90 Fun Facts About Sing

In Sing, what kind of animal is theatre owner Buster Moon?

A koala who once dreamed of being the first of his kind in space, Buster instead sank his father's life savings into a run-down theatre.

Who voices Buster Moon in Sing?

Matthew McConaughey voices a born showman: Buster opens every performance himself, riding a golden crescent moon hung above the stage.

Which Sing character does the film's own director voice?

Miss Crawly's croak is the director's own, and his four sons joined him in the cast as some of Rosita's piglets.

Which animation studio made Sing with Universal Pictures?

Illumination's founder had the idea himself, a shifty theatre owner staging a singing contest, and hired a director who had never made an animated film.

In Sing, what animal is Buster's friend Eddie?

A sheep from a wealthy family, Eddie lounges in his parents' pool house and doubts every one of Buster's schemes, yet takes him in when the theatre is lost.

Who sings Faith with Stevie Wonder over the end credits of Sing?

Ariana Grande and Stevie Wonder's duet was written for the film and earned a Golden Globe nomination, only to lose to City of Stars from La La Land.

In Sing, which song is Meena singing alone in the theatre's rubble when Buster hears her?

Hallelujah, sung along to her headphones in the ruins, is what convinces Buster the show must go on, outdoors on the empty lot.

In Sing, the pop group the Q-Teez speak and understand only which language?

Japanese is all they speak, so when Buster tries a phrasebook invitation back into the show it comes out as an insult, and they quit in disgust.

In Sing, what kind of animal is Judith, the banker threatening to repossess the theatre?

A llama voiced by Rhea Perlman, Judith repossesses the lot when the theatre collapses, then tries to shut down the outdoor show as well.

In Sing, Buster means to offer a $1,000 prize, but a typo on the flyers promises how much?

$100,000 went out on flyers that a fan blew through the window before anyone could proofread them, when Buster could barely scrape together the $1,000.

In Sing, what kind of animal is Miss Crawly, Buster Moon's elderly assistant?

An iguana with a glass eye that keeps popping out: it bounces across her keyboard as she types the flyer and adds extra zeros to the prize money.

In Sing, how many piglets does Rosita have?

25 piglets and an exhausted husband have buried Rosita's inner diva under housework, which is why the contest matters so much to her.

Who voices Rosita in Sing?

Reese Witherspoon dusted off the singing voice that won her an Oscar for Walk the Line: Rosita belts Katy Perry's Firework in her first scene.

In Sing, what kind of animal is the punk-rocker Ash?

A porcupine who auditions as half of a duo, Ash is picked as a solo act, to the fury of her less talented boyfriend.

Who voices Ash in Sing?

Scarlett Johansson has a parallel career as a singer, and she performs Ash's rock numbers herself in a husky growl.

In Sing, Johnny, the son of a gang leader, is what kind of animal?

A gorilla whose father runs a gang of bank robbers, Johnny slips away from a job to rehearse, and the whole crew ends up in prison.

Who voices Johnny in Sing?

Taron Egerton did his own singing as Johnny, three years before he played Elton John in Rocketman.

In Sing, what is the name of Johnny's gang-leader father?

Big Daddy breaks out of prison when the show is broadcast live, and crosses the city to make peace with his son.

In Sing, Mike, the street musician, is what kind of animal?

A mouse with a Rat Pack croon, Mike is so sure he will win that he takes a huge bank loan to buy a flashy car.

In Sing, teenager Meena is what kind of animal?

An elephant, Meena goes back to ask Buster for a second audition and, through a mix-up, comes away with a job as his stagehand instead.

Who voices Meena in Sing?

Tori Kelly is a Grammy-nominated singer rather than an actress, and gives Meena the film's biggest voice, down to the Stevie Wonder classic that closes the show.

Why does Meena fail her audition?

She settles for being Buster's stagehand before finally performing at the outdoor show.

In Sing, exuberant dancer Gunter is what kind of animal?

A pig with a German accent and a gold-glitter jumpsuit, Gunter steals the auditions with Bad Romance and is then paired with Rosita for a dance routine.

Who voices Gunter in Sing?

Nick Kroll gives Gunter a thick German accent, and Variety's critic warned that this 'Teutonic attention hog' threatens to steal the show.

Who voices Eddie in Sing?

