malevolent as the Bears.

** After Ash catches Lance with another singer and kicks them out, the other girl tries to go back in to get her sunglasses, but is stopped by Ash slamming the door. Later on, when she performs her song "Set It All Free", she puts on those very sunglasses. She also makes some [[PimpedOutDress killer alterations]] to the pop princess dress Buster keeps trying to push on her.

** Buster--not by the creditors, the bank, or the city and people at large (it takes the comeback show at the end to earn that, with some critical outside assistance), but by the contestants (sans Mike), who after TheReveal that the $100,000 was fake [[spoiler:and the destruction of the theatre]] are only concerned about him, want to make sure he's all right, point out that at least they all survived unscathed, and still want to put on the show. One can guess that Ms. Crawly's presence among them means she explained about her error offscreen, but it's also likely simply seeing Buster's reaction [[spoiler:in the ruins]] took a lot of the anger and resentment out of them. They also easily forgive him for how he acts during his HeroicBSOD, although since it's when he's once more enthused about doing the show which they had yearned to be a part of regardless of the money, they're likely too happy to perform to give it much thought. And Meena is such a kind person it makes sense she'd quickly forgive Buster for lashing out.

* ExplosiveBreeder: Rosita has 25 kids, all around the same age (appears to be 6 or 7 years old). TruthInTelevision, since in real life pigs can produce litters that are quite large.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Johnny tries to hide his love of music from his father Marcus, who pushes Johnny to participate as a lookout and a getaway driver in the heists Marcus' gang of gorillas commits. After Johnny misses a heist (due to having to practice for the show) and inadvertently causes Marcus to be arrested, Marcus dismisses Johnny as a failure and a disappointment. He has a change of heart though, when he sees Johnny performing on the broadcast of the talent show, and realizes that Johnny has a natural talent and passion for music. Regretting the cruel words he said to Johnny earlier, Marcus [[spoiler: breaks out of prison and shows up at the theater to reconcile with his son, apologizing and telling Johnny how proud he is of him]].

* FollowInMyFootsteps: Johnny the gorilla is faced with this dilemma. His father wants him to join the gang, but Johnny just wants to sing.

* FurryConfusion: All of the squids are mutes. [[spoiler: Except during the credits.]]

** Rosita [[spoiler: manages to build an elaborate contraption from things lying around her house to take care of her piglets while she's away at rehearsals. It works so well none of her children or her husband appear to notice that she's not actually there]].

** Buster is a bit shady, what with how he sinks to stealing water and electricity from the neighbouring buildings, writes paychecks that bounce, and keeps putting off talking to the bank representative through various excuses. He also takes Eddie out to dinner at a fancy restaurant he can't afford (and brings sandwiches instead) and deceives people about the prize money. But he's still trying to find the prize money, and his sole motivation seems to be producing great entertainment, saving his theatre, and helping people express their passion and talents because of his love of music and the theatre, as well as to make his dad proud.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Lance goes to the auditions, but when only Ash is selected, he immediately decides that entering the contest would be selling out. Then, when Ash complains about Buster trying to change her image, he tells her to go along with it if she wants to win, apparently feeling she's not selling out ''enough''. Worse, he had berated her for singing in the tiki-restaurant and glares at her when Ashes carries away during the audition; but he's pretty happiy into singing with Becky on a duet.
* IdleRich: Eddie. He doesn't have a job because his family is extremely wealthy, and the only reason why Buster's theater wasn't shut down years before was because Eddie's family funded his shows, but had since decided not finance another of Buster's flops. The only time he's seen doing anything that resembles work was when he decided to help Buster [[spoiler: wash cars during his HeroicBSOD]] and at [[spoiler:the end when he was in charge of the background music and lighting.]]
* IHaveNoSon: Johnny the gorilla's father's basic reaction when Johnny admits he doesn't want to join the gang.

** During rehearsals, Gunter watches Rosita trip and fall on her face and then when Buster asks "Are you okay?", assumes the koala must be talking to ''him''. Although with the context of the scene, it can also be read as him trying to defuse the atmosphere.
** Mike has shades of this; he is so confident he's going to win the singing competition (and the "$100,000" prize) that he near-constantly trash-talks the other acts and takes out a massive loan to buy a high-end car to impress Nancy. In his defence he's an excellent performer, singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" with a helicopter circling above him.

** Played with for Mike. Although the movie ends with him [[spoiler: on the run from the Russian Bear Mob for cheating at cards,]] he also got away with [[spoiler: an impressive live television performance, a sports car bought with borrowed money that he probably won't repay, and a sexy female mouse who's proven herself to be a loyal companion.]] All things considered, he ended up rather well despite his {{Jerkass}} tendencies.

** The three Russian bears who relentlessly hunt down Mike have absolutely no lighthearted tendencies to their names, and the mood plummets when they appear. Most noticeable when [[spoiler:they barge into the theatre during the dress rehearsal with Mike in tow and demand Buster give them the one-hundred thousand dollars that Mike owes them. The casual way they threaten to murder Mike on the spot in broad daylight is chilling, and of course it's this confrontation that ends up ultimately destroying the theatre which leads to the biggest DarkestHour of the whole film.]]
** There's also Marcus, Johnny's father. Though not half as malicious as the bears, Marcus has very few comedic scenes, his crimes are not PlayedForLaughs and his IHaveNoSon moment with Johnny is a clear showcase of how ruthless and cold he can be. Marcus lightens up significantly in the end [[spoiler:when he escapes from prison to make amends with Johnny and he sheds his antagonistic role]], but never completely loses his air of seriousness.

* {{Leitmotif}}: "Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight" could be one for the Moon Theatre. It's heard during [[RuleOfThree three key scenes]] in the film: the initial scene that clarifies how Buster fell in love with the theatre life, [[spoiler:the [[DarkReprise aftermath of the Moon Theatre's destruction]], and the final scene, in which Nana buys the Moon Theatre and [[TriumphantReprise has it restored to its former glory]]]].
* LetsSeeYouDoBetter: [[spoiler:When Mike sees Rosita and Gunter performing on TV, he quickly laughs them off. Another viewer taunts him with this, which is enough for him to go back and actually sing.]]

* LimitedWardrobe: Most of the contestants don't change outfits for the whole movie until the final show. Johnny is never seen in clothes other than his leather jacket, jeans and green sweater. Buster is a more depressing case as it's implied that the red bowtie, blue blazer and slacks and white button-up are the only clothes he owns.

* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Rosita gave up her budding career to care for 25 piglets.

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Johnny is at rehearsal instead of ready-ing the getaway car which is what lands his father and his gang in prison.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Johnny's dad, who originally told him IHaveNoSon, is impressed when he sees him performing on T.V. and proudly declares him his son, before immediately remembering what he said before and becoming sad over it. He breaks out of jail just to apologize to Johnny and tell him how proud he is of him.]]

** Overall averted. Buster is played by an American, not an Australian, and the Gorillas have English accents, not African.

* PaperThinDisguise: The gang Johnny's father (all gorillas) runs wear bunny masks during heists. Tiny, look-like-they-were-cut-from-a-paper-plate masks. Johnny is chastised for not wearing his, and pulls one on when [[spoiler:he goes to steal the money from Moon's office]].

** When creating the publicity flyers for the competition, Ms. Crawly's glass eye falls out and hits the keyboard, advertising a $100,000 grand prize instead of the intended $1,000. Ms. Crawly doesn't check to see if there's no typos before printing them out and retrieving her glass eye. Buster also doesn't get a chance to look at the flyers before the fan blows them out the window and throughout the city. This means that they don't find out about the mistake until after the auditions are over. Then Buster decides to keep the contestants in the dark about it instead of confessing they typo because he thinks that he can somehow get a hundred grand together in time. [[FromBadToWorse This leads to several more problems down the line]].

