Despicable Me (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 Entertainment, 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, which was in turn based on an original story "Evil Me" 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.
Despicable Me
- Chris Meledandri
- Janet Healy
- John Cohen
- Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland
- Gregory Perler
- Pharrell Williams (themes)
- Heitor Pereira (score)
Universal Pictures[1]
- June 9, 2010 (Annecy)
- July 9, 2010 (United States)
95 minutes[2]
English
$69 million[4]
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. Pharrell Williams and Heitor Pereira composed the film's score, with original songs written and performed by Williams.
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 positive reviews from critics and earned $543.6 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 is also the winner for Favorite Animated Movie at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. The success of Despicable Me launched a multi-billion dollar multimedia franchise, which comprises Despicable Me 2 (2013), Minions (2015), Despicable Me 3 (2017), Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), and the upcoming Despicable Me 4 (2024).
Plot[edit]
Longtime supervillain 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 formulate a plan to steal the Moon. Dr. Nefario worries that the plan will be too expensive, so Gru applies for a loan from Mr. Perkins, the director of the Bank of Evil, who orders Gru to steal a shrink ray first. While at the bank, Gru meets Vector, the budding supervillain who stole the Pyramid. Gru and two of his Minions obtain the shrink ray from a research base, only for Vector to intercept them and steal it for himself.
After a series of failed attempts to steal back the shrink ray from Vector's fortress, Gru notices three orphan girls named Margo, Edith, and Agnes being allowed into the fortress to sell cookies to Vector. Gru disguises himself as a dentist and adopts the girls; he later uses them to distract Vector long enough for him to steal back the shrink ray. He intends to abandon the girls at an amusement park, but then starts to bond with them. Gru later shows Mr. Perkins the shrink ray via video call, with some interruptions from the girls. However, Perkins refuses the loan and claims Gru is not of any use to him.
A heartbroken Gru tells the Minions that the bank ceased funding the project. The girls give him their piggy bank, and the Minions pool all of their resources to raise the funds needed for the project. Meanwhile, Perkins berates Vector, who is revealed to be his son, for letting Gru steal back the shrink ray, but Vector assures his father that he can stop Gru.
Dr. Nefario calculates the day when the Moon is closest to Earth, but it is the same day as 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, Gru rushes back to Earth, but finds that the recital has already 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, Dr. Nefario and the Minions discover that the shrink ray's effects are temporary; the bigger an object, the faster it reverts to its regular 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 stranding Vector. Gru reclaims custody of the girls, and they celebrate with a special ballet recital that becomes a dance party.
Despicable Me's 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.[3][6][11] Other actors who lend their voices 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.[3]
Production[edit]
Development and writing[edit]
To develop Despicable Me, Spanish animator Sergio Pablos pitched the idea about a main character having villainous attributes.[12] Pablos brought his pitch to producer Chris Meledandri,[13] 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.[14][15] 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.[16] In November 2008, Illumination announced the beginning of development on its first CG animated film and project, Despicable Me.[17][18]
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.[19] The language spoken by the Minions was invented by Coffin and Renaud; it is sometimes nicknamed "Minionese".[20] By June 2010, the film was completed.
Animation and design[edit]
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.[21] They did not exist in the original script until their addition during Despicable Me's production.[12][22] Initial designs for the Minions were humans and robots, before finalizing their appearances to small, yellow pill-shaped creatures.[21][23] 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,[24] as well as silent screen stars Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and Warner Bros. cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny.[25]
Marketing and release[edit]
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.[27] As a promotional tie-in, Despicable Me: The Game was released in various platforms.[28]
Despicable Me debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 9, 2010,[29] followed by a premiere on June 27, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.[30] The film was released in the United States on July 9.[31]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Despicable Me on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and DVD on December 14, 2010.[32] Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes; filmmaker commentaries; games;[33] and short films Home Makeover, Orientation Day, and Banana.[34] A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2017.[35]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Despicable Me earned $251.7 million in the United States and Canada and $292 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $543.6 million.[4] It was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2010.[36]
In the United States and Canada, Despicable Me was released with Predators on July 9, 2010.[4][37] During its opening weekend, the film earned $60.1 million across 3,476 theaters.[37] Its second weekend earnings dropped by 42 percent to $32.7 million,[38] and followed by another $24.1 million on the third weekend.[39] Despicable Me left theaters by January 20, 2011, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2010.[40][41]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 202 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."[42] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43] 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.[37]
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.[44] 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."[9] 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."[45] 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."[46] 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."[47]
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."[48] 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."[49] 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."[50] 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."[51] 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."[52] 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."[7] 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."[53]
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."[54] 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."[55] 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."[56] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "An improbably heartwarming, not to mention visually delightful, diversion."[57] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail gave the film four stars out of four, saying, "This animated thing pretty near out-Pixars Pixar."[58] 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."[59]
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."[60] 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."[61] 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."[62] 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."[63] 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."[64]
Legacy[edit]
Despicable Me's popularity grew following its release, which led to a successful multimedia franchise.[110][111] 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, and The Emoji Movie (all 2017).[112] The Minions became Illumination's mascots since the company's inception.[113][114] Despicable Me inspired various Internet memes.[115][116][117] It helped launch the career of Fisher.[118]