Gru

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Gru
Despicable Me character
Gru (Despicable Me).png
Artwork of Gru from Despicable Me 3 (2017)
First appearance Despicable Me (2010)
Created by Sergio Pablos
Designed by
Voiced by Steve Carell
In-universe information
Full nameFelonious Gru
Occupation
  • Supervillain
  • Secret Agent
Weapon
  • Freeze Ray
  • Minion Army
  • Hand-to-Hand
  • various gadgets
Family
  • Marlena Gru (mother)
  • Robert Gru/the Bald Terror (deceased father)
  • Dru Gru (twin brother)
SpouseLucy Wilde
Children
  • Margo Gru (adopted daughter)
  • Edith Gru (adopted daughter)
  • Agnes Gru (adopted daughter)
  • Gru Jr. (biological son)

Felonious Gru, alternatively spelled as Felonius Gru [1] and typically referred to simply as Gru, [2] 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 five 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.

Contents

Character biography

Gru is the son of Marlena and the Bald Terror (real name Robert), twin brother of Dru, the adoptive father of Margo, Edith, and Agnes as well as the biological father of Gru Jr., husband of Lucy, and boss of the Minions.

At the beginning of the first film, Gru is an ambitious supervillain who constantly seeks approval from his mother, until the adoption of his daughters convinces him that their happiness is important.

In the second film, Gru leaves his villainous past behind to care for his adoptive daughters, but then soon joins forces - unwillingly - with secret agent Lucy Wilde, whom he later marries.

In the third film, after he and Lucy are fired from their jobs at the Anti-Villain League, Gru learns that he has a twin brother, Dru, whom he never met due to their divorced parents raising each child separately. Along with Lucy and the girls, Gru meets Dru at his mansion in Freedonia, and they form a brotherly relationship over the course of the film.

In the fourth film, Gru has a blood-related son called Gru Jr.

Development

The character that would become Gru was conceived by animator Sergio Pablos, who envisioned him as a Dracula-like character, but the directors of the first film, Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, later opted for a more sleek character that would echo "the world of James Bond", with Auric Goldfinger being cited as a particular influence. [3] [4] Gru also bears some design similarities with British comic-book character Grimly Feendish and with the pre-Crisis version of Lex Luthor. [5]

Gru's distinctive accent, described as "quasi-Russian" by A. O. Scott [6] and "halfway between a Russian mafioso and a crazed Nazi" by Roger Ebert, [7] was largely a product of his voice actor Steve Carell's experimentation. [8] According to Despicable Me producer Chris Meledandri, the voice Carell eventually settled on was conceived as "halfway between Ricardo Montalbán and Bela Lugosi". [8]

Analysis

The use of flashbacks to characterise Gru in Despicable Me was compared by Variety to those used in Pixar's 2007 film Ratatouille to characterise Anton Ego. [9] Gru was cited by Katy Marriner, writing in Screen Education, as one of the premier examples of a protagonist in an animated film who reforms themselves, in contrast to the traditional animated film protagonist who remains heroic throughout. [10] Gru was psychologically analysed by Nofika Dewi of Universitas Pamulang, who found that his rude and ambitious qualities represented his Id; his villainy and tenaciousness represented his Ego, while his competence as a parent and bravery were part of his Super-ego. [11]

Gru has also been interpreted as a Russian stereotype, with a 2017 study stating that elements of his characterisation had been designed to support supposed American political agendas that label Russians as backwards and violent. [12]

Related Research Articles

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Steven John Carell is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom The Office, in which he 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.

Minion or Minions may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Renaud</span> American designer

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 1 and 2, which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin. Along with Coffin, he also co-created and lent his voice to the Minions.

<i>Megamind</i> 2010 animated film by Tom McGrath

Megamind is a 2010 American animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars the voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt. It tells the story of Megamind, a highly intelligent alien supervillain; after defeating his long-time nemesis Metro Man, Megamind creates a new hero to fight but must act to save the city when his "creation" becomes an even worse villain than he was.

<i>Despicable Me</i> (film) 2010 Illumination film

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, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Coffin</span> French director and voice actor

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.

<i>Despicable Me 2</i> 2013 Illumination film

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.

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<i>Minions</i> (film) 2015 Illumination film

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.

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Despicable Me 3 is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to Despicable Me 2 (2013), and the third main and 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 (<i>Despicable Me</i>) Fictional cartoon characters

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Balda</span> American animator and film director

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Dana Gaier is an American actress who voiced Edith in the Despicable Me franchise.

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<i>Minions: The Rise of Gru</i> 2022 Illumination film

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 and Julie Andrews reprising their respective roles as Dr. Nefario and Gru's mother. New cast members include Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, and Alan Arkin. Additionally, Will Arnett and Steve Coogan reprise their roles as Mr. Perkins and Silas Ramsbottom. 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.

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Despicable Me 4 is an upcoming American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It will serve as the sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017), the fourth main installment, and the sixth installment overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film is 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, Stephen Colbert, Steve Coogan, Sofía Vergara, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, and Will Ferrell.

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.

References

  1. ↑ Alexander, Bryan (April 12, 2014). "At Universal, the Minions 'have become our Mickey Mouse'". USA Today . Retrieved November 22, 2016. […] into the Despicable Me world of supervillain Felonius Gru […]
  2. ↑ Baxter, Joseph (May 14, 2015). "The Full Minions Trailer Is Really Goofy". CinemaBlend. Retrieved November 23, 2016. [...] well before the days of their tenure with Felonious Gru […]
  3. ↑ Amidi, Amid (September 25, 2017). "The Humble Roots Of The Mega-Hit Franchise 'Despicable Me'". Cartoon Brew . Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  4. ↑ Edwards, C. (October 1, 2014). "Directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin on Creative Choices and Challenges in 'Despicable Me' Films". Cartoon Brew .
  5. ↑ Newman, Kim (October 1, 2010). "Despicable Me Review". Empire.
  6. ↑ Scott, A.O. (July 8, 2010). "Lunar Toons and Cookie Capers". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  7. ↑ Ebert, Roger (July 7, 2010). "Despicable Me movie review & film summary". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Aldama, Frederick Luis (2019). "Very ¡Macho!: Sonic Legacies of Mexican Animated Villains". Latinx Ciné in the Twenty-First Century. University of Arizona Press. p. 345. ISBN   9780816537907.
  9. ↑ Debruge, Peter (June 9, 2010). "Despicable Me". Variety . Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ Marriner, Katy (2011). "Not So Evil after All: The New Breed of Animated Villain". Screen Education (61): 16–25. ISSN   1449-857X . Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ Dewi, Nofika (2015). "Psychological analysis of the main character Gru in Despicable Me". Universitas Pamulang. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Khrebtan-Hörhager, Julia; Avant-Mier, Roberto (September 8, 2017). "Despicable Others: Animated Othering as Equipment for Living in the Era of Trump". Journal of Intercultural Communication Research . 46 (5). Routledge: 441–462. doi:10.1080/17475759.2017.1372302. S2CID   148815247 . Retrieved October 13, 2020.

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