They are yellow, they speak an impossible-to-decipher language, and they have been conquering screens around the world for decades. But there is a characteristic of the Minions that went years without an official explanation: they are all male. Not a single female figure among the ranks of the most popular creatures in the Despicable Me franchise.
The question circulated among the saga’s followers for years, until Pierre Coffin, the director and creator of the characters, answered it in an interview with The Wrap in 2015 in a way as simple as it was disconcerting.
The answer was as direct as it was surprising. “Seeing
how silly and stupid they usually are, I simply couldn’t imagine the Minions being girls,” declared
Coffin to the American media.
The explanation, also reported by
The Guardian, once again brought to the table a question that has accompanied Illumination’s franchise since its inception.
The Minions debuted as supporting characters in
Despicable Me (2010), the first installment of the saga, where they worked as henchmen for the villain Gru, played by
Steve Carell.
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The Minions’ language is gibberish created by Coffin, mixing words from different languages to achieve a comical and universal effect.
Their chaotic language, unpredictable behavior, and simple personalities quickly made them the most recognizable elements of the franchise. Over time, they went from being background figures to becoming protagonists of their own films.
Coffin, who also voices the three main Minions, previously explained to
The Guardian that the language of these creatures does not belong to any particular language.
“
It’s gibberish. It’s a mix of all the world’s languages and it’s about finding a magical rhythm and melody that makes nonsense make sense,” she pointed out.
The characters’ names were also not chosen at random. According to Coffin, as stated to
The Wrap, Kevin was conceived as a leadership figure, Stuart points to a lazier personality, and Bob refers to the idea of being small. Other recognizable names within the universe are Otto, Dave, and Tim.
Despite the fact that the Minions are all male, the franchise integrates a considerable number of female characters.
Since their debut in “Despicable Me” in 2010, the Minions went from being supporting characters to protagonists in their own animated films (Universal Pictures)
In
Despicable Me, Julie Andrews voices Marlena, Gru’s mother, while Miranda Cosgrove plays Margo, one of the protagonist’s adopted daughters. Kristen Wiig plays Lucy Wilde, an Anti-Villain League agent who joins Gru’s family.
In
Minions (2015), Sandra Bullock voices the villain Scarlet Overkill. The second installment of the Minions solo films,
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), incorporated Taraji P. Henson as the leader of the Vicious 6 and Michelle Yeoh in the role of Master Chow, a martial arts instructor.
The first film in the
Minions saga grossed over $620 million worldwide according to
The Guardian, which made it the fourth highest-grossing film of that year. The cast also included the voices of Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock.
The franchise is now preparing its next installment:
Minions & Monsters, directed by Coffin and written by Brian Lynch, produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The plot is set in the 1920s and follows the Minions as they try to shoot their own monster movie in old Hollywood. The cast includes new voices such as Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr and Trey Parker. “Minions & Monsters” will have its world premiere at the Annecy Festival and will arrive in Latin American cinemas on July 1, with a renewed voice cast.
The film will have its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 21, before its release in Latin American theaters on July 1.
