#i can just picture marcus driving johnny to the bus station that night and pressing the money into his hand when johnny went to get out

[hoperays-song]

Johnny’s Money

Can we look at the money we see Johnny have in Sing 2? 

One, his wallet is literally falling apart at the seams which supports my last theory. Two, the money in his wallet in the above picture is wrinkled to all get out, the money he places on the table is very much not. 

That stood out to me in particular because we know the money on the table is $50, all in smaller bills by the looks of it, so it’s not money from a heist (especially with those being so long ago), and it’s more than likely not how he gets paid for his work at the theatre. No theatre as successful as the New Moon Theatre would be paying their employees in small bills, so why does he have so many in such good condition?

The money still in his wallet appears to be two small bills, a $20 and a $5(?) and are pretty wrinkled. They look like they might be change due to how fast they appear to have been shoved in the wallet and since Johnny just bought a skateboard, that’s what I’m going with. The money he probably used to buy that skateboard was more than likely his own from working at the theatre, and he probably withdrew it from his bank account before the trip to avoid losing his credit/debit card (the boy grew up in major cities and keeps his wallet in the inside pocket of his jacket, he’s all too aware of pickpockets).

Now on to the theory. The fact that all the clean, unwrinkled money is exactly $50 stood out to me. It seemed like an oddly specific amount to mention, so I looked it up. And it turns out that buses between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the real world base locations of Redshore and Calatonia, can range from $25 to $60. Johnny might have some money he’s found or been given by Rosita or Buster during the trip, but it definitely wouldn’t be $50 worth, and would likely look more like the crumpled bills still hastily shoved in his wallet. So who would have given him money, a fair bit of money to be honest here, in neat, clean bills? 

Well it’s obvious, Marcus would. Johnny and his family don’t have a ton of money in Sing 2, more than in the first movie to be fair, but still nowhere near the “$50 being play money” mark. They would more than likely be overly careful with their money, keeping it in good condition so there’s no chance of it being rejected for being a damaged bill (yes, that can happen), so the neatness of the bills would make sense. 

Therefore, my theory is: Marcus gave his son enough money to make sure he could get home if he needed to. He made sure Johnny had an out if need be, could afford a bus ticket even if it was a more expensive one. And judging by the family’s rough finances, that was probably all the spare money they had laying around. That was what they had left from costumers after bills had been payed and he gave it all to Johnny just in case he needed it.