The other day I saw The Secret Life of Pets. I definitely didn’t cry. But I felt it coming on. Yes, I started tearing up when I saw all the pets that Illumination Entertainment created. **Just an FYI -- Illumination is owned by Universal, and was founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. This is the same powerhouse that put out the wildly successful Despicable Me movies.** The movie takes place in New York City, and the graphics alone were spectacular. The opening scene was as if a drone was flying over New York City, but all in animation, which I was just stunned by. (I do not consider this a spoiler, sorry if you do.)

I don’t even know how these graphics were created, and yet, I was so amazed at the production work.

But let me get back to why I continually was tearing up. Ready?

It was the music. The music gave me the chills like no other movie (except maybe like The Theory of Everything -- that soundtrack really gave me the goosebumps). And when I’m talking about movie music, I’m not talking about the soundtrack that will eventually hit Target, featuring Taylor Swift and The Beastie Boys (yes, both of these artists had songs in The Secret Life of Pets). I’m talking about the classic big band swing music that was ever so prominent in this movie. The shots of New York, even though animated, plus the big band music created the tears in my eyes.

Let me break it down as best as I can as to why this happened.

When I was younger, like really young, like 6 years old.. I became obsessed with movie music. It all started with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals that I grew to love. Then it was the Shirley Temple movies, and West Side Story. (I PROMISE I GREW UP IN THE 90s AND EARLY 2000s). To further my point, I became obsessed with the orchestral overtures. That’s what was so exciting about starting those movies. Then as I got older, and was watching less of those musicals (seeing as I had seen them more times than I could count), I found my love of movie music. I couldn’t help but listen to the soundtrack and easily get distracted from the plot. I realized that was my dream. This was what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to be in an orchestra that solely recorded for movies. I remember telling my friends that, and they said to remember them when I’m famous. Gah. That was the dream.

But later on, I learned that a lot of the orchestra was just created from the computer. And that those magnificent trombones I heard, was just someone pressing a button on a keyboard. Then I found out that you had to be the best of the best to be in one of those orchestras. I just never had that drive to be the best at playing the trombone. I have other interests. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing, but I know that there are better players out there that devote every minute of their free time to practicing their craft. That was just never my thing.

I know this sounds kind of depressing, and sounds like hopelessness, but it’s the truth. So when I heard the music in this movie, it just brought me back to why this was a life dream of mine. The music was composed by Alexandre Desplat, someone that has won many awards for his movie compositions, including winning the OSCAR for "The Grand Budapest Hotel". So it comes to no surprise that this composition for "The Secret Life of Pets" gave me the chills.

I guess I was also ecstatic to see all these little kids around me listening to the same music I was. Maybe there were just a few kids in the audience that felt the same thing I felt when I was younger. Also, these kids were listening to big band music! How rare for that to even happen!

It was just all a bit overwhelming for me. The great music, the kids, the adorable animated pets. That’s why I was constantly tearing up. I saw a dream that I have decidedly to let go, to possibly be realized by the child sitting behind me.