** It is also implied that he's just pretending to be this, so he can get what he wants without getting into an argument (or he only understands It in certain situations). In the scene where he asks for Nana's support, he seems to clearly get Eddie's sarcasm.
-->'''Nana''': "...And that theater of yours... It was a palace of wonder... and magic..."
-->'''Buster''': "But Nana, It's still is..."
-->'''Eddie''': "Yeah, right!"
-->'''Buster''': "*nudges Eddie*"

--> '''Meena's Mom:''' (to Meena) Oh, I'm so proud of you. I could Pop!
** After watching Johnny's performance on TV, Marcus breaks out of prison to give Johnny his approval by telling him how proud he is of him and apologize for selfishly disowning him.
--> '''Marcus:''' (to Johnny) I'm so proud of you.

** The toads in the audition sing “Jump”.
** Ray the snail sings “Run Like Wind”. Poor little thing.
** Rosita sings “Shake it Off,” which is about a girl who keeps dancing and having fun without caring about what other people think of her. Rosita was pretty self-conscious about dancing, and learned how to let herself go.
** Johnny sings Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing”. The song is about someone who moved forward after breaking up from a toxic relationship. Johnny was filled with guilt for having unintentionally let his dad's gang be arrest, was disowned by Marcus and saw his dreams collapsing with the theather. After going through so much it would make sense if he stopped singing, but Johnny promptly rejoined the gang to help rebuilding the stage and sing with all his heart. Best of all, his singing makes his dad realize how much of a jerk he was instead of "fading away" like the protagonist's lost lover in the song.
** Mike sings Frank Sinatra’s [[Music/MyWay “My Way”]]. It’s about a man who in the end of his life admits that he commit a lot of mistakes, but still, he's proud of the life he had and ready to go with dignity. Mike is a selfish jerkass who bet a money he didn’t have, causing the bears to destroy the theater and almost kill Buster and his team. He's full of gambling debts, he may be caught and killed by the bears at any moment since the show is on tv, but he decides to go anyway and in great style.
* {{Symbolism}}: The movie opens on the Moon Theater ''towering'' over the neighboring buildings, as though establishing it as the metaphorical "Broadway Giant" of its times. Years later, when Buster owns it, the existing buildings beside it are notably as tall as the theater. This marks how the Moon Theater is no longer the biggest thing in town, both literally and metaphorically.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Rosita's mornings are so predictable that she builds a Rube Goldberg contraption that takes care of all 25 kids, sends them to school, and tells her husband where his keys are, and it works for all of the rehearsals.

** Downplayed with Ash. While she wears a plaid skirt and makeup, she otherwise looks almost indistinguishable gender-wise from her boyfriend and fellow porcupine, Lance. Lampshaded by Buster at one point, who asks which one is the girl. Her "very funny" response implies they get this a lot. (It helps that she dresses in a very {{tomboy}}ish manner.)
** Also Downplayed for Rosita, the HouseWife pig. While she has slightly longer eyebrows and bigger HartmanHips than the two male adult pigs in the movie, she doesn't have any other overtly feminine visual markers (makeup, accessories, girly clothes, etc) to slap the audience in the face with her femaleness.

* TimePassesMontage: A very short one showing the line of auditions outside the theater taking all day to shrink. [[spoiler:Also played with when the ending shows the Theater being rebuilt from scratch, however, none of Rosita's piglets grow in size so it must have still been a short time overall.]]

* TragicKeepsake: Downplayed example (at first)--Buster keeps the bucket his father used to wash cars not as a memorial so much as a reminder of all of the hard work and sacrifice his father put into supporting Buster's dreams. [[spoiler:But after the theatre collapses and he finds it buried in the rubble, it becomes a genuinely heartbreaking example, as he feels he has failed his father as well as himself.]] It's also what he uses when he's forced to go into washing cars himself, but here it becomes more positive again once Eddie joins him.

* TryingNotToCry: Ash while singing "Call Me Maybe" and remembering her boyfriend cheating on her the previous night. She fails.

* VagueAge: Some of the contestants are ambiguous when it comes to their age, particularly the younger ones - Ash, Johnny, and Meena. They are either called or implied to be teenagers but none of them are seen attending school, the existence of which is demonstrated by Rosita's piglets getting on a school bus. Ash is called a "teenager" multiple times throughout the film but seems to live without parents, whom are never even mentioned, and is looking for work with her boyfriend [[spoiler: until they broke up]], so she is probably around 18 or 19. Johnny lives with his father and is referred to as a teenager [[https://thescriptsavant.com/pdf/Sing.pdf in the script]], but is designed to look and sound like a young adult. Furthermore, when his father goes to prison, there is no mention of child services or social workers. Meena is also labeled as a teenager in the script, lives with her maternal relatives, and acts like a younger teenager (13 to 16), but a picture held up by someone at a party suggests she has graduated from high school. Furthermore, Meena's singing ability surpasses what is normally expected from an adolescent.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Mike, an actual mouse, ends the movie owing $100,000 to both a bank and the Russian Bear Mafia, and one of the bears [[DangerTakesaBackseat clinging to the back of Mike's car]]. It's actually quite literal here; Mike exits the movie still in danger, and never returns, not even for the "happy ending" photo; he isn't even mentioned in the sequel.]]

* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: While it makes sense for the news station to cover the debut of Buster's talent show (which is particularly newsworthy after [[spoiler: the destruction of the theater]]), there's no justification for them to broadcast it in its '''entirety.''' Even assuming there were absolutely ''no other newsworthy events anywhere'' that evening, the lack of commercial interruptions makes no sense whatsoever. Especially given there should have been breaking news over Marcus' escape from jail mid-show as he rushed to make amends. There was a manhunt on but the show was still airing.

The movie centers around Buster Moon (Creator/MatthewMcConaughey), an optimistic koala who plans on using a singing competition to save his struggling theater from being closed. The contest quickly attracts a big crowd of talented wannabes, such as the frazzled pig housewife Rosita (Creator/ReeseWitherspoon), street musician mouse Mike (Creator/SethMacFarlane), reluctant juvenile delinquent gorilla Johnny (Creator/TaronEgerton), teen punk girl porcupine Ash (Creator/ScarlettJohansson), and the ultra-shy elephant Meena (Music/ToriKelly). Buster is initially aided by his slacker sheep friend Eddie (Creator/JohnCReilly), but complicating things further is a typo in the original flyer: one that listed the award as $100,000 instead of Buster's meager $1,000...

** Also the three Russian bears that go into the club that Mike is performing outside of. They seem inconsequential, until Mike eventually gets into the club and cheats them out of a lot of money in a poker game. Then [[spoiler: they end up unwittingly causing the flooding and destruction of the Moon Theatre and the subsequent DarkestHour.]]

** [[spoiler: When Marcus breaks out of jail to tell [[SoProudOfYou his son how proud he is of him]], Johnny is so happy that his father has accepted his aspirations that he willingly lets [[IHaveNoSon what happened during their previous meeting]] be water under the bridge]].

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: {{Discussed|Trope}} InUniverse; After Buster decides to put on the singing competition, Eddie's response is "Who wants to see another one of those?". Buster argues that the reason why singing competions always work is that there's real talent that comes from real life and it gives anybody a chance at being a star.
* {{Jerkass}}: Mike, who enters the contest strictly for the money, never bonds with the other contestants, and is openly rude and dismissive to them. He is eventually impressed by [[spoiler: Meena's singing,]] but never offers any compliment or apologizes for his earlier rudeness (although the fact that [[spoiler: he and his girlfriend had to run away from the Russian bears during the final performance might have had something to do with that]]).

