December 16th, 2021 
Jackson Murphy 
Illumination’s Sing 2 is the highly-anticipated follow-up to their blockbuster 2016 musical hit. The main voice cast is back, along with director Garth Jennings. Sing 2 opens in theaters this Wednesday Dec. 22. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Jennings discusses trying to top the original, bringing Bono on board, and the franchise’s cool connection to the legacy of Elton John.
Jackson Murphy: When you found out — after the humongous success of the first Sing — that you were gonna do a sequel, what is the first thing you knew you had to do in Sing 2?
Garth Jennings: Well, not panic. Don’t panic. That’s the first thing. It just had to be better, right? That’s the biggest thing. It’s gotta be bigger and better. Otherwise why do it? We had this idea for it that we really loved and thought would be wonderful. It would be emotionally richer. It would be more spectacular. It HAS to be better! Every one of us who’s worked on it feels like whatever happens, we know we did our best on this. It’s a nice place to be right now.
JM: You did a fantastic job with it. So many cool visual sequences and funny moments. And these two movies really celebrate the performing arts. You even do “Alice in Wonderland” at the beginning of this one. What have the performing arts and talent showcases meant to you throughout your life?
GJ: Oh my goodness. That’s where it all kicks off. I used to make little action movies with my dad’s video camera when I was about 11 or 12. But then I got into the drama group at school. I wasn’t actually very good at the drama bit. I did a few plays. But I LOVED, LOVED being behind the scenes. The drama teacher would let me be the sound man or help with the lighting stuff. I just loved being part of a gang — a group of people making something. I’ve sort of become addicted to that culture and being around people making things. It’s my favorite way to spend my life — to be around people making something together.
JM: I hope these movies inspire kids to be a part of those kind of groups and to make things. You’ve got a cool visual design in Redshore City, mimicking Las Vegas. Did you do actual research — go to Vegas and check it out?
GJ: I did! Originally I was like, “Oh, I don’t need to go to Vegas. I’ve seen it on TV a bunch of times. It’s like the Mona Lisa. I don’t actually need to see it.” And then my studio boss and producing partner Chris Meledandri said, “No, you actually need to go.” I’m from a tiny little town in England. So I went there for three days and we took a movie scout with us to scout it as if we were gonna shoot it. And it did actually blow my tiny mind. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not just the scale of the place. The scale is insane. You’d come down the hotel elevator to go to the show in the same hotel, and you’d walk for 25 minutes before you got to the theater — and I’m still in the same hotel. That’s the stuff that was extraordinary. And then the shows, the “Cirque du Soleil” shows were unbelievable. I saw one called “KA”, which has a production budget of $165 million and a stage that goes 90-degrees, and by the end of it you’re like, “WHAT?!” I just thought, “Wouldn’t that be great?” I now understand why taking the cast of Sing, which is all very small and broken down in the end, to that place would be awesome. I wanna see them try and pull that off.
Garth Jennings and Jackson Murphy
JM: You’re right that Vegas is a walking city. What’s amazing about these films is the music incorporation. How do you balance all the songs, and were you doing a lot of research over the last five years of what songs to include in this sequel?
GJ: Yeah, I’m always listening to songs all the time. Some of my own listening will feed into what we’re doing. But most of it is really there in the script and the early stages of the storyboard because it has to serve the story, otherwise it’s just sort of pointless. If you’re just looking for a caffeine hit of music, it will never work. It doesn’t sustain the movie. But if you find something that fits with the picture and fits where the character’s at, that’s the goal. That takes a while and a lot of playing around. Sometimes something you think will work doesn’t, and sometimes the most unlikely choices are just perfect.
JM: How did you discover you could also do the voice of Miss Crawly?
GJ: When you’re making these films you start by making it with storyboards as an animatic, and everybody in the office provides scratch — a rough version of the dialogue before you get it to the actors. I would do a lot of that scratch myself because I’m writing the script anyway, so it’s a very good way for me to test drive the lines. And one of those voices was Miss Crawly. And it really just started as a kind of joke because I was trying to do something like… you know that SpongeBob voice… {Jennings does a very good SpongeBob impression for me} …and if I just make it go a bit more feeble, it became Miss Crawly. So it was scratch, but then we all just liked it and thought, “Let’s just stick with the voice.” And she became an action hero. (laughs)
JM: Yes, in this movie: quite an action hero, quite a driver and quite a boss. A real boss in this sequel.
GJ: Yeah. She has to raise her game in this film.
JM: You collaborate with Bono, who voices Clay Calloway. Also the song “Your Song Saved My Life”, which is getting major Best Original Song consideration this awards season.
GJ: As it should be. It’s amazing.
JM: It is. Interesting title and emotion. That’s powerful to say: your song saved my life. How was that collab?
GJ: That started with the very first phone call I had with Bono about him maybe coming on board and playing this part. And we talked about the character and the whole idea of what music would mean to this character in his story. At the end, the audience is gonna sing him back. Do you know what I mean? And at the end of this conversation, which was about 45 minutes, he said, “You know there’s a song in this. There would be a song, kind of like how music has saved his life.” And that’s how Bono feels about music. It’s REALLY important to him. It literally is his life. And I said, “Great. It would be wonderful if you could do that.” (laughs) “I’m not gonna turn that down!” But I didn’t think he would actually do it. I thought he was just being nice in the phone call because he was being very enthusiastic. And then a few months later, he had this song and he was like, “Here’s the song.” And it was perfect. That never, ever happens. It was great. I still get goosebumps when it starts.
JM: Interestingly, in this film you have “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. Last time, Taron Egerton, as Johnny, sang “I’m Still Standing”. I’ve always wanted to know: Do you know if him singing “I’m Still Standing” in the last film helped [him] get the role of Elton John in “Rocketman”?
GJ: I’m just gonna say “Yes!” because I want my 10% and I still haven’t got it. But you know what? I remember going to show David Furnish the original storyboard animatic for “I’m Still Standing”, before we even animated it, to show how we were gonna use the song if they gave us permission. And they really liked it. And I remember saying, “We’re gonna have this great guy Taron who’s gonna be singing it.” And they were like, “Who’s Taron?” I showed them a little picture of Taron. And next thing I know: He’s Rocketman! So I’m like, “Yeah!” No, look: It could be a coincidence but it doesn’t matter. I’m just thrilled. He’s amazing.
JM: Yes. Sing 2 is Illumination’s first film in two and a half years. Obviously the pandemic contributed to some delays for the studio. What does it mean to you that this movie is sort of the comeback? It’s getting Illumination back out there when it comes to movies — and with the timing for the holiday season.
GJ: It’s all about… if people feel like going back to the cinema, if they feel confident going back to the cinema, then we’re there to reward that experience. To give them an experience that will be joyful and spectacular. I want it to be rewarding because we’ve all been stuck inside for a long time, and I’m really relishing seeing this with audiences right now. There’s a real lovely sense of euphoria at the end of the movie that’s a reminder of how great it is to go to the movies with our loved ones. I hope that that’s what people get to experience this Christmas.
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