Sing

A plucky impresario stages an amateur singing contest to save his cash-strapped theatre in this animated musical peopled by anthropomorphic animals. If sundry critters acting out TV talent show material sounds just a mite cynical, however, rest easy. British writer/director Garth Jennings - creator of 2007's marvellously eccentric coming-of-age tale Son of Rambow - puts plenty of heart into the rival wannabes' backstage dramas. There's a much-hassled hausfrau pig, a shy elephant with a big voice, a teenage gorilla from a bad home and even an egomaniac mouse with a Sinatra croon. But they're blissfully unaware that the fast-talking koala who is organising the contest (slickly voiced by Matthew McConaughey) is short of the big-money prize. These very human problems aren't quite as affecting as the best of Pixar, but the passion with which the incredibly varied music is delivered really sells the story. From the Beatles to Katy Perry, Puccini to Stevie Wonder... the film's sheer joy in belting it out will win you over. When it sings, it really soars.