Leo: Dream big along with the class pet in the trailer for the new Adam Sandler and Bill Burr animated film

Last Updated on August 24, 2023

“Back to school. Back to school. Back to school.” It’s the end of the summer, and many are singing the back-to-school song that Adam Sandler once sang in his beloved classic, Billy Madison. Even Adam Sandler. Netflix has released the trailer for their newest animated original for the whole family, Leo. Sandler plays the titular Leo — the class pet lizard. Joining Sandler in an against-type of role is comedian Bill Burr, whose normal profanity-laced humor takes a break in lieu of family-friendly comedy. Here, Burr plays the class pet turtle who shares the terrarium with Leo.

The official synopsis from Netflix reads,
“Actor and comedian Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania, The Wedding Singer) delivers signature laughs in this coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school – as seen through the eyes of a class pet. Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students — including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever… “

The rest of the cast that join Sandler and Burr includes the voice talents of Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel, Nick Swardson, Stephanie Hsu, and Nicholas Turturro.

The animated comedy is written by Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, and Paul Sado. Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim are the directors for this feature, and the producer is simply credited Happy Madison.

The directors have joined forces prior on Saturday Night Live, but they talk about how this project differs from their past works. “We’ve collaborated on many crazy projects, going back to the SNL TV Funhouse cartoons, but Leo is a little different. It’s silly and funny, but, aside from the central character being a very old class pet, our story is also about honest emotions and situations that every kid (and parent) experiences in elementary school. People of all ages will relate to it. And so will talking lizards!”

The adventure for Leo the lizard begins when Leo hits Netflix streaming on November 21.