Development ofDespicable Me began when Pablospitched 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 studioMac Guff (nowIllumination Studios Paris).Pharrell Williams andHeitor Pereira composed the film's score, with original songs written and performed by the former.
In 2010, longtime supervillainFelonious Gru has his pride hurt when an unknown rival steals theGreat Pyramid of Giza. Gru, his elderly assistant Dr. Nefario, and his army ofMinions devise a plan to steal the Moon. Seeking financial assistance, Gru approaches Mr. Perkins, the director of the Bank of Evil, who orders Gru to procure a shrink ray. While at the bank, Gru meets Perkins' son, Vector, who was responsible for the Pyramid heist. Gru and two of his Minions obtain the shrink ray from a research base in Southeast Asia, only for Vector to ambush them and steal it for himself.
After many failed attempts to infiltrate Vector's fortress, Gru notices three orphaned girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, being allowed in to sell cookies to Vector. Gru adopts the girls under the guise of a dentist, using them to distract Vector while he reclaims the shrink ray. Afterwards, he tries to abandon the girls at an amusement park but ends up spending the day and bonding with them, much to Nefario's disapproval. Gru later shows Perkins the shrink ray through a video call, only to be rejected. Observing Gru's despair, the girls offer him their piggy bank, and the Minions pool their resources to fund the moon heist.
Meanwhile, Perkins informs Vector of Gru's current possession of the shrink ray, prompting Vector to take action. Nefario calculates the day when the Moon is closest to Earth, which unfortunately coincides with the girls' upcoming 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. The next day, Gru successfully shrinks and steals the Moon. Hoping to make it to the recital on time, he rushes back to Earth but finds that the recital has 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, and Vector activates his escape aircraft. Meanwhile, Nefario and the Minions discover that the shrink ray's effects are temporary; the bigger an object's mass, the faster it reverts to its original size. Gru, Nefario, and the Minions manage to rescue the girls before the Moon returns to its normal size and launches itself into orbit, destroying Vector's aircraft and leaving him stranded. Gru reclaims custody of the girls, and they celebrate with a special ballet recital (making up for the one Gru missed), which turns into a dance party.
To developDespicable Me (under the working titleEvil Me), Spanish animatorSergio Pablospitched the idea about a main character having villainous attributes.[13] Pablos brought his pitch to producerChris Meledandri,[14] who founded his animation studioIllumination Entertainment after leaving20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007; screenwritersCinco Paul and Ken Daurio began writing the script.[15][16] Afterward, Meledandri brought togetherPierre Coffin andChris 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 inBlue Sky Studios.[17] In November 2008, Illumination announced the beginning of development on its first CG animated film and project,Despicable Me.[18][19]
After being upset at recognizing Gru's behavior early in the production, which could become stale with audiences, Meledandri ordered the directors to lightenDespicable 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.[20] The language spoken by the Minions was invented by Coffin and Renaud; it is sometimes nicknamed "Minionese".[21]
To save costs, the CGI animation and visual effects were handled by the Paris-based studioMac Guff, with only 100 artists. Coffin, Renaud, and character designer Eric Guillon were responsible for creating the Minions.[22] They did not exist in the original script until their addition duringDespicable Me's production.[13][23] Initial designs for the Minions were humans and robots, before finalizing their appearances to small, yellow pill-shaped creatures.[22][24] Renaud described the Minions as out of focus and "not very smart". The characters took inspiration fromOompa-Loompas inWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) andJawas in theStar Wars franchise,[25] as well as silent screen starsBuster Keaton andCharlie Chaplin, andWarner Bros. cartoon characters, includingBugs Bunny.[26]
ComposerHeitor Pereira (right) at the recording of the film's score
Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, and it was released on July 6, 2010. It features new songs from the film written and performed byPharrell Williams and performances byDestinee & Paris,the Sylvers,Robin Thicke, andthe Bee Gees.[27]
Despicable Me earned $251.6 million in the United States and Canada and $291.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $543.2 million.[6] It was theninth-highest-grossing film of 2010.[37]
