Buster Moon is thriving with his newly rebuilt theater; Johnny, Meena, Rosita, Gunter, and Miss Crawly work as his cast and crew, while Ash performs as a soloist at a rock club. Buster's show fails to impress Crystal Entertainment's talent scout dog Suki Lane, who tells Buster he would not make it in nearby Redshore City. Encouraged by Nana Noodleman, Buster and the crew reunite with Ash and travel to the city to make an impression.

They are denied entry into Crystal Entertainment but sneak in for an audition with entertainment mogul wolf Jimmy Crystal. As Jimmy is uninterested in Buster's original show pitch, Gunter suggests a space-themed sci-fi musical that features songs from Clay Calloway, a legendary rock star lion who disappeared after his wife Ruby died 15 years prior. Intrigued, and assuming that Clay will be a part of the show, Jimmy greenlights it and lets Buster and his friends stay at his hotel during production.

Miss Crawly finds where Clay lives and goes to visit him, but he scares her away with a paintball gun. During rehearsal, Rosita develops a fear of heights after discovering she needs to make a high jump, prompting Jimmy to insist Buster have his daughter Porsha play her part instead. Buster reluctantly writes Rosita a minor role. Top choreographer monkey Klaus Kickenklober is hired to teach Johnny to dance, but is unnecessarily harsh, causing Johnny to struggle and fall behind. Johnny later comes across a street dancer lynx named Nooshy, who takes over as his teacher. Meena is cast in a romantic scene with Darius, an egocentric actor yak, but is unable to act the part convincingly, having never been in love before. She later meets and falls in love with an ice cream vendor elephant named Alfonso. Jimmy eventually discovers that Buster never contacted Clay about the show and threatens to harm Buster if he does not deliver.

Ash and Buster visit Clay to convince him to be in the show. He refuses at first, finding it too emotionally painful to perform after his wife's death, but Ash changes his mind. Back at the theater, Buster offers Porsha to switch roles with Rosita, as Porsha's acting skills are poor. Porsha misunderstands and assumes that Buster is firing her and leaves the set. After news of the "firing" is broadcast on television, an outraged Jimmy nearly drops Buster off the roof of the hotel, before locking him in a closet. Suki frees Buster and warns him to leave Redshore City before Jimmy can kill him. Ash arrives at the hotel room with the crew and Clay, who advises Buster not to run and hide as he did. After overhearing Jimmy insulting him and his crew on television, Buster decides to put on the show that night behind Jimmy's back. Porsha rejoins the show, Johnny summons his father's gang who are now released from prison on community service to keep Jimmy and his bodyguards at bay, and Rosita arranges for her husband Norman and their children to distract hotel security.

During the show, a jealous Klaus takes the place of Johnny's performance partner to undermine his number, but Johnny defeats Klaus with encouragement from Nooshy and the other dancers, finally earning Klaus' respect. Porsha performs a high energy song and dance number in the minor role originally given to Rosita, standing up to her enraged father. Meena visualizes Darius as Alfonso, and successfully performs a romantic duet with …

Read more on Wikipedia