Garth Jennings, from H2G2 to All In Scene 2

The director is also known for his original clips designed for Blur or FatBoy Slim.

In 2016, Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet brought to life through All on stage, a musical animated film, to many talented animals who tried their luck in a singing competition organized by Buster Moon while his theater was drowning in debt.

Five years later, All in scene 2 was released on the big screen, and the animated film will be broadcast this Sunday evening on TF1. The pitch? “Buster Moon and his troupe of outsiders take a chance on performing in the most prestigious venue in show business.”

Here is its trailer:

All on stage 2 can also be seen on Première Max

This sequel, still produced by Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me) and distributed by Universal Picturescontains catchy music like “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” by Shawn Mendes, “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 or even covers of Eminem and Drake. Was his co-director chosen thanks to his first rock experiences?

Before directing films, Garth Jennings had in fact directed several clips that had become cult, notably that of “Coffee and TV” for Blur, in 1999, with his unforgettable bottle of milk:

The same year, he also made that of “Right Here, Right Now” for FatBoy Slim, inspired by the theory of evolution and which enjoyed great success:

After also collaborating with REM and Radiohead, in 2005 he directed the adaptation of the crazy stories of Douglas Adams, H2G2 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Intergalactic, with Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell and the voice of Alan Rickman (great as Marvin, the robot so intelligent that he became totally depressed). A sci-fi comedy mixing romance, the end of the world, and extra-terrestrial life, which, without reaching the overflowing madness of the novels, remains an extraordinary film, which never ceases to play with spectators’ expectations.

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Two years later, Garth Jennings signed Rambow’s Sonan endearing film about a young boy who is a fan of Rambo who tries with a school friend to make their own version of Stallone’s work. This time, he is also on the screenplay.

Once committed to All on stage, he will call on director friends to dub a handful of key characters from the animated films. Himself lending his voice to the mouse H2G2, here he plays Miss Crawly, the iguana who assists the hero. At his side, we can hear among others Edgar Wright, who offered him a supporting role in his Cornetto Trilogy, Chris Renaud, the co-creator of Minionsor Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze.

Also director of the funny short film Madam (2018), the story of an elegant old woman hiding a monster inside her, Garth Jennings has devoted himself mainly to writing for several years: from 2015 to 2021 he published four opuses of the literary series for children The Deadly 7 at Macmillan Publishers.

Its sequel to All on stage is it worth a look? Unfortunately, it is not as inspired as the first part, even if its musical pieces remain generally catchy.

Here is the review published when it was released, at the end of 2021, in First :

Many of us succumbed in 2017 to the adventures of Buster Moon, the koala who gave a second life to his theater by organizing a singing competition. A gem of animated cinema playing wonderfully with different musical styles and a sure sense of situational comedy.

We therefore eagerly awaited its sequel where Moon and his friends undertake this time to stage a show in an even larger theater with the ambition of bringing a reclusive ex-rock star back on stage. For this sequel, Jennings also wanted to see things big. The result is not unpleasant but the director of the well shaken Intergalactic Traveler’s Guide falls into line too much. Here quantity (the soundtrack turns into an exhausting musical juke box) takes precedence over quality (an animation without roughness). All in scene 2 surf the same wave instead of exploring new oceans.

Tous en scène provides great pleasure thanks to its constant good humor (critic)