Leo

Leo is a 2023 American animated musical comedy film directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim (in Marianetti and Wachtenheim's feature directorial debuts), written by Smigel, Adam Sandler, and Paul Sado, and produced by Sandler and Mireille Soria. The second animated feature from Sandler's production company Happy Madison Productions, it stars him in the titular voice role, alongside Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Allison Strong, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel, and Nick Swardson. It tells the story of a tuatara (Leo) longing for the wild and worried about dying who is taken home by different students per the assignment of a strict substitute teacher, Ms. Malkin.

Leo was released by Netflix on November 21, 2023 to generally positive reviews by critics.

Summary
"A 74-year-old lizard named Leo and his turtle friend decide to escape from the terrarium of a Florida school classroom where they have been living for decades."

- Official Netflix synopsis

Plot
Longtime class pets Leo the tuatara and Squirtle the turtle live in the fifth-grade classroom at Fort Myers Elementary School, located in Flordia. During a parent-teacher conference, the fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Salinas, announces her maternity leave to have a new baby to take care of for the reminder of the school year; Leo overhears one of the parents say that tuataras live to be 75 years old and despairs when he realizes he is 74 and has not accomplished his dreams. The next day, shortly before Mrs. Salinas leaves for the hospital, the strict substitute Ms. Malkin arrives and is quickly loathed by the students. Mrs. Salinas then leaves the hospital.

Leo is taken home for the weekend (the students never took him home for the weekend) by Summer, an overly talkative girl. While trying to make his escape, Leo accidentally reveals to Summer that he can talk, and suggests to her that she ask more questions to improve her conversations with classmates. As a result, Summer becomes more popular. Each of the students eventually take Leo home and confide in him; he provides wisdom and support which improves each of the student's lives. However, Leo requests that each student keep his talking ability a secret from the others.

Jealous of the attention Leo is getting, Squirtle decides to expose him. Feeling betrayed, the class disregards Leo. Ms. Malkin takes Leo home when she discovers he talks and has been helping her students. Leo learns that she never accomplished her dream of being a real teacher (which is why she is mean to the students) and attempts to give her advice.

The next day, the students win the history fair with their historical reenactments; their prize is a field trip to Magic Land Park. Wanting to take all the credit, Ms. Malkin abandons Leo at The Everglades. When the students decide to apologize to Leo, they discover he is missing; Ms. Malkin lies by telling the class that Leo left them.

As the students travel to Magic Land Park, a guilt-ridden Squirtle uses Eli's drone (which follows him because Eli has helicopter parents) to catch up with them and reveals that Ms. Malkin lied, to which she confesses. The students and Ms. Malkin hijack the bus so they can find Leo. Meanwhile, Leo, learns from wild tuataras that he can live to be over 100 years old, reinvigorating him. Leo is threatened by a congregation of alligators, but is rescued by the students.

On the final day of the school year, Leo tells the class to look out for one another as they enter middle school. Ms. Malkin is given a full-time job as a teacher and is promptly assigned to the kindergartners, with Leo and Squirtle as the class pets.

Cast and Characters

 * Adam Sandler as Leo, a 74-year-old tuatara.
 * Bill Burr as Squirtle, a turtle who is friends with Leo (named after the Pokémon character, who is also a turtle, but blue).
 * Cecily Strong as Mrs Virginia Malkin, the strict 5th grade substitute teacher at Fort Myers Elementary School. Despite her first name being revealed as Virginia, she is listed in the credits as "Mrs. Malkin".
 * Jason Alexander as Jayda's dad, Dr. Jay Wenger, who is a popular dermatologist.
 * Rob Schneider as Principal Spahn, the principal of Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Allison Strong as Mrs. Salinas, a 5th grade teacher at Fort Myers Elementary School who goes on maternity leave to have a new baby.
 * Jo Koy as Coach Komura, a gym teacher at Fort Myers Elementary School who is liked by Mrs. Malkin.
 * Sadie Sandler as Jayda Wenger, a rich and judgmental student at Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Sunny Sandler as Summer, a talkative student at Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Coulter Ibanez as Zane, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Bryant Tardy and Corey J. as Cole H., a student at Fort Myers Elementary School. Tardy provides Cole's low voice while Corey J. provides Cole's high voice.
 * Ethan Smigel as Anthony, a held-back class bully.
 * Tienya Safko as Skyler, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School who is part of Jayda's circle of friends.
 * Gloria Manning as Logan, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School who is part of Jayda's circle of friends.
 * Carson Minniear as Cole Wiseki, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Roey Smigel as:
 * Eli, a boy who is often sheltered by his overprotective helicopter parents.
 * Benji Wenger, Jayda's brother
 * Reese Lores as Mia, a huggy student at Fort Myers Elementary School who is a science wiz and has recently-divorced parents.
 * Benjamin Bottani as Kabir, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School.
 * Aldan Liam Phillipson as TJ, a student at Fort Myers Elementary School who grew his first back hair.
 * Jackie Sandler as Jayda's Mom, the mother of Jayda who is often seen doing Pilates.
 * Heidi Gardner as Julie, Eli's mom who is very overprotective with him.
 * Robert Smigel as:
 * A miniature horse that is among the animals that Leo frees at Jayda's party
 * A drone that follows Eli around on his parent's behalf
 * Old lizard #1
 * Old lizard #3
 * Nick Swardson as Cinnabun, a rabbit in a 2nd grade classroom who is constantly renamed every year.
 * Lileina Joy as:
 * Hamster Kid #1
 * Hamster Kid #3
 * Featured Vocals
 * Elijah Kim as Featured Vocals
 * Stephanie Hsu as Skyler's mom
 * Nicholas Turturro as Anthony's dad

Production
In May 2016, it was reported that Adam Sandler would produce (under Happy Madison Productions), write and star in an animated film project. At that time STX Entertainment was attached. Leo was animated by Netflix Animation's Animal Logic. The film's score was composed by Geoff Zanelli.

Release
Leo had a preview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 14, 2023, before its release by Netflix on November 21, 2023.

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 60 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Slick animation, catchy songs, and some winning voice work from a cast led by Adam Sandler help Leo strike an uneasy balance between satirical and sweet." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.