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Generous, tender and original, Despicable Me will return to television this evening. The secret of this successful saga? Bet on an endearing anti-hero (Gru), unforgettable mascots (the Minions) and a French touch inspired (the Illumination Mac Guff studio). Here are 5 anecdotes to become knowledgeable about the world of Gru and his Minions.
Despicable Me is a very pretty initiatory fable about fatherhood
A Franco-American bet
Although produced by American studios, it is indeed the studio based in France Illumination Mac Guff (sister structure of the famous French special effects company Mac Guff), which produced the films in the franchise Despicable Me. It is therefore a know-how frenchy which brought the world of Gru to life. The quirky and abundant aesthetic of the film (inspired byEdward Gorrey) has also been nicknamed the “Balieusard Gothic”. “One of the best animation schools in the world, the École de l'Image des Gobelins, is in Paris. The French comedic sensibility is similar to ours. I visited many studios, but after only an hour After working at Mac Guff, I knew I had found the right one. The people and the work I saw there gave me great confidence.” declared the producer, Christopher Meledandri upon the release of the first film in the saga in 2010.
The Minions: surprise guests
The success of the saga Despicable Me would probably not be comparable without its shock mascots: the incorrigible Minions. These turbulent, talkative and clumsy little yellow creatures are an inexhaustible source of comedy, so much so that they were given their own film in 2015 (The Minions). However, the Minions were only added at the last moment of the pre-production phase, even though they were not planned in the basic scenario. It's the director Pierre Coffin who had the idea of giving them a place in the film. He also lent them his voice which he modulated while inventing an incomprehensible language which happily mixes French, Spanish, Italian and English. Pierre Coffin also supervises translations of this language for foreign versions of Despicable Me so that it sounds equally humorous depending on each country. A titanic job.
Pierre Coffin: “The Minions phenomenon escaped us a little”
The roots of Gru's accent
The anti-hero of the film is known for his bad temper, his vampire appearance but also for his bizarre accent invented by Steve Carell, his original voice actor. The comedian revealed that he wanted to mix the Mexican actor's accent Ricardo Montalban and that of the terrible Hungarian Bela Lugosi (the unforgettable Dracula). Secondly, Gad Elmaleh will be inspired by this astonishing cocktail to double Gru in the French version that we know.
A soundtrack “Happy”
As in the first part, he's the jack-of-all-trades singer Pharrell Williams who composed the different musical themes of the film with Heitor Pereira under the direction of the famous composer Hans Zimmer (Inception, the Last Samurai). After singing the anthem from the first film: Despicable Mehe subsequently scored an international hit: happywhich will be heard in the film and on radio stations around the world. For the third part, which is coming out these days, Pharrell has once again signed a song, “Yellowlight.”
After “Happy”, Pharrell Williams sings “Yellow Light” with the Minions
A historic success
Despicable Me was a total critical and commercial success since it generated $543 million at the worldwide box office (on a budget of $70 million). Just as popular and appreciated Despicable Me 2 grossed $970 million worldwide and broke the record for the number of DVDs sold for an animated film. Not bad for a film Made in France.
Trailer for the first part, at 9:05 p.m. on TFX:
Annecy 2017 – Despicable Me 3: “We wanted to treat the Minions from a vindictive angle”