Sing: Thriller is a 2024 CG animated Halloween short based on the characters from the animated franchise by Garth Jennings, who also wrote and direct the short film. Produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures, the short is loosely inspired on Michael Jackson's music video "Thriller" and features most of the cast, consisting of Matthew McConaughey, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Scarlett Johansson, and Taron Egerton, respiring their roles from the films.
The short premiered on Netflix on October 16, 2024.
Contents
Plot
The short opens up with Thriller being performed in a Halloween-themed musical called GMO the Musical at the New Moon Theater with Meena cast as the main lead, Gunter as one of the vegetable creatures singing with the children in costume, and Ash and Johnny as the two mad scientists turning Meena into a Lemon.
After the performance, Buster and his friends are invited to Clay Calloway's Halloween Party tonight at his house. Unaware as they left, a news report shows an explosion in a lab by a strange pink and blue substance. When they arrived at the party, the substance quickly spreads and infects Clay, some of Buster's friends and the guests into zombified dancers by their glowing-tranced eyes. Buster and Miss Crawly escape, but before they were attacked by a tentacle creature in the lake, Buster woke up back at New Moon Theater by Crawly as it was revealed to be only a dream after being knocked out by the costume heads off the broken shelf.
They start to leave as Buster's friends were waiting for him in Johnny's Dad's truck to head to the party, but when Crawly turns the lights off, before she leaves, her eyes glow in the same trance as the dancers from Buster's dream, ending the short with Ray the Snail, also in trance, mimics the laugh from the music video before falling off a Jack-O-Lantern head.
Voice cast
Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon
Tori Kelly as Meena
Nick Kroll as Gunter
Scarlett Johansson as Ash
Taron Egerton as Johnny
Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly
Additional miscellaneous voices by Erinn Hayes, Katherine Kelloway, Joy Poirel, and Fisher Stevens.
Other characters from the first film, such as Nana Noodleman, Eddie, Mike, Nancy, as well as from the 2021 sequel, Porsha Crystal, Nooshy, Clay Calloway, Darius, Klaus Kickenklober, and Suki Lane, have all made silent cameo appearances throughout the short.
Production
The short film was shadow-dropped in October 2024, and is also the first Illumination short film to be released on Netflix, while being the first holiday special from Netflix not to be produced from DreamWorks Animation. Though unlike the DreamWorks holiday specials released on Netflix, that are produced outsourced by other animation services, the short was produced in-house like most of Illumination’s films through their unit Illumination Studios Paris, with the same assets, characters, and designs used in the first two Sing films.
Music
A single cover for the short, performed by some of the cast, was released one week later on October 24, 2024 by Back Lot Music, containing the same music and lyrics from the song by Rod Temperton. Two other songs include Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, played from the opening of the short, and an original song called Spooky Party by Garth Jennings, which played during when Buster's troupe arrived at Clay's party.
Reception
Common Sense Media gave the special a 4 out of 5 as a lighthearted tribute to Michael Jackson's song.