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We finally get our first announcement for Sing 2; including the synopsis, new cast members and teaser poster:

The film follows Buster (McConaughey) and his new cast who, in the last film, turned the New Moon Theater into a local hit. Now, he’s got his sights set on debuting a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City. But with no connections, he and his singers must sneak into the Crystal Entertainment offices, run by the ruthless wolf mogul Jimmy Crystal (Cannavale), where the gang pitches the ridiculous idea of casting the lion rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono) in their show. Buster must embark on a quest to find the now-isolated Clay and persuade him to return to the stage.

I consider Sing Illumination’s most mature film; in comparison to Despicable Me and Pets, the character development and how the plot plays out was far more serious than the rest of Illumination’s films, so it was a interesting choice for Universal to give Sing a sequel, I hope this sequel has flexible character interactions with the plot similar to the first film, Jennings has a good experience as a filmmaker so the stakes are high. The newer cast additions are pretty interesting and having U2′s Bono is surprising, as he has never voice acted before, Pharrell continues to collaborate with Illumination, we wonder how is his Illumination film doing.

In another note, a quote by Meledandri has ruffled some feathers in the animation community, by referring to the medium of animation as a “genre”

“Sing 2 transcends the animation genre, immersing audiences in a fully realized world populated by complex characters, each with bold aspirations and relatable challenges,” said Illumination founder/CEO Chris Meledandri. “We are thrilled that the Sing franchise attracts such exceptional talent, and we are delighted to announce this extraordinary cast. The film is a musical celebration of the unrelenting pursuit of one’s dreams, no matter how large the challenges that stand in your way. At its core this movie speaks to the power of optimism and belief.”

Unless he means that Sing 2 is on the same level of animation breakthrough as how Toy Story and SpiderVerse were, I want to believe he genuinely confused the plot development and universe of the Sing films with what the film is, an animated film. However, I cannot fathom how, despite having experience with Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky, Meledandri still refers to animation as a “genre”; could this be an insinuation of a possible dissonance between production company Illumination and animation house Illumination Mac Guff, or just a slip from marketing materials? We hope both Universal and Illumination valuate not just the hard work of their artists but how animation is a film medium and an art.

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Slashfilm got a first look for this special, which confirms my prediction that it’ll not feature new shorts but instead broadcast mini-movies that have been included in various home releases (Santa’s Little Helpers, Training Wheels, Puppy and Minion Scouts)

I’m not surprised but it bummers me that Wikipedia has already accommodated Illumination and Despicable Me-related articles for this broadcast. It is not clear however, how will the “special guest appearances” from Pets and Sing will play out; best scenario could be brand new character animation for this, the other one could be that it features animation from promotional material for this films, edited.

Entertainment Weekly announced that NBC will air a 30 minute holiday special titled Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special which will feature 4 mini-movies and will include “special guest appearances from […] characters from The Secret Life of Pets and Sing.”

I was at first surprised that Illumination had prepared a holiday special for TV, as so far they haven’t dabbled into television outside trailers and commercials (however, Wikipedia says they aired The Grinch mini-movie The Dog Days of Winter on NBC before Trolls Holiday), so making a holiday special was a peculiar way to test the waters. However, I remember seeing the Minion trio in a christmas-themed mini-movie that was included in the home release for The Grinch, just to be sure I decided to verify and I was right, this “first look” is actually from Santa’s Little Helpers.

Because of this, I’m not really confident if this means new content; if something, we’re probably getting an airing of Santa’s Little Helpers and likely The Dog Days of Winter, and another two mini-movies, either from the home release of Pets and Sing. The “special guest appearances” could also mean maybe between mini-movies we could get character animations (from promotional material) hosting this special, but there’s a chance we could actually get new, original character animation hosting this special.

There might be a chance however, this holiday special could premiere 2 (3 if Dog Days of Winter isn’t aired again) brand new holiday-themed mini-movies.

This is my own prediction about this broadcast, we will be paying close attention to social media for updates about this, and on November 27 we will see if Illumination actually made new short films, or it’s just NBC airing the mini-movies from the home releases.

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“Carlos Cabanilles, a lead animator at Illumination who worked on films such as Secret Life of Pets 2 and Minions, said at a webinar for animation school Animun that Illumination Mac Guff has projects for until 2026″ - scoop by twitter user malditamolotera

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Entertainment Weekly announced that NBC will air a 30 minute holiday special titled Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special which will feature 4 mini-movies and will include “special guest appearances from [...] characters from The Secret Life of Pets and Sing.”

I was at first surprised that Illumination had prepared a holiday special for TV, as so far they haven’t dabbled into television outside trailers and commercials (however, Wikipedia says they aired The Grinch mini-movie The Dog Days of Winter on NBC before Trolls Holiday), so making a holiday special was a peculiar way to test the waters. However, I remember seeing the Minion trio in a christmas-themed mini-movie that was included in the home release for The Grinch, just to be sure I decided to verify and I was right, this “first look” is actually from Santa’s Little Helpers.

Because of this, I’m not really confident if this means new content; if something, we’re probably getting an airing of Santa’s Little Helpers and likely The Dog Days of Winter, and another two mini-movies, either from the home release of Pets and Sing. The “special guest appearances” could also mean maybe between mini-movies we could get character animations (from promotional material) hosting this special, but there’s a chance we could actually get new, original character animation hosting this special.

There might be a chance however, this holiday special could premiere 2 (3 if Dog Days of Winter isn’t aired again) brand new holiday-themed mini-movies.

This is my own prediction about this broadcast, we will be paying close attention to social media for updates about this, and on November 27 we will see if Illumination actually made new short films, or it’s just NBC airing the mini-movies from the home releases.

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“Oliv Montero, a character animator on Illumination, posted this on their instagram, POSSIBLY hinting that development of the Mario movie is already involving animation”

  https://instagram.com/p/CHNUG8IDIED 

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Ad related to Rise of Gru toys on McDonald’s

Appeared on my Youtube feed uploaded by Illumination’s Latin American channel, I tried to find other uploads of this and seems the UK has aired this ad but doesn’t feature as many human characters as this one

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