* AdultFear:
** [[spoiler:The flooding and collapse of the theatre becomes this when you remember that Meena, Rosita, and Johnny all had family members seen on screen and they came very close to drowning or being crushed in the crumbling building.]] Especially strong on Meena and Rosita's case since Meena's family was bursting with pride when she told them she was working on the show and she nearly died on the job ([[spoiler:especially since the flood pushed Meena into the ticket booth window, and she only got unstuck thanks to Johnny]]), and Rosita's enormous family proved that they cannot function without her around.
** Rosita gets one after the above example. [[spoiler:She returns home after the flood to find her RubeGoldbergDevice has malfunctioned and left her ''entire'' family hanging by clothesline pins very high above the ground.]]

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Johnny comes very close to burglarizing the chest where the "prize money" is, but changes his mind when he sees Buster's notes on his profile - namely, the "Natural born singer" part.

* GoshDangItToHeck: When Porsha storms off thinking Buster is firing her, she tells Buster him and his "stupid sky-fi show can go to heck".

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: {{Subverted|Trope}} with Ash. She wears what appears to be a plaid skirt for most of the movie, but doesn't appreciate Buster's assumption that she'll enjoy being in a frilly sparkly dress because she's a teenage girl. [[spoiler:Her final performance has her in a PimpedOutDress with a leather jacket on top]].

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Johnny is at rehearsal instead of readying the getaway car which is what lands his father and his gang in prison.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Johnny's dad, who originally told him IHaveNoSon, is impressed when he sees him performing on T.V. and proudly declares him his son, before immediately remembering what he said before and becoming sad over it. He breaks out of jail just to apologize to Johnny and tell him how proud of him he is.]]

** When Meena returns home after an attempt to re-audition failed, she discovers a crowd of neighbors and her family waiting for her. When her grandfather asks if she made it into the show, she admits that she "sort of" has a role. But before she can explain that Buster made her the stagehand, they all cheer for her thinking that she got an act. Then when she tries to explain the truth, her mother makes her promise not to speak at home in order to save her voice and only nod or shake her head. Unlike the prize money typo, however, it doesn't cause much problems; Meena does end up in the show after [[spoiler: Pete ends up in the hospital]], and presumably her family never found out about her being the stagehand.

* Suspiciously Apropos Music:

* {{Hypocrite}}: Lance goes to the auditions, but when only Ash is selected, he immediately decides that entering the contest would be selling out. Then, when Ash complains about Buster trying to change her image, he tells her to go along with it if she wants to win, apparently feeling she's not selling out ''enough''.

** When Meena returns home after an attempt to reaudition failed, she discovers a crowd of neighbors and her family waiting for her. When her grandfather asks if she made it into the show, she admits that she "sort of" has a role. But before she can explain that Buster made her the stagehand, they all cheer for her thinking that she got an act. Then when she tries to explain the truth, her mother makes her promise not to speak at home in order to save her voice and only nod or shake her head. Unlike the prize money typo, however, it doesn't cause much problems; Meena does end up in the show after [[spoiler: Pete ends up in the hospital]], and presumably her family never found out about her being the stagehand.

* TemptingFate: [[spoiler: While Lance and Becky are singing "Love Interruption" together, the lyric they sing is "I want love to change my friends into enemies". Meanwhile, Ash is standing in the doorway, catching them in the act of essentially having an affair behind her back, quickly going from Lance's girlfriend to his girl-[[IronicEcho enemy]].]]

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/illuminations_sing.png]]

The movie centers around Buster Moon (Creator/MatthewMcConaughey), an optimistic koala who plans on using a singing competition to save his struggling theater from being closed. The contest quickly attracts a big crowd of talented wannabes, such as the frazzled pig housewife Rosita (Creator/ReeseWitherspoon), mouse street musician Mike (Creator/SethMacFarlane), reluctant gorilla juvenile delinquent Johnny (Creator/TaronEgerton), teen porcupine punk girl Ash (Creator/ScarlettJohansson), and the ultra-shy elephant Meena (Music/ToriKelly). Buster is initially aided by his slacker goat friend Eddie (Creator/JohnCReilly), but complicating things further is a typo in the original flyer: one that listed the award as $100,000 instead of Buster's meager $1,000...

