Jack Russell Terrier Max (Louis C.K.) loves his life living with owner Katie (Ellie Kemper) in her Manhattan apartment. Every day when she leaves for work, he counts the hours until his owner returns, hanging out with the other pets in the building—fat, lazy tabby cat Chloe (Lake Bell), pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan), dachshund Buddy (Hannibal Buress), budgerigar Sweetpea and hamster Norman (Chris Renaud)—to pass the time. In the neighboring building is Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate), who pines away for Max, but he doesn’t even notice her affections.

One day Katie brings a new shaggy dog named Duke (Eric Stonestreet) home from the pound, throwing Max’s world into chaos. The two dogs don’t get along and both plot to get rid of the other. In the process, they end up in an alley where a pack of stray cats remove their collars, causing Animal Control to chase after them. The dogs soon cross paths with white rabbit Snowball (Kevin Hart) and his slow-witted tattooed pig sidekick Tattoo (Michael Beattie), who bring them back to their sewer home and welcome them to their gang of free, human-despising animals. These “Flushed Pets” were thrown away by their owners and now live by the motto “Liberated Forever, Domesticated Never”. However, Snowball soon discovers that Max and Duke are domesticated owner-lovers, and when the dogs escape, he vows to hunt them down and kill them. In their haste to get away, Max and Duke end up on a ferry headed in the wrong direction—to Brooklyn—and now must work together find their way back home, while trying to avoid Snowball and his gang and the Animal Control van.

Meanwhile, when Gidget notices that the love of her life is missing, she organizes the rest of the pets to help her find and save Max. She also enlists red-tailed hawk Tiberus (Albert Brooks) and elderly basset hound Pops (Dana Carvey) to aid in the search and rescue mission.

The Secret Life of Pets is a really fun an entertaining film that works on multiple levels. Each of the pets has his or her own fun, unique personality, and the interactions and relationships between them provides some really hilarious moments. While I am not a pet person, I could easily recognize that there is also an additional layer of humor added to each of the animals that pet lovers will really appreciate as they recognize the quirky behaviors of their own pets in these characters. And while both of the sets of characters are on their wacky adventures to find the other, there are even more crazy things happening in the background—such as an overly-dramatic Telenovela—adding another layer of humor to each scene. Overall, there is a delightful mix of situational humor, pop culture references, sight gags, witty dialogue and more. Each time I watch the film, I find something new to laugh at.

The cast of the film is made up primarily of folks with stand-up comedy or sitcom acting backgrounds, and it really shows. The comedic timing and delivery is impeccable, and the interplay between the characters is so much fun. While each of the pets has his or her fun moments, my favorite character—besides those delightful residents of Weenie Ville—has to be Gidget. I really enjoyed her undying crush on Max and how she is willing to do anything to get her love back.

I was sent both the 4K UHD Combo Pack and the Blu-ray Combo Pack For Review. While the 4K release includes a 4K UHD disc the film along with a 4K Digital Copy, the Blu-ray Combo pack includes a DVD version of the film along with an HD Digital Copy. Both releases include a Blu-ray disc containing the film and bonus features.

The Secret Life of Pets is so beautifully animated, and while both versions look great, the 4K UltraHD release provides even greater, more-realistic detail than its Blu-ray counterpart—you can see every hair on the animals, every detail in the city backdrops, every brick or bump in the stucco on the walls, ripples in the water, and so on. The colors also look even richer in the 4K HDR version—some of the scenes that really stood out were a glimpse of the sunset over the hawk’s habitat, and the sewer with its rippling green water and glowing red torchlight. Both the 4K and Blu-ray formats utilize the same Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which sounds fantastic, and makes use of all of the audio channels to give an immersive experience while also providing clear dialogue and a whimsical score.

While watching the film, I could tell that several scenes were designed with 3D pop-out or depth in mind. While there is a 3D Blu-ray release of the film as well, I was not sent that version for review so I can’t specifically comment on the quality. These scenes still looked fantastic in 4K, but those with 3D playback abilities may want to check out that version.

The Blu-ray disc in both combo packs provides a host of bonus features including many behind-the-scenes featurettes, a couple music videos, some mini-movies, and more. I really enjoyed the three mini-movies, particularly the one that revisits the musical Weenie Ville—which was one of the favorite random parts of the original film. The other new mini-movie is a clever homage to Rear Window. Both the 4K UHD & Blu-ray releases come packed in standard keepcases with slipcovers.

What’s Included:

I was sent both the 4K UHD Combo Pack and the Blu-ray Combo Pack For Review. Both include the Blu-ray disc and a Digital Copy. The former includes the 4K Ultra HD disc and the UV copy redeems in UHD, while the latter includes the DVD and the UV copy redeems in HD. For both releases, all bonus features can be found on the Blu-ray disc. The 4K disc doesn’t contain any bonus material, but DVD does contain most of the features available on the Blu-ray disc.

