LAUREN SOVISKY
staff writer

The introduction of talking animals in animated films may have been a big hit, but singing animals competing in a talent show may just take the cake.
“Sing” has been nominated for numerous awards including a Golden Globe, an Annie Award and more for its work in animation and music.
For this writer, though, “Sing” was the star that outshined all the other singing competitions.
Real shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice” could not beat the talent from these fictional characters, actually played by some talented celebrities.
“Sing” follows the story of a Koala named Buster Moon and his love for the theater.
However, his past productions haven’t brought in enough box office revenue and his theater is under threat to be foreclosed.
He believes the city he resides in has enough talent that a singing competition can not only bring in some money, but possibly save his theatrical career.
He crafts fliers detailing audition dates for the competition, stating a prize for the winner of $1,000, but a mistake with his concierge creates fliers stating a $100,000 prize instead.
It is not until after Buster has chosen his cast that he realizes the mistake and tries everything he can to obtain the money while making sure his singers don’t discover his little fallacy.
The cast of “Sing” is composed of many stars including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, John C. Reilly and Tori Kelly.
With the exception of McConaughey and Reilly, each star belts out some of his or her best musical work in the almost two-hour film. Each voice sounded different and carried a unique style of singing.
Witherspoon sang pop hits like Katy Perry’s “Firework,” while Johansson – someone I had no idea could sing – carried that punk rocker vibe.
My personal favorite voice though was MacFarlane’s deep, classy vocals belting out Frank Sinatra tunes almost as elegant as the Jersey man himself.
The VIP of the competition is certainly Meena the elephant, voiced by Kelly, for not only bringing tears to my eyes on her rendition of “Hallelujah,” but also for following the best character arc by going from the shy, timid, elephant to the star of the show.
The question of auto-tune does play an important role in this movie. Although none of this singing could have actually been done live, I feel the voices sounded authentic enough to please some of the pickiest of listeners.
In terms of the story’s message, the plot of “Sing” follows the struggles of each character.
Witherspoon voices a busy stay-at-home mom with 25 piglets to tend to, while also trying to find time for herself in her chaotic world.
MacFarlane is an arrogant mouse attempting to reach stardom, and Egerton is gorilla, trying to live out his passion for singing despite his father’s disapproval.
Then we have our leading Koala who is running around in order to make ends meet and hopefully maintain his theater forever.
At the end of the day, this movie promotes the idea of following your dream no matter how big or small it is. It points out hard work can get you far, as well as the support you find from family and friends.
But if the story isn’t what you prefer, at the very least you can sing along to some of your favorite songs.

LAUREN SOVISKY
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