Despicable Me | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | |
Screenplay by | Cinco Paul Ken Daurio |
Story by | Sergio Pablos |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures [1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes [4] |
Country | United States [5] [1] |
Language | English |
Budget | $69 million [6] |
Box office | $543.2 million [6] |
Despicable Me is a 2010 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment, and the SPA Studios, and distributed by Universal. The first installment of the franchise of the same name, it was the first feature film from Illumination. It was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, and John Cohen, from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, based on a story by Sergio Pablos. Despicable Me stars the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Will Arnett, and Julie Andrews. The film follows Felonious Gru, a longtime supervillain who adopts three orphan girls to use as pawns in a villainous scheme but reluctantly develops an emotional attachment to them.
Development of Despicable Me began when Pablos pitched the idea about a main character having villainous attributes and brought the concept to Meledandri following Illumination's foundation in 2007, with Paul and Daurio writing the script. The film was officially announced in 2008, with much of its creative team attached, while animation was provided by Paris-based studio Mac Guff (now Illumination Studios Paris). Pharrell Williams and Heitor Pereira composed the film's score, with original songs written and performed by the former.
Despicable Me debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 9, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 9. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and earned $543.2 million worldwide, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2010. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards and Annie Awards and was also the winner for Favorite Animated Movie at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. Despicable Me began a successful franchise which includes three sequels ( Despicable Me 2 (2013), Despicable Me 3 (2017), and Despicable Me 4 (2024)) and three prequels ( Minions (2015), Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), and Minions 3 (2027))
Longtime supervillain Felonious Gru has his pride hurt when an unknown rival steals the Great Pyramid of Giza. Gru, his elderly assistant Dr. Nefario, and his army of Minions devise a plan to steal the Moon. Seeking financial assistance, Gru approaches Mr. Perkins, the director of the Bank of Evil, who orders Gru to procure a shrink ray. While at the bank, Gru meets budding supervillain Vector, who was responsible for the Pyramid heist. Gru and two of his Minions obtain the shrink ray from a research base in Southeast Asia, only for Vector to ambush them and steal it for himself.
After many failed attempts to infiltrate Vector's fortress, Gru notices three orphaned girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, being allowed in to sell cookies to Vector. Gru adopts the girls under the guise of a dentist, using them to distract Vector while he reclaims the shrink ray. He tries to abandon the girls at an amusement park, but starts to bond with them.
Gru later shows Perkins the shrink ray through a video call, only to be met with rejection. Observing Gru's despair, the girls offer him their piggy bank, and the Minions pool their resources to fund the moon heist. Meanwhile, Perkins informs Vector, who is revealed to be his son, of Gru's current possession of the shrink ray, prompting Vector to take action on thwarting Gru's plan. Nefario calculates the day when the Moon is closest to Earth, which unfortunately coincides with the girls' ballet recital.
Believing the girls are too much of a distraction to Gru, Nefario calls the orphanage's owner, Miss Hattie, to take the girls back. Gru successfully shrinks and steals the Moon. Hoping to make it to the recital on time, he rushes back to Earth, but finds that the recital has ended and that Vector has kidnapped the girls.
Arriving at Vector's fortress, Gru surrenders the Moon to Vector, but Vector refuses to give back the girls. Enraged, Gru storms Vector's fortress, intent on revenge. After Gru sidesteps all of the fortress's defenses, Vector panics and activates his escape aircraft. Meanwhile, Nefario and the Minions discover that the shrink ray's effects are temporary; the bigger an object, the faster it reverts to its normal size. Gru, Nefario, and the Minions rescue the girls before the Moon returns to its normal size and launches itself into orbit, destroying Vector's aircraft and leaving him stranded. Gru reclaims custody of the girls, and they celebrate with a special ballet recital that becomes a dance party.
Despicable Me's supporting voice cast includes Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher as Gru's adopted daughters Edith and Agnes, respectively; and Pierre Coffin as the Minions, Gru's adorable and humorous henchmen, with Chris Renaud as Dave and Jemaine Clement as Jerry. [5] [7] [12] Other actors who lent their voices in minor roles include Danny McBride as Gru's neighbor Fred McDade, Jack McBrayer as a carnival barker and a tourist dad, Mindy Kaling as a tourist mom, Rob Huebel as an anchorman, Ken Daurio as an Egyptian guard, and Ken Jeong as a talk-show host. [5]
To develop Despicable Me (under the working title Evil Me), Spanish animator Sergio Pablos pitched the idea about a main character having villainous attributes. [13] Pablos brought his pitch to producer Chris Meledandri, [14] who founded his animation studio Illumination Entertainment after leaving 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007; screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio began writing the script. [15] [16] Afterward, Meledandri brought together Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud to direct the project. Coffin, who comes from Mac Guff, was recruited for his experience directing commercials for the studio, while Renaud was brought in for his animation experience in Blue Sky Studios. [17] In November 2008, Illumination announced the beginning of development on its first CG animated film and project, Despicable Me. [18] [19]
After being upset at recognizing Gru's behavior early in the production, which could become stale with audiences, Meledandri ordered the directors to lighten Despicable Me's tone. Steve Carell reasoned this was because it could ruin the emotional weight between Gru and the three orphan girls. Carell suggested that the character "displayed a sharp edge". In response, two scenes were written: Gru popping a balloon and freezing customers. [20] The language spoken by the Minions was invented by Coffin and Renaud; it is sometimes nicknamed "Minionese". [21] By June 2010, the film was completed.[ citation needed ]
Animation services were handled by the Paris-based studio Mac Guff, with only 100 artists. Coffin, Renaud, and character designer Eric Guillon were responsible for creating the Minions. [22] They did not exist in the original script until their addition during Despicable Me's production. [13] [23] Initial designs for the Minions were humans and robots, before finalizing their appearances to small, yellow pill-shaped creatures. [22] [24] Renaud described the Minions as out of focus and "not very smart". The characters took inspiration from Oompa-Loompas in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Jawas in the Star Wars franchise, [25] as well as silent screen stars Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and Warner Bros. cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny. [26]
Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, and it was released on July 6, 2010. It features new songs from the film written and performed by Pharrell Williams and performances by Destinee & Paris, the Sylvers, Robin Thicke, and the Bee Gees. [27]
Universal Pictures partnered the film with licensing and promotional partners valued at $75 million for the marketing campaign. Additional marketing partners for the film included Airheads, Church's Chicken, Hungry Jack's, Color Me Mine, American Express, Kodak, IHOP, and Best Buy. [28] As a promotional tie-in, Despicable Me: The Game was released in various platforms. [29]
Despicable Me debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 9, 2010, [30] followed by a premiere on June 27, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. [31] The film was released in the United States on July 9. [32]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Despicable Me on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and DVD on December 14, 2010. [33] Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes; filmmaker commentaries; games; [34] and short films Home Makeover , Orientation Day , and Banana . [35] A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2017. [36]
Despicable Me earned $251.6 million in the United States and Canada and $291.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $543.2 million. [6] It was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2010. [37]
In the United States and Canada, Despicable Me was released with Predators on July 9, 2010. [6] [38] During its opening weekend, the film earned $60.1 million across 3,476 theaters. [38] Its second weekend earnings dropped by 42 percent to $32.7 million, [39] and followed by another $24.1 million on the third weekend. [40] Despicable Me left theaters by January 20, 2011, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2010. [41] [42]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Borrowing heavily (and intelligently) from Pixar and Looney Tunes , Despicable Me is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own." [43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [44] It is Illumination's highest rated film to date on both websites. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [38]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, saying the directors were skilled at "springing surprises" from the writers' "ingenious" screenplay. [45] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Since villains so often steal the show in animation, Despicable Me smartly turns the whole operation over to megalomaniacal rogue Gru." [10] Robert Wilonsky of The Village Voice wrote, "The result is pleasant and diverting, if ultimately forgettable, and it's one of the rare instances in the recent history of 3-D's resurrection as The Savior of Cinema in which the technology doesn't dim the screen or distract the focus." [46] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press wrote, "Kids will dig it, adults will smile with amusement, and no one will be any different afterward than they were walking into the theater." [47] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying, "Neither as rich in story nor stunning in animation as Pixar offerings, Despicable Me instead settles for simply being goofy good fun, and it hardly seems like settling at all." [48]
Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Short, sweet-and-sour, and amusing rather than funny, Despicable Me can't help but be likable." [49] Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "You'll probably leave the theater smiling, but don't expect to be emotionally engaged, Pixar-style. You'll be tickled, not touched." [50] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "A whip-smart family movie that makes inventive use of the summer's ubiquitous 3-D technology is something worth cheering." [51] Tom Keogh of The Seattle Times gave the film three stars out of four, saying "Despicable Me appeals both to our innocence and our glee over cartoon anarchy." [52] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "Despicable Me has enough visual novelty and high spirits to keep the kiddies diverted and just enough wit to placate the parents." [53] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "The film is funny, energetic, teeth-gnashingly venomous and animated with an eye to exploiting the 3-D process with such sure-fire techniques as a visit to an amusement park." [8] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "By taking the "heart" part just seriously enough, and in the nick of time, the movie saves itself from itself." [54]
Kim Newman of Empire gave the film three stars out of five, saying, "It's no first-rank CGI cartoon, but shows how Pixar's quality over crass is inspiring the mid-list. Fun, with teary bits, for kids fresh and smart for adults." [55] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "The film throws so much ersatz cleverness and overdone emotion at the audience that we end up more worn out than entertained." [56] Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Unfortunately Despicable Me is just, predictably eh. And the one thing the larcenous Gru never steals is our heart." [57] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "An improbably heartwarming, not to mention visually delightful, diversion." [58] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail gave the film four stars out of four, saying, "This animated thing pretty near out-Pixars Pixar." [59] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "When compared with the ambition and achievement of recent animated films, such as Coraline and Toy Story 3 , Despicable Me hardly seems to have been worth making, and it's barely worth watching." [60]
Bob Mondello of NPR gave the film an eight out of ten, saying, "It's all thoroughly adorable, and with an overlay that's nearly as odd as Carell's accent: Despicable Me looks a lot like other computer-animated pictures." [61] A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film two stars out of five, saying, "So much is going on in this movie that, while there's nothing worth despising, there's not much to remember either." [62] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Despicable doesn't measure up to Pixar at its best. Nonetheless, it's funny, clever and warmly animated with memorable characters." [63] Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times gave the film a B, saying, "Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud craft a fun stretch run, wrapping the story with warm, fuzzy funnies and nothing to suggest a sequel, which is probably wise." [64] Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club gave the film a B, saying, "Until the creep + orphans = happy family formula starts demanding abrupt, unconvincing character mutations, Despicable Me is a giddy joy." [65]
Despicable Me's popularity grew following its release, which led to a successful multimedia franchise. [111] [112] Its basic premise of comedic aspects, including characters, has been replicated with varying degrees of success in films like Hotel Transylvania (2012), The Lego Movie (2014), Storks , The Secret Life of Pets (both 2016), The Lego Batman Movie , The Boss Baby , The Emoji Movie (all 2017), and Toy Story 4 (2019). [113] The Minions became Illumination's mascots since the film's release. [114] [115] Despicable Me inspired various Internet memes. [116] [117] It helped launch the career of Fisher. [118]
Following the unexpected financial success of Despicable Me, Universal led to the development on a sequel, [119] intent on capitalizing the original's popularity through that film's extensive marketing campaign. [120] Despicable Me 2 (2013) surpassed the box-office take of Despicable Me, [121] and received a similarly positive critical and audience response. [122] They were followed by a prequel, Minions (2015), and a second sequel, Despicable Me 3 (2017). [123] The pictures each earned more than $1 billion, respectively becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 2015 and 2017, [124] [125] but polarized critics. [126] After Minions sequel Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) being delayed twice from an original 2020 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [127] [128] Despicable Me 4 was released in 2024. [129] A third Minions film is scheduled to be released in 2027. [130]
Steven John Carell is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom The Office, and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, and director. Carell has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for The Office. He was recognized as "America's Funniest Man" by Life.
Chris Renaud is an American filmmaker, designer, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at Illumination, he directed the company's animated films such as the first, second, and fourth films in the Despicable Me franchise (2010–present), the first two of which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin, The Lorax (2012), The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019). He also voiced the Minions in the first two films in the Despicable Me franchise and Norman in The Secret Life of Pets franchise, the former which he co-created with Coffin. He has received nominations for two Academy Awards for the Ice Age short film No Time for Nuts (2006) and Despicable Me 2 (2013).
Illumination, formerly known as Illumination Entertainment, is an American animation studio founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007 and is a division of Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal; Meledandri produces the films, while Universal finances and distributes them. The studio is best known for creating the Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing franchises, as well as the adaptations of Dr. Seuss' books The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; and Nintendo video games, starting with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Minions, characters from the Despicable Me series, are the mascots of the studio.
Christopher Meledandri is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of Ice Age, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing. In 2021, he joined Nintendo's board of directors after working with the video game company on The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Meledandri also collaborates with Illumination's corporate sibling DreamWorks Animation on reviving the Shrek franchise.
Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin is a French animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is best known for co-directing four films in the Despicable Me franchise and being the primary voice of the Minions, which won him the Kids Family Award at the 10th Seiyu Awards. He also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Despicable Me 2.
Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to Despicable Me (2010) and the second installment in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Ken Jeong. The film follows retired supervillain Gru as he is recruited by secret agent Lucy Wilde to investigate the theft of a powerful mutagen by El Macho, a supervillain who seeks to achieve world domination.
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is an animated simulator ride attraction located at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Beijing, as well as upcoming to Universal Studios Singapore. The attraction is based on Universal Pictures and Illumination's animated film Despicable Me (2010) and its franchise. While it is an opening day attraction in Beijing, it replaced Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast in Florida, T2-3D: Battle Across Time in Hollywood, Back to the Future: The Ride in Japan and Madagascar: A Crate Adventure in Singapore.
Despicable Me is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions. The franchise is produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company Universal Pictures.
Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are American screenwriters, collaborating on the screenplays for animated films including the Despicable Me franchise, Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax and The Secret Life of Pets. The duo also served as the co-creators of the 2021 Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon!, with Paul also serving as the series songwriter and executive producer.
Minions is a 2015 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. The film is a prequel to Despicable Me (2010) and the third installment overall in the Despicable Me franchise. Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by Brian Lynch, Minions stars the voices of Coffin as the titular beings, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, and Geoffrey Rush as the narrator. In the film, the Minions search for their replaceable evil master after accidentally killing all of those in history.
Despicable Me 3 is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to Despicable Me 2 (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, co-directed by production and character designer Eric Guillon, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, from a screenplay by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Coffin, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Jenny Slate, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel, and Julie Andrews. In the film, Gru teams up with his long-lost twin brother Dru to stop Balthazar Bratt, a former child actor of the 1980s, from destroying Hollywood after his show was canceled years ago.
Minions are a fictional all-male species of yellow creatures that appear in Illumination's Despicable Me franchise. They are characterized by their childlike behavior and their language, which is largely unintelligible.
Illumination Studios Paris is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Universal's purchase deal of the animation arm of French animation and VFX company Mac Guff. It is responsible for the animation on Illumination's feature-length animated films and associated short films, most notably the Despicable Me franchise.
Kyle Balda is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.
Felonious Gru Sr., alternatively spelled as Felonius Gru and typically referred to simply as Gru, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Despicable Me franchise. Voiced by American actor Steve Carell, he has appeared in all six films in the series. Gru is a grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical former supervillain, who serves as a secret agent in order to fight other supervillains.
Minions: The Rise of Gru, also known as Minions 2, is a 2022 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to Minions (2015), a prequel to Despicable Me (2010), and the fifth entry overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Kyle Balda, co-directed by Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val, and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Chris Renaud, from a screenplay written by Matthew Fogel, and a story by Fogel and Brian Lynch. It features Steve Carell reprising his role as Gru and Pierre Coffin as the Minions, along with Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Steve Coogan, and Julie Andrews reprising their respective roles as Dr. Nefario, Mr. Perkins, Silas Ramsbottom, and Gru's mother Marlena. New cast members include Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, and Alan Arkin. In the film, an eleven-year-old Gru plans to become a supervillain with the help of his Minions, which leads to a showdown with a malevolent team, the Vicious 6.
Despicable Me 4 is a 2024 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017), the fourth main installment, and the sixth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Patrick Delage, produced by Chris Meledandri and Brett Hoffman, and written by Mike White and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, and Will Ferrell. The film sees reformed supervillain and secret agent Gru (Carell) relocate his family to a safe house when his old rival Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell) seeks revenge. Subplots deal with Gru's family adjusting to their new lives, teenage neighbor Poppy Prescott (King) trying to follow in Gru's villainous footsteps, and a group of Gru's Minions (Coffin) becoming superheroes.
Lego Minions: The Rise of Gru was a Lego theme based on the film of the same name. It is licensed from Universal Pictures and Illumination. The theme was first introduced in March 14, 2020. It was eventually discontinued by December 31, 2022. A theme based on the next film in the Despicable Me franchise, Despicable Me 4, later launched on May 1, 2024.