The Secret Life of Pets (soundtrack)

In December 2015, Desplat was hired to score music for The Secret Life of Pets.[2] In an interview to Entertainment Weekly, Desplat said that "[Director] Chris Renaud showed me some excerpts of the film and they were so funny and beautifully shot that I was already excited, and then we had a chat about music and very quickly we realized that we could go to a territory which I’ve not really explored in movies in America, which is jazz meeting orchestra. For taking place in New York, there was something that felt very right."[1] Despite being a jazz-music lover, he did not find the right project for using jazz music, which he admitted: "I haven't really had an opportunity to really use it in a big scope for cinema, and this was a great option for me to do that. Swing, classical references, jazz, a symphony chorus, humor, tenderness…all these things were there, offered to me."[1]

Initially, Desplat intended to use jazz music, but with the limitation of using only jazz, and wanting to explore several territories, such as melodies and adventurous themes, he decided to add an orchestral music. Desplat brought in an 85-piece orchestral and a 35-member vocal choir, for scoring the film.[3] Desplat said, "At times the score is really full blast with a hundred and more musicians. There is a great electric energy coming from the musicians."[4]

Desplat approached a light-hearted tone for the film, which was felt right, according to Renaud. The notes from the first theme were played on clarinet, by virtuoso Dan Higgins. Desplat said that "This instrument comes back quite often playing the same melody. There is a lightness to it. It's cheeky".[4] When the film transitioned from a fun into moments of danger, sadness and melancholy, Desplat said that the score was a "challenge" and attributed "That's difficult when you are in a genre film where you have been bouncing with very jaunty music all the way [...] How do you end a film without being too sad? This melancholy that you have to find that is not too melancholy. Without being sentimental, but still being moving."[4]

Entertainment Weekly released the track "Meet the Pets" exclusively from the film, on June 23, 2016.[1] The soundtrack was initially set to be released along with the film, on July 8,[5] but was instead released a week earlier, by Back Lot Music.[1] On October 14, 2016, Desplat conducted the live concert performance of the film's premiere,[6] held at the Hollywood in Vienna annual music gala,[7] in Vienna Concert Hall, Austria, where he would also receive the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award.[8][9][10]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link

Jonathan Broxton wrote "To get anything out of The Secret Life of Pets you have to have a high tolerance for jazz, a liking for certain world music rhythms, and not be put off by numerous blatant homages to other composers, irrespective of how well they filter through Desplat's own musical sensibility. You also have to be prepared to experience rapid changes in tone, style, orchestration, and pacing, sometimes all within the same cue. Switches from light comedy to romance to full on action and back again are frequent, and unapologetic, and if that sort of emotional musical schizophrenia bothers you, you might want to take a sedative before hitting the play button."[11] James Southall of Movie Wave opined "with all this great stuff, you'd think it would make a great album, but it doesn't – not really.  It's too bitty, if anything there's just too much going on, not enough time to savour any of it.  It's entertaining enough with some really nice highlights, technically it's beyond reproach, and it probably works wonders within the film."[12]

Marcy Donelson of Allmusic wrote "Desplat's musical agility is on full display. Though nearly all of the recording is original score (pop music from the film is not included here), the film and soundtrack close with a cover of "We Go Together" from the musical Grease, performed by workers at a sausage factory that appears earlier in the film."[13] The Denver Post critic called the score as "outstanding",[14] while Screen International-based Wendy Ide called the score as "jaunty" and "keeps up the pace".[15] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter praised the score and attributed that "it takes notes from Breakfast at Tiffany's and other classic Manhattan-set movies, offering up a playful accompaniment to what ultimately feels like a smart but overindulgent exercise in computer-generated puppy love."[16]

Credits adapted from CD liner notes[17]