Heitor Teixeira Pereira, or Heitor TP, is a Brazilian composer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and record producer. In his career, Pereira has recorded with the band Simply Red and several famous musicians, such as Elton John, Rod Stewart, k.d. lang, Milton Nascimento, and Jack Johnson; and currently works as a film score composer, as well as a musician at Hans Zimmer's studio, he is best known for being the composer of the Despicable Me franchise. Although primarily a guitarist, he also provided backing vocals live for the Simply Red song "Thrill Me". He also collaborates with film directors Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda, Raja Gosnell, and Cal Brunker.
Chris Renaud is an American designer, storyboard artist, director, producer, and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short No Time for Nuts, which featured the character Scrat from the animated Ice Age films. His most popular work are the Despicable Me films, including the first and second films, which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin. Along with Coffin, he also co-created and lent his voice to the Minions.
Despicable Me is a 2010 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The first feature film from Illumination, it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, and John Cohen, from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and 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 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.
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.
The Lorax, also known as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is a 2012 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is the second screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1971 children's book of the same name following the 1972 animated television special. Directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Kyle Balda, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, it stars the voices of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate and Betty White.
Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin is a French film director, voice actor, and animator 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.
Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to Despicable Me (2010), it 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 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 Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is a prequel to Despicable Me (2010) and the third installment overall in the film series of the same name. 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 Minions, 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 Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. A sequel to Despicable Me 2 (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. it 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.
Yarrow Cheney is an American artist, film director, designer, author, illustrator, and animator. He was a production designer in Despicable Me 2 (2013), The Lorax (2012), and Despicable Me (2010), for which he received Primetime Emmy and Annie Awards nominations.
Felonious Gru Sr., alternatively spelled as Felonius Gru and typically referred to simply as Gru, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Despicable Me film series. 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 Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. 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 serves as 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, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, with Stephen Colbert, and Will Ferrell. The story follows Gru and his family as they are relocated to a safe house to hide from Maxime Le Mal, an old rival of Gru who seeks revenge.
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 2020. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2022. A theme based on the next film in the Despicable Me franchise, Despicable Me 4, later launched in May 2024.