A sequel, ''WesternAnimation/Sing2'', was released on December 22, 2021. All main voices return with the exception of [=MacFarlane=] and Reilly, and Creator/BobbyCannavale, Music/{{Halsey}}, Music/PharrellWilliams, Creator/LetitiaWright, Creator/ChelseaPeretti, Creator/EricAndre, and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] will be joining the cast.

* AlmostKiss: Between Lance and Becky, except Ash walks in on them.
* AllThereInTheScript: The lady mouse Mike tries to woo is named Nancy in the screenplay.

* BioluminescenceIsCool: The squid.

** Numerous times early on in the film it's made clear either how dilapidated the theatre is, how Buster is cutting corners to try and keep things going, that he is pinning all his hopes on producing a successful show so as to support the restoration work, or that the place has not been made as up-to-code and stellar as he keeps claiming it is. Adding all this up, it isn't hard to guess something is going to go very wrong with the theatre [[spoiler:but none of that can really compare to what an utter disaster its fate turns out to be]].
** Early on the viewers get to see a flashback of the opening gala night for the Moon Theatre, as well as a black-and-white photo of the event on Buster's office wall, showing him and his dad surrounded by the various stage crew and performers for the show. Later on there are also several shots where the singing contestants stand around Buster in a similar fashion, in some cases with their species lining up with those in the original photo. [[spoiler:The film ends with the contestants and Buster's friends and benefactors recreating the picture in full, becoming another black-and-white photograph.]]

** Nana Noodleman, the sheep songstress singing at Buster's backstory. [[spoiler: She's Eddie's grandmother, and the one who ends up saving the theater.]]

* DenserAndWackier: Inverted without bordering so much on DarkerAndEdgier; the film isn't without its humor and lightheartedness, but it's more grounded in reality and less zany compared to Illumination's prior works.

* HeroicBSOD: Buster has one after [[spoiler: the Moon Theatre collapses]].

* IdleRich: Eddie. He doesn't have a job because his family is extremely wealthy, and the only reason why Buster's theater wasn't shut down years before was because Eddie's family funded his shows, but had since decided not finance another of Buster's flops. The only time he's seen doing anything that resembles work was when he decided to help Buster [[spoiler: wash cars during his HeroicBSOD]] and at [[spoiler: the end when he was in charge of the background music and lighting.]]

* KnightOfCerebus: Two examples.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Johnny's dad, who originally told him IHaveNoSon, is impressed when he sees him performing on T.V and proudly declares him his son, before immediately remembering what he said before and becoming sad over it. He breaks out of jail just to apologize to Johnny and tell him how proud of him he is.]]

* NoAntagonist: Despite having several subplots that tie into one main plot, this film does not seem to have any specific BigBad.

* RubeGoldbergDevice: [[spoiler: Rosita builds one to take care of home in her stead. See HiddenDepths.]]

** Nana's glare and accompanying ''sung'' ScareChord

* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Downplayed with Ash. While she wears a plaid skirt and makeup, she otherwise looks almost indistinguishable gender-wise from her boyfriend and fellow porcupine, Lance. Lampshaded by Buster at one point, who asks which one is the girl. Her "very funny" response implies they get this a lot. (It helps that she dresses in a very {{tomboy}}ish manner.)

* HeyLetsPutOnAShow: The film's central conflict.

* KarmaHoudini: Played with for Mike. Although the movie ends with him [[spoiler: on the run from the Russian Bear Mob for cheating at cards,]] he also got away with [[spoiler: an impressive live television performance, a sports car bought with borrowed money that he probably won't repay, and a sexy female mouse who's proven herself to be a loyal companion.]] All things considered, he ended up rather well despite his {{Jerkass}} tendencies.

