Existent since the dawn of time, their quest has always been to find a villain that they can follow as-well, minions. Released at the peak of the Minion craze, the 2015 spinoff/prequel film Minions follows the miniature yellow creatures long before they got mