50 Fun Facts About The Secret Life of Pets

What breed of dog is Max?

Max is a Jack Russell Terrier whose cosy routine ends the night his owner brings home a second, far bigger dog.

What is the name of Max's owner?

Katie, voiced by Ellie Kemper, is Max's owner; in the 2019 sequel she has married Chuck and has a toddler son, Liam.

In The Secret Life of Pets, what do the starving Max and Duke gorge on when they break into a factory?

Sausages fill the factory the two dogs sniff out; the shared feast, complete with a dream of dancing links, is the first time the rivals enjoy each other's company.

Who voices Duke in The Secret Life of Pets?

Eric Stonestreet, Cameron in Modern Family, voices Duke, who tries to dump Max in an alley and ends up lost in the city alongside him.

Which comedian voices Snowball, the white rabbit in The Secret Life of Pets?

Kevin Hart voices Snowball, the manic white bunny; he reprised the role in the 2019 sequel, where Snowball fancies himself a caped superhero.

What is the name of the gang of abandoned animals that Snowball leads?

The Flushed Pets live in the sewers; abandoned by their owners, they hate humans, and the filmmakers used them to hint at the darker side of pet ownership.

What kind of animal does Snowball's gang want Max and Duke to be bitten by to prove their loyalty?

The gang's initiation is a bite from its one-fanged viper; Max and Duke accidentally kill the snake while escaping, which makes Snowball their sworn enemy.

Which cat, a Sphynx, leads the alley cats that steal Max and Duke's collars?

Ozone, voiced by Steve Coogan with a Cockney accent, gets his comeuppance when Gidget slaps the dogs' whereabouts out of him on the rooftop.

What breed of dog is Gidget, who is in love with Max?

Gidget is a white Pomeranian, a powder puff who turns out to be the fiercest fighter in the film: she flattens Snowball's gang single-handed.

Who voices Gidget in The Secret Life of Pets?

Jenny Slate voices Gidget, the lovesick neighbour who organises the search for Max; the same year she voiced Bellwether in Zootopia.

What kind of bird is Tiberius, whom Gidget recruits to help find Max?

A red-tailed hawk with a predator's appetite, Tiberius first tries to eat Gidget, then agrees to help when she offers to be his friend.

Which Finding Nemo actor voices Tiberius?

Albert Brooks, the anxious clownfish father Marlin in Finding Nemo, switches sides here to play a predator who struggles not to eat his new friends.

What breed of dog is Pops, the elderly dog who helps Gidget's search party?

Pops is an elderly Basset Hound; his back legs are paralysed, so he rolls around on a wheeled cart and hosts a wild party in his owner's apartment.

Which Saturday Night Live alumnus voices Pops?

Dana Carvey, Garth in Wayne's World, voices Pops, the grumpy old dog who knows every pet in town and leads the search party across the rooftops.

What kind of animal is Norman, who keeps getting lost on the way back to his own apartment?

Norman is a guinea pig, voiced by the film's own director; he tags along on the search for Max and is briefly captured in the sewers.

Chloe, the lazy grey tabby, is voiced by whom?

Lake Bell voices Chloe, the fat grey tabby; her big moment in the sequel is coaching Gidget on how to act like a cat.

Which character in The Secret Life of Pets is a hyperactive pug?

Mel is the hyperactive pug, voiced by Bobby Moynihan; in the film's last scene he turns up at a party dressed as a Minion.

What kind of animal is Sweet Pea?

Sweet Pea is a budgerigar, the little green-and-yellow parakeet; left alone, he hovers in front of a fan pretending to be a fighter jet.

What was the name of Duke's previous owner?

Fred raised Duke from a puppy; when Duke got lost and was picked up by animal control, Fred never came for him, and Duke learns why only when he goes back to the house: Fred had died.

Where do Max and Duke go after escaping Snowball's gang in the sewers?

They end up on a ferry to Brooklyn; the detour is where they go looking for Duke's old home.

At the end of The Secret Life of Pets 2, who gives Hu, the animal freed from the circus, a new home?

The cat lady drives the pets to the rescue in her own car, knocks Sergei down just as he corners them, and takes Hu home with her.

What kind of animal drives the taxi that takes the pets home at the end?

A pig called Tattoo, one of Snowball's gang, steals the cab, so the pets end the film chauffeured by one of the animals that had been hunting them.

What is the name of the little girl who adopts Snowball at the end of The Secret Life of Pets?

Molly spots Snowball just as he is restarting his plot against humankind and hugs him; he resists for a moment, then gives in and goes home as her pet.

Who directed The Secret Life of Pets?

Chris Renaud directed with Yarrow Cheney as co-director, and gave himself a part too: he is the voice of Norman.

Which animation studio made The Secret Life of Pets?

Illumination, the studio behind Despicable Me and the Minions, made the film; its founder Chris Meledandri pitched the idea of what pets do while their owners are away.

In which country was the animation for The Secret Life of Pets entirely produced?

France: the work was done in Paris at the Mac Guff studio, whose animation arm the film's producers bought in 2011 after it had animated Despicable Me.

