'Leo' is an animated lizard with an SNL sensibility — and the voice of Adam Sandler
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Imagine if the pets in a fifth-grade classroom could talk. That's the premise of the new animated Netflix movie "Leo." Comedian Bill Burr voices a turtle.
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BILL BURR: (As Squirtle) All right. Another year, another batch of fifth-grade head cases.
SHAPIRO: Adam Sandler is the voice of Leo, a 74-year-old lizard. He can't bear to hear another class reading of "Charlotte's Web."
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ADAM SANDLER: (As Leo) Plus, no one gets to eat Charlotte. You just have to hear about this delicious spider for days and get hungry thinking about it.
SHAPIRO: "Leo" is a coming-of-age musical with a "Saturday Night Live" sensibility, as NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: When Adam Sandler was on "SNL" in the early 1990s, Robert Smigel, who co-wrote and directed "Leo," was one of the writers. Sandler even modeled Leo's voice on a talent manager who represented a lot of "SNL" cast members. Bernie Brillstein sounded like this.
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BERNIE BRILLSTEIN: So I would have just gotten him a publisher and not paid any attention to it.
BLAIR: And here's Leo.
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A SANDLER: (As Leo) Never heard the word enough.
We used to run around and do his voice.
ROBERT SMIGEL: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
BLAIR: Smigel and Sandler say Brillstein's warmth is in Leo, too.
A SANDLER: Everybody loved him as a man. He had a very jovial, fun way to look at things, and he calmed you when he spoke. And so we thought it would make some sense.
R SMIGEL: (Imitating Bernie Brillstein) You have to understand.
BLAIR: Leo's gift is understanding fifth graders.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, singing) Last year of elementary school, last year of being a kid, being on top.
ETHAN SMIGEL: (As Anthony, singing) I'm gonna go out swinging...
BLAIR: The last year of elementary school, a time when kids feel both on top of the world and plagued by insecurities. One kid is ashamed of his high voice. The class bully is afraid to admit he doesn't know where babies come from.
A SANDLER: When you're a kid, there's stuff you don't want to just blurt out to your parents. But when your grandparents visit and you're like, oh, God, this is painful, let me just tell somebody, and you tell grandma, or you tell grandpa. And that's basically what Leo allows these kids to do.
BLAIR: Each student takes a turn bringing Leo home, and when he starts talking to them, they freak out.
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A SANDLER: (As Leo) The trophy.
SUNNY SANDLER: (As Summer) You said something. You just spoke. Mom.
A SANDLER: (As Leo) No.
SUNNY: (As Summer) You talked. You're talking.
BLAIR: But talking or singing to Leo helps them with their problems - like the girl who's a motormouth.
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SUNNY: (As Summer, singing) I, like, always just come out and say whatever's on my mind. And, like, people look OK with it, but maybe they're resigned. But I can't help saying more. They maybe smile like they're enjoying. You have no idea how stressful it is to not know when my talking gets annoying.
A SANDLER: (As Leo) I've seen a lot of kids who talk a lot. They seem to...
SUNNY: (As Summer, singing) So, like, I just continue talking and...
BLAIR: Smigel and Sandler worked on "Leo" during the pandemic. Sandler says they were pretty much drawing from real life.
A SANDLER: Our kids were in elementary school.
R SMIGEL: Yes. (Inaudible).
A SANDLER: They were dealing with the - with what these kids go through, and we were dealing with what the parents go through. We definitely were right in the heart of it.
BLAIR: Sandler and Smigel's kids voice some of the parts. Sandler's oldest daughter plays a character whose family is all about appearances. Jayda is popular and confident on the outside. Leo gives her some tough love.
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SADIE SANDLER: (As Jayda) Ugh, you don't get what being awesome's like.
A SANDLER: (As Leo) But you're not.
S SANDLER: (As Jayda) I'm what?
A SANDLER: (As Leo) Brace yourself.
(As Leo, singing) Not that great. I know you guys are proud, but your house is kind of loud. And your dad's a middleweight.
R SMIGEL: You're no better or worse than any other person, you know? I always thought that was just one of the greatest things you can say to your child.
BLAIR: It also takes the pressure to be perfect off Jayda.
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S SANDLER: (As Jayda, singing) So then I'm not that great.
A SANDLER: (As Leo) There you go.
S SANDLER: (As Jayda, singing) But I can feel that weight coming off. Like having you here after 11 stressful years, to my fellow average peers I can finally relate.
BLAIR: As the school year comes to an end, the kids start to worry what they'll do without Leo. He reassures them.
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A SANDLER: (As Leo) Remember - everyone's scared, so don't keep it to yourself. Find your Leo to talk to.
BLAIR: Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LEO")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) But that was then.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) When I was 10.
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