In the United States and Canada,Despicable Me was released withPredators on July 9, 2010.[6][38] During its opening weekend, the film earned $60.1 million across 3,476 theaters.[38] Its second weekend earnings dropped by 42 percent to $32.7 million,[39] and followed by another $24.1 million on the third weekend.[40]Despicable Me left theaters by January 20, 2011, making it theseventh-highest-grossing film of 2010.[41][42]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 201 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Borrowing heavily (and intelligently) fromPixar andLooney Tunes,Despicable Me is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own."[43]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[44] It is Illumination's highest rated film to date on both websites. Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[38]
Peter Travers ofRolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, saying the directors were skilled at "springing surprises" from the writers' "ingenious" screenplay.[45] Peter Debruge ofVariety wrote, "Since villains so often steal the show in animation,Despicable Me smartly turns the whole operation over to megalomaniacal rogue Gru."[10] Robert Wilonsky ofThe 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."[46] Christy Lemire of theAssociated 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."[47] Bill Goodykoontz ofThe 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."[48]
Carrie Rickey ofThe 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."[49] Colin Covert of theStar 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."[50] Claudia Puig ofUSA 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."[51] Tom Keogh ofThe Seattle Times gave the film three stars out of four, saying "Despicable Me appeals both to our innocence and our glee over cartoon anarchy."[52] Ty Burr ofThe 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."[53]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."[8] Michael Phillips of theChicago 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."[54]
Kim Newman ofEmpire 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."[55] Kenneth Turan of theLos 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."[56] Stephen Whitty of theNewark Star-Ledger gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "UnfortunatelyDespicable Me is just, predictably eh. And the one thing the larcenous Gru never steals is our heart."[57] Ann Hornaday ofThe Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying, "An improbably heartwarming, not to mention visually delightful, diversion."[58] Rick Groen ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film four stars out of four, saying, "This animated thing pretty near out-Pixars Pixar."[59] Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "When compared with the ambition and achievement of recent animated films, such asCoraline andToy Story 3,Despicable Me hardly seems to have been worth making, and it's barely worth watching."[60]
Bob Mondello ofNPR 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."[61]A. O. Scott ofThe 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."[62] Kirk Honeycutt ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Despicable doesn't measure up to Pixar at its best. Nonetheless, it's funny, clever and warmly animated with memorable characters."[63] Steve Persall of theTampa 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."[64] Tasha Robinson ofThe 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."[65]
Despicable Me's popularity grew following its release, which led to a successfulmultimedia franchise.[111][112] Its basic premise of comedic aspects, including characters, has been replicated with varying degrees of success in films likeHotel Transylvania (2012),The Lego Movie (2014),Storks,The Secret Life of Pets (both 2016),The Lego Batman Movie,The Boss Baby,The Emoji Movie (all 2017),Toy Story 4 andKlaus (both 2019).[citation needed] The Minions, whose popularity was gradually increased since the film's release, became Illumination's mascots.[113][114]Despicable Me inspired variousInternet memes, including "Gorl" in reference to how Gru pronounces the wordgirl with his accent[115][116][117] and "Gru's Plan", which is based on the film scene where Gru's presentation of his plan to steal the moon is interrupted when he finds a drawing of him sitting on the toilet in the presentation pages.[118][119][120][121] It helped launch the career of Fisher.[122]
The unexpected financial success ofDespicable Me led to the development on a sequel,[123] intent on capitalizing the original's popularity through that film's extensive marketing campaign.[124]Despicable Me 2 (2013) surpassed the box-office take ofDespicable Me,[125] and received a similarly positive critical and audience response.[126] The series narrative was expanded in three spin-off prequels–Minions (2015),[127]Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022),[128] andMinions 3 (2026)[129]–and two further sequels–Despicable Me 3 (2017) andDespicable Me 4 (2024).[130][131]
^Burr, Ty (July 9, 2010)."Despicable Me".The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners.Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2014.
Croll, Ben (July 12, 2022).The Art of Eric Guillon: From the Making of Despicable Me to Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and More. San Rafael, California: Insight Editions.ISBN9781683836810.
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