In The Secret Life of Pets, what music does Leonard the pampered poodle switch to as soon as his owner leaves?

Heavy metal blasts out the moment the door shuts: Leonard's owner leaves classical music playing, and the poodle swaps it and headbangs the afternoon away.

Which comedian voices Buddy, the laid-back dachshund in The Secret Life of Pets?

Hannibal Buress voices Buddy, the mellow dachshund who knows where to turn for help: he leads the search party to Pops, the old dog who can guide them to the sewers.

Who composed the score for both Secret Life of Pets films?

Alexandre Desplat, the Oscar-winning composer of The Grand Budapest Hotel, gave the first film's New York a big jazz-band sound in the manner of George Gershwin.

Which Despicable Me short played in cinemas before The Secret Life of Pets?

Mower Minions, in which the Minions do yard work to raise money, ran before the film in cinemas; Minion Scouts came later, with the sequel's home release.

The Secret Life of Pets premiered on June 16, 2016 at the international animation festival held in which town?

Annecy's festival, founded in 1960, showed the film three weeks before it reached US cinemas, so the first reviews, Variety's among them, were filed from there.

Made for $75 million, what did The Secret Life of Pets gross worldwide?

$880 million, give or take: trackers put the total between $876 million and $886 million, close to twelve times the budget, which made it one of 2016's most lucrative releases.

In The Secret Life of Pets, what kind of TV show is Gidget hooked on?

A telenovela called La Pasión de la Pasión is Gidget's daily viewing, and its lovelorn drama is what inspires her to go out and find Max.

The Secret Life of Pets broke whose record for the biggest original animated film opening?

Inside Out had opened to $90.4 million a year earlier; Pets beat it with $104.4 million on a budget well under half the size, $75 million against Pixar's $175 million.

In The Secret Life of Pets 2, what does the vet give Max for his nervous scratching?

A dog cone is the vet's answer to an itch Max develops from fretting over his owner's toddler; the family's trip to a farm is what finally cures the worry.

Which country was the biggest market outside North America for The Secret Life of Pets?

China took in about $58 million, the most of any overseas market, even though the film opened there on a Tuesday and spent its first weekend behind a local release.

Which Japanese monster film did The Secret Life of Pets knock off the top spot when it opened in Japan?

Shin Godzilla had ruled Japan's box office for two weekends when Pets opened on August 11, 2016, the country's first Mountain Day; the four-day holiday weekend carried it to number one.

Critics repeatedly compared The Secret Life of Pets to which Pixar movie?

Reviewers saw Toy Story all over again in Max and Duke: Woody and Buzz as a jealous favourite and a big new arrival, lost together in the city.

What grade did CinemaScore audiences give both Secret Life of Pets films?

A-minus was the verdict of opening-night audiences both times, even though the sequel's debut, $46.7 million, was less than half the first film's $104.4 million.

Who took over the voice of Max for The Secret Life of Pets 2?

Patton Oswalt was announced in April 2018, five months after Louis C.K. was dropped from the sequel following his admission of sexual misconduct.

Which Hollywood star voices Rooster, the farm dog who mentors Max in the sequel?

Harrison Ford plays Rooster as a gruff old hand with no patience for Max's nerves, the kind of dog who lets a youngster get hurt and learn from it.

In the sequel, Snowball teams up with Daisy to rescue what kind of animal from a circus?

A white tiger called Hu is the captive; Daisy saw him mistreated by the circus owner on her flight into the city and comes looking for a hero to free him.

Who voices Daisy, the Shih Tzu, in the sequel?

Tiffany Haddish, fresh off Girls Trip, voices Daisy, the fearless Shih Tzu who recruits Snowball for the circus rescue.

What is the name of Max's favourite toy, which Gidget loses in the sequel?

Busy Bee is the toy Max leaves in Gidget's care; retrieving it from a cat-filled apartment is how Gidget accidentally becomes queen of the cats.

Who voices Sergei, the circus ringmaster villain of The Secret Life of Pets 2?

Nick Kroll voices Sergei, the cruel boss of a Russian circus, whose pet monkey sidekick ends up being fired out of a cannon by Snowball.

Which webcomic creator consulted on The Secret Life of Pets 2?

Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal, known for comics about how cats and dogs really behave, is credited as the sequel's creative consultant; by his own account he punched up the script with animal jokes, some of them drawn rather than written.

In The Secret Life of Pets 2, which lost farm animal does Rooster take Max to rescue?

A lamb called Cotton has strayed into danger; rescuing him is how Max wins Rooster's respect and shows himself that he has got past his fears.

In The Secret Life of Pets 2, a roomful of cats hails Gidget as queen after she appears to defeat what?

The red dot goes down in a staged fight set up with Norman's help; the awed cats crown Gidget their queen, which lets her walk out with what she came for.

Whose song about New York plays over the opening scene of The Secret Life of Pets?

Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York', from her album 1989, opens the film: it plays while Max introduces himself and tells how he and his owner found each other.

In The Secret Life of Pets 2, which animals does the circus owner Sergei use to hunt down Daisy?

Wolves from Sergei's circus pick up the flower clip Daisy drops during the break-in and follow its scent to the pets' apartment block.