John C. Reilly voices a rich-kid slacker who is done sinking his parents' money into Buster's flops, yet gives him a home when everything collapses.

Which Absolutely Fabulous star voices Nana Noodleman in Sing?

Jennifer Saunders voices a retired diva who refuses to bail Buster out, then is so impressed by the outdoor show that she buys the lot and rebuilds the theatre.

Who voices Nana Noodleman as a young star in Sing?

Jennifer Hudson sings the film's opening number as the young Nana, the performance that makes six-year-old Buster fall in love with the theatre.

In Sing, Mike swindles a group of what at a card game?

Russian bears, who track Mike to the theatre and smash open the prize chest with a baseball bat, exposing how little money is inside.

In Sing, what does Buster use to light the rebuilt stage after the stage lights break?

Luminescent squids glow in a glass tank built into the stage, until it shatters and the flood brings the whole theatre down.

Which song does Ash perform at the final show in Sing?

Set It All Free is her own composition, written after her break-up, and Variety's critic picked it as the tune audiences would go home singing.

In Sing, what is the name of Rosita's husband?

Norman is too exhausted and distracted to notice what his wife is up to, until he sees her perform and runs on stage to kiss her.

Who voices Rosita's husband in Sing?

Nick Offerman voices the exhausted dad who misses his wife's whole double life as a performer, then is bowled over when he finally sees her perform.

Which film beat Sing to the Golden Globe for animation?

Zootopia won in a year crowded with talking animals; one critic joked that parents might pass Sing off as the Zootopia sequel their kids wanted.

Which 2023 film took Sing's record as the highest-grossing film never to top the US box office?

Oppenheimer opened the same weekend as Barbie and never once led the US chart, yet it passed Sing's total to take the record.

Sing overtook which 2002 film as the top earner never to reach number one?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding opened in limited release and kept growing for months, earning $241 million in the US without ever winning a weekend.

Which film kept Sing in second place on its opening weekend?

Rogue One, the Star Wars spin-off, was in its second week when Sing opened and held first place through the holidays, which is why Sing never reached number one.

Which Elton John hit does Johnny perform at the final show in Sing?

I'm Still Standing goes out live on the local news, which is how his jailed father sees it and why he breaks out to find his son.

In Sing, which bubbly pop hit does Buster try to make punk-rocker Ash sing?

Call Me Maybe is his pick because, he tells her, she is female and a teenager, so the song was made for her; she is not persuaded.

Who voices Mike in Sing?

Seth MacFarlane is best known for creating Family Guy, but he is a practised crooner and sings Mike's Sinatra numbers himself.

Roughly how many pop songs are heard in Sing?

65 is the usual count, though many are only snatches in the quick-fire audition montage, ranging from Irving Berlin and the Beatles to Beyoncé.

Sing was animated in which European city?

Paris is home to the animation studio, so the British director moved there with his wife and four sons, who ended up speaking better French than he did.

In Sing, which film director voices Daniel, the giraffe who auditions with the song Ben?

Wes Anderson took the cameo because he, Edgar Wright and Sing's director are friends who make a habit of turning up in each other's films.

Which Frank Sinatra standard does Mike sing at the final show in Sing?

My Way is his show-stopper, but the gamblers he cheated spot him on the live broadcast and come after him.

Which Taylor Swift hit do Rosita and Gunter perform at the final show in Sing?

Shake It Off is the routine that defeats her in rehearsal, printed dance steps and all; she finds her feet again in a supermarket aisle and nails it on the night.

Which 2005 sci-fi comedy did Sing's director make before it?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came first, then Son of Rambow in 2007; two later projects fell apart, so Sing was his first film in nine years.

Which Beatles song does the young Nana sing in the opening scene of Sing?

Golden Slumbers, run together with Carry That Weight, returns twice more: when the theatre lies in ruins and again when it reopens.

In Sing, what stops Johnny from stealing the prize money?

A note praising his talent, Buster's handwritten 'Natural-born singer!', catches his eye, so he puts the chest back and asks for extra piano lessons instead.

In Sing, how does Buster earn a living after his theatre is destroyed?

Washing cars is how his father paid for the theatre in the first place; Buster goes back to the same bucket, with Eddie working beside him.

In Sing, what role does Johnny's father force on him in the gang's heist?

Getaway driver is his job, but he slips off to rehearsal, gets stuck in traffic on the way back, and the gang is caught without him.

In Sing, what is the name of Ash's self-absorbed boyfriend?

Lance is cut when Buster picks only Ash, sulks about it, and soon replaces her with a new girlfriend, which is what drives her to write her own song.

In Sing, what pops out of Buster's elderly assistant and lands on her keyboard, inflating the prize?

Her glass eye bounces across the keys and adds two extra zeros to the prize money. Nobody spots the mistake until the flyers have drifted all over the city.

Which real-life rock star voices the reclusive Clay Calloway in Sing 2?

Bono had never voiced a film character before. He agreed after a phone call in which he told the director how much he had loved the first film's use of music.

In Sing, what destroys Buster's theatre during the private preview staged for Nana Noodleman?

A flood pours out when the huge water tank built into the stage shatters. The waterlogged building collapses, and the bank takes what is left of the lot.

Which Michael Jackson music video inspired the 2024 Halloween short starring the Sing characters?

Thriller gets a full tribute, as a mysterious ooze turns a Halloween party's guests into dancing zombies. The whole nightmare turns out to be Buster's dream.

Sing and Sing 2 each reached American cinemas in the final days before which holiday?

Christmas week suited both films. The first opened on 21 December 2016 and took about $75 million in six days, and the sequel followed on 22 December 2021.

In Sing 2, which fear costs Rosita her starring role during rehearsals for the big new show?

Heights terrify Rosita, so the mogul backing the show hands her part to his own daughter. She beats the fear at the climax to save Buster when he is dropped from a catwalk.

In Sing 2, the menacing entertainment mogul Jimmy Crystal is what kind of animal?

A wolf with white fur, Jimmy Crystal runs Crystal Entertainment from his own hotel. He ends the film under arrest for trying to kill Buster in the middle of the show.

After failing her Sing audition, which job at Buster's theatre does Meena settle for instead?

Stagehand was not what Meena came for. She had returned to plead for a second audition, but Buster, only half listening, put her to work behind the scenes.

In Sing, Rosita's flamboyant dance partner speaks English with which strong European accent?

German is the strong accent Gunter speaks with in the original English version. Buster pairs the exuberant dancer with Rosita for a song-and-dance routine.

In Sing, where is Rosita when she finally cuts loose and finds her rhythm again?

A grocery store becomes Rosita's dance floor. After floundering through rehearsals, sure that motherhood had cost her the spark, she finds it again mid-shop.

Which pop star voices Porsha, the mogul's daughter who takes over Rosita's part in Sing 2?

Halsey recorded Porsha's big number, Could Have Been Me, in a home studio. The character sings brilliantly but, as Buster soon finds, cannot act at all.

Which music star voices Alfonso, the ice cream seller who wins Meena's heart in Sing 2?

Pharrell Williams was already a longtime collaborator of the studio. Meena, who has never been in love, pictures Alfonso to get through her romantic duet.

In Sing 2, why did rock legend Clay Calloway vanish from public life fifteen years earlier?

His wife died, and Clay found performing too painful without her. It takes a visit from Ash to change his mind and bring him back for the finale.

In Sing 2, what does Clay Calloway fire to scare the first visitor away from his home?

A paintball gun greets Buster's elderly assistant, who had tracked down the recluse's address by herself. Buster and Ash make the second attempt in person.

In Sing 2, where is the musical set that Gunter pitches on the spot to win over the mogul?

Outer space was Gunter's off-the-cuff idea after the mogul shrugged at Buster's own pitch. The sci-fi spectacular was approved there and then.

On which streaming service did the Sing franchise's 2024 Halloween short have its premiere?

Netflix premiered the eleven-minute special on 16 October 2024, with the films' own writer-director back in charge of Buster and his troupe.

In Sing, which instrument does Johnny learn so that he can accompany himself in the show?

Piano lessons come from Buster's elderly assistant. Johnny dreams of being a singer and pianist, against the wishes of a father who expects him to join the family gang.

In Sing, what stops Johnny getting back to his father's robbery after he slips away to rehearse?

A traffic jam, caused by an accident Johnny himself set off without knowing, leaves the gang stranded. His father is arrested and jailed, and the two fall out.

Sing's original song Faith lost the Golden Globe for Best Original Song to a tune from which film?

La La Land won with City of Stars. Faith, written specially for the film, gave Sing a second nomination that night alongside Best Animated Feature.

In Sing, what blows the misprinted flyers out of Buster's window before anyone can check them?

A fan does the damage, scattering the flyers across the whole city. That is why crowds of hopefuls queue up for a prize Buster cannot possibly pay.

In Sing, Mike's angry card-game victims smash open Buster's prize chest using what?

A baseball bat cracks the chest and exposes how little money is inside. The same blow, plus the weight of the furious cast, breaks the stage beneath them.

In Sing, where is the final show staged after the bank repossesses Buster's property?

The theatre's ruins become an open-air stage for the comeback show. The banker tries to shut it down, but the performance goes ahead anyway.

In Sing, what swells the audience at the final show, which starts before only a few relatives?

A live news broadcast carries the show across the city. Even Johnny's father sees it from his cell and breaks out to make peace with his son.

In Sing, the five members of pop group the Q-Teez are what kind of animal?

Red pandas they are, and their bubbly audition number is a real song by the pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

In Sing, four children of which crew member supplied the squeals and chatter of Rosita's piglets?

The writer-director put his own children, Oscar, Leo, Caspar and Asa, to work as the piglets. All four came back to do it again in the sequel.

At which Canadian film festival was a nearly finished Sing first screened as a work in progress?

Toronto audiences saw Sing in September 2016, three months before it reached cinemas, and several of its voice stars turned out for the screening.

Which other talking-animal hit did the studio behind Sing release earlier in the same year?

The Secret Life of Pets opened in July 2016 and became one of the year's biggest hits, so Sing was the studio's second animal comedy in under six months.

Before it was renamed, the animated musical Sing carried which one-word working title?

Lunch was the original title, and a trace of it survives. The composer's end-titles track on the soundtrack album is called Out to Lunch.

By Sing 2, Buster's rebuilt playhouse has reopened under which slightly different name?

New Moon Theater is the name over the door once Nana Noodleman has paid for the rebuild. The franchise's Halloween short opens on its stage too.

In Sing, what does Ash's boyfriend do that makes her end both the romance and their duo?

He cheats on her with a girl named Becky after sulking about being cut from the contest. A heartbroken Ash later bursts into tears in the middle of a rehearsal.

In Sing 2, which skill must Johnny master for his big number, at first under a harsh instructor?

Dancing lessons from a famous choreographer go so badly that Johnny turns to a street performer named Nooshy, who gets him ready in time.

Which Stevie Wonder classic does Meena finally belt out to bring Sing's closing show to a climax?

Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing is the showstopper that ends the concert. The cast recording was strong enough to be released as a single from the soundtrack.

In Sing, how does Ash respond to her heartbreak instead of performing the pop tune Buster picked?

Ash writes her own song, a rock number that Buster likes straight away. Her ex is left watching in amazement when she performs it at the final show.

Which English filmmaker both wrote and directed Sing and its sequel?

Garth Jennings came to animation from music videos and live-action comedy. He also wrote and directed the franchise's 2024 Halloween short.

In Sing 2, what is the job of Suki Lane, whose sniffy verdict sends Buster to the big city?

Talent scout Suki walks out of Buster's show unimpressed. She is also the one who later frees him from the mogul's closet and warns him to flee.

Which Cheers star voices Judith, the banker chasing Buster's unpaid debts in Sing?

Rhea Perlman, the wisecracking Carla of Cheers, plays the bank's representative. Her character repossesses the lot once the theatre has collapsed.

Which fictional city of talking animals is the setting of Sing and home to Buster's theatre?

Calatonia is the city the misprinted flyers drift across. The sequel takes Buster's troupe away from it to chase a bigger stage in Redshore City.

With Sing 2 in cinemas, the franchise's combined worldwide box office passed which milestone?

$1 billion fell in the sequel's fifteenth weekend. Sing 2 added about $408 million to the first film's haul despite opening during the pandemic.

In Sing 2, Johnny's big solo number in the new show is set to which Coldplay hit?

A Sky Full of Stars is Johnny's showpiece, sung on the soundtrack by the actor who voices him. A jealous rival tries to sabotage it mid-performance.

Which Saturday Night Live cast member of the time voices Meena's mother in the 2016 film Sing?

Leslie Jones was a Saturday Night Live regular from 2014 to 2019 and starred in the Ghostbusters reboot the same year that Sing came out.