** When Meena returns home after an attempt to reaudituon failed, she discovers a crowd of neighbors and her family waiting for her. When her grandfather asks if she made it into the show, she admits that she "sort of" has a role. But before she can explain that Buster made her the stagehand, they all cheer for her thinking that she got an act. Then when she tries to explain the truth, her mother makes her promise not to speak at home in order to save her voice and only nod or shake her head. Unlike the prize money typo, however, it doesn't cause much problems; Meena does end up in the show after [[spoiler: Pete ends up in the hospital]], and presumably her family never found out about her being the stagehand.

* PunchClockVillain: Judith, the alpaca from the bank. Also Johnny.

The movie centers around Buster Moon (Creator/MatthewMcConaughey), an optimistic koala who plans on using a singing competition to save his struggling theater from being closed. The contest quickly attracts a big crowd of talented wannabes, such as the frazzled pig housewife Rosita (Creator/ReeseWitherspoon), mouse street musician Mike (Creator/SethMacFarlane), reluctant gorilla juvenile delinquent Johnny (Creator/TaronEgerton), teen porcupine punk girl Ash (Creator/ScarlettJohansson), and the ultra-shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly). Buster is initially aided by his slacker goat friend Eddie (Creator/JohnCReilly), but complicating things further is a typo in the original flyer: one that listed the award as $100,000 instead of Buster's meager $1,000...

A sequel, ''WesternAnimation/Sing2'', was released on December 22, 2021. All main voices return with the exception of [=MacFarlane=] and Reilly, and Bobby Cannavale, Music/{{Halsey}}, Music/PharrellWilliams, Creator/LetitiaWright, Creator/ChelseaPeretti, Eric Andre and [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] will be joining the cast.

* AloneAmongTheCouples: Miss Crawley in the short ''Love at First Sight''. After her attempts at online dating fail, she ends up wandering the streets dejected among various couples.

* DecemberDecemberRomance: In the short ''Love at First Sight'', after Miss Crawley's attempts at online dating fail, she meets an elderly lizard named Herman whom she hits it off with.

** After Buster finds out about the typo that increased the prize money by 100, he doesn't blame Ms. Crawley for the mistake despite it kickstarting a new problem for the show.
--> '''Buster''': ''(exasperated at Ms. Crawley crying in remorse)'' For the last time, Ms. Crawley, I am '''''not''''' going to fire you!
** Buster--not by the creditors, the bank, or the city and people at large (it takes the comeback show at the end to earn that, with some critical outside assistance), but by the contestants (sans Mike), who after TheReveal that the $100,000 was fake [[spoiler:and the destruction of the theatre]] are only concerned about him, want to make sure he's all right, point out that at least they all survived unscathed, and still want to put on the show. One can guess that Ms. Crawley's presence among them means she explained about her error offscreen, but it's also likely simply seeing Buster's reaction [[spoiler:in the ruins]] took a lot of the anger and resentment out of them. They also easily forgive him for how he acts during his HeroicBSOD, although since it's when he's once more enthused about doing the show which they had yearned to be a part of regardless of the money, they're likely too happy to perform to give it much thought. And Meena is such a kind person it makes sense she'd quickly forgive Buster for lashing out.

* LiarRevealed: [[spoiler:When the bears show up and demand the chest of prize money, Buster agrees to give them the chest, but the bears then demand that Buster open it. Buster tries to stave off revealing the prize money isn't $100,000 by saying he doesn't have the key, but the bears just smash the chest open with a baseball bat, revealing that the prize money isn't real. Mike then shouts that Buster lied (although to be fair, the typo on the flyer was Ms. Crawley's doing, Buster is only guilty of keeping this a secret, rather than outright telling a falsehood).]]

* LuckyTranslation: During the scene in which the pamphlets for the singing competition are being designed, Buster tells Mrs. Crawley to "spread the word", which ends up being done via the fan accidentally blowing away the pamphlets all over the town. It's even funnier in the Brazilian Portuguese dub, in which the term "espalhar aos quatro ventos" (literally "to spread through the four winds") is used.

