Illumination animation studio barged their way on to the movie scene in 2010, armed with ambitions to challenge Disney/Pixar’s claim to the crown. “Despicable Me” saw an army of uber-cute Minions led by the lovable, spindly-legged villain Gru take it to Pixar and launch a money-printing franchise in the process. Nine years later, the newly arrived trailer for “The Secret Life Of Pets 2” suggests that Illumination are still hot on Pixar’s tail. Ahem.
2016’s “The Secret Life of Pets” confirmed Illumination’s arrival as a contender, raking in a domestic gross of $368 million, allowing the family film to rub shoulders with “Finding Nemo” and the super successful “Frozen.” The imaginatively titled follow-up has been on the receiving end of a whopping 5 character teasers so far, but has only just received its first full-length trailer.
READ MORE: ‘The Secret Life Of Pets’ Opens With Massive $103 Million Weekend [Box Office]
As for the plot? It’s been well and truly under wraps until now, so it’ll be nice to have the trailer shed some light (sorry) on Illumination’s newest heavy hitter. The first film focused on the love/hate relationship between home pup Max and the off-the-street stray Duke, showing us just what our pets get up to while we’re all hard at work. But with the pair now firm friends, what can we expect? The teasers so far have involved vet visits with fire-starting kittens, intensive “how to be a cat” training and doggie newcomer Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) recruiting Captain’ Snowball’s newly discovered power and responsibility for a dangerous mission.
Featuring the voices of Patton Oswalt (replacing Louis C.K.) as Max and Eric Stonestreet (of “Modern Family” fame) as Duke, with Kevin Hart and Jenny Slate returning, alongside Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey and Harrison Ford, “The Secret Life Of Pets 2” is released June 7, 2019 in the U.S. The question is, how will it fare in the year of “Toy Story 4”? Giving the brand spanking new trailer a look will give us a good idea.