Film: (1:26:27)

4K Ultra HD (4K UHD Combo-Pack Only):
• 2160p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• HDR
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, French (Canadian) Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD (Blu-ray Combo-Pack Only):

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital HD (for redemption deadline, see NBCUcodes.com):

• Digital copy redeemable via UltraViolet (Universal, Flixster or Vudu) OR iTunes
  (The UV code that comes with the 4K release redeems in UHD while the code included with Blu-ray redeems in HD)
• An insert for a bonus digital copy is included, redeemable for one movie from the following list (expires 3/20/2017; while supplies last): The Guest, Airport, To Kill A Mockingbird, Racing Hearts, Reality Bites, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us, Fear, Sgt. Bilko, Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption, Death Race 3 Inferno

Extras:
All bonus features can be found on the Blu-ray disc. Those marked with an * can also be found on the DVD in the Blu-ray Combo Pack.)

• The Humans that Brought You Pets* (8:43)
  The film’s creators talk about the inspiration for the film and how their own pets are reflected in the film’s characters. Play All or select from:
  • Chris Meledandri (1:31) – Illumination Founder and CEO
  • Janet Healy (1:47) – Producer
  • Chris Renaud (2:00) – Director
  • Yarrow Cheney (1:58) – Co-Director
  • Brian Lynch (1:49) – Co-Writer
• Animals Can Talk: Meet The Actors* (3:47)
  Head to the recording booth to see the actors bring their characters to life. Includes interviews with Kevin Hart (“Snowball”), Lake Bell (“Chloe”), Bobby Moynihan (“Mel”), Eric Stonestreet (“Duke”) and Jenny Slate (“Gidget”).
• All About Pets* (6:26)
  Animal trainer Molly O’Neill is joined by actors Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart to take a look at some animal pets. While Eric keeps getting the friendly, fluffy animals, when it’s Kevin’s turn, out comes the terrifying equivalent.
• Hairstylist To The Dogs* (3:41)
  Pet groomer to the stars Jess Rona joins Eric Stonestreet to give some dog grooming tips.
• How To Make an Animated Film (4:13)
  The film’s creators talk about the challenges of creating the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, production artwork, and interviews with producer Janet Healy, Illumination Founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, co-writer Brian Lynch, director Chris Renaud, co-director Yarrow Cheney, production designer Eric Guillon, composer Alexandre Desplat, and actors Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart.
• Anatomy of a Scene (4:46)
  Go behind-the-scenes to see the various departments involved in creating each aspect of the animation. Includes interviews with CG supervisor Bruno Chauffard, modeling character supervisor Jérôme Gordon, hair and fur character supervisor Loïc Salmon, layout supervisor Régis Schuller, animation directors Jonathan dDel Val & Julien Soret, and compositing supervisor Céline Allègre.
• The Best of Snowball* (1:15)
  Montage of some of the evil bunny’s funnest moments from the film.
• “Lovely Day” Lyric Video* (2:23)
  Music video for “Lovely Day” with animated lyrics appearing on the screen along with the pets from the film.
• Hot Dog Sing-Along* (1:12)
  Sing along to the “We Go Together” Weenie Ville musical sequence from the film as the lyrics appear on screen.
• Brian the Minion on Pets*
  The Minions provide Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary during scenes from the film and mini-movies. Select from:
  • Part 1 (:57)
  • Part 2 (:53)
  • Part 3 (:56)
• Go Pro: The Secret Life of Pets* (2:04)
  Comparisons of real-life footage shot using Go Pro cameras with the animated equivalents from the film.
• Sing Trailer* (4:02)
• Mini-Movies*
  • Norman Television (4:01)
    In this Rear Window homage, Norman the hamster uses the real-life drama he sees through his neighbor’s air vents as his television, but things take a serious turn when he witnesses a man plotting his wife’s murder.
  • Weenie (4:05)
    In this Schoolhouse Rock homage, head back to Weenie Ville for another fun musical number as the Mayor teaches little Timmy that a “Weenie” is an awesome thing to be.
  • Mower Minions (4:27)
    The Minions need to raise money to buy a blender, and resort to starting their own lawn care business, which doesn’t go smoothly. This is the short that originally accompanied Pets in the theaters.
  • The Making of the Mini-Movies (7:23)
    The filmmakers talk about the French influence to the animation, how the stories came about, and the challenges of creating each mini-movie. Includes interviews with Norman TV directors Habib Louati & Boris Jacq; Mower Minions director/co-writer Glenn McCoy, director Bruno Chauffard and CG supervisor Benjamin Le Ster; and Weenie directors/co-writers Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and animation supervisor Bastien Laurent.

Final Thoughts:

The Secret Life of Pets is a thoroughly fun an entertaining animated film. I missed it when it was in the theater, but have already watched it several times on this home video release, and it provides new laughs every time. The animation is flawless and film looks and sounds fantastic on the 4K UHD release. The discs contain a solid collection of bonus material, including three fun mini-movies, a digital copy of the film, and for a limited time and additional bonus digital film. This release comes Highly Recommended!