* OnlyOneName: Played with; while surnames are given for some characters (Buster Moon, Miss Crawley, the Noodlemans), most of the characters are only ever addressed by their first name -- Mike, Rosita, Ash, Johnny, Meena, Gunter, Lance, Stan, etc. This becomes noticeably cumbersome when Buster introduces characters for the next upcoming act.

** When creating the publicity flyers for the competition, Ms. Crawley's glass eye falls out and hits the keyboard, advertising a $100,000 grand prize instead of the intended $1,000. Ms. Crawley doesn't check to see if there's no typos before printing them out and retrieving her glass eye. Buster also doesn't get a chance to look at the flyers before the fan blows them out the window and throughout the city. This means that they don't find out about the mistake until after the auditions are over. Then Buster decides to keep the contestants in the dark about it instead of confessing they typo because he thinks that he can somehow get a hundred grand together in time. [[FromBadToWorse This leads to several more problems down the line]].

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: Pete. He's among the contestants Buster picks for rehearsals, but he's later knocked unconscious in an accident involving Ms. Crawley's glass eye, having to go to the hospital. This also applies to the trio of frogs, as while Buster initially picked them as a group act, they break up due to two of them complaining that the third is an "intolerable egomaniac".]]

* SneezeOfDoom: Miss Crawley sneezes and blows tea in Nana's face.

* WindsOfDestinyChange: Buster invokes this metaphorically when he waxes eloquent to Ms. Crawley regarding the show and what it will do for his and everyone else's lives... then it becomes literal as the wind blows in the open window, scattering the contest flyers all over the city and, through various contrivances, brings them to each of the main characters previously introduced.

* PricklyPorcupine: Ash and Lance, who are both punk rock porcupines [[VagueAge in their late teens]]. Ash is the [[DeadpanSnarker snarkiest]] out of the main cast, and she has a tendency to shoot her quills when she gets emotional. On the other hand Lance is a complete jerk who eventually [[spoiler:cheats on Ash with another porcupine girl named Becky.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Mike, an actual mouse, ends the movie owing $100,000 to both a bank and the Russian Bear Mafia, and one of the bears [[DangerTakesaBackseat clinging to the back of Mike's car]]. It's actually quite literal here; Mike exits the movie still in danger, and never returns, not even for the "happy ending" photo, he isn't even mentioned in the sequel.]]

* VagueAge: Some of the contestants are ambiguous when it comes to their age. None of them are seen attending school, the existence of which is demonstrated by Rosita's piglets getting on a school bus. Ash is called a "teenager" but seems to live without parents and is looking for work with her boyfriend [[spoiler: until they broke up]], so she is probably around 18 or 19. Johnny lives with his father but is designed to look and sound like a young adult. Furthermore, when his father goes to prison, there is no mention of child services or social workers. Meena lives with her maternal relatives and acts like a younger teenager (13 to 16), but a picture held up by someone at a party suggests she has graduated from high school. Furthermore, [[spoiler: Meena's singing ability surpasses what is normally expected from an adolescent]].

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: {{Subverted|Trope}} with Ash. She wears what appears to be a plaid skirt for most of the movie, but doesn't appreciate Buster's assumption that she'll enjoy being in a frilly pink dress because she's a teenage girl. [[spoiler:Her final performance has her in a PimpedOutDress with a leather jacket on top]].

* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Averted for Ash, who looks almost indistinguishable gender-wise from her boyfriend and fellow porcupine, Lance. Lampshaded by Buster at one point, who asks which one is the girl. Her "very funny" response implies they get this a lot. (It helps that she dresses in a very {{tomboy}}ish manner.)
** Downplayed for Rosita, the HouseWife pig. While she has slightly longer eyebrows and bigger HartmanHips than the two male adult pigs in the movie, she doesn't have any other overtly feminine visual markers (makeup, accessories, girly clothes, etc) to slap the audience in the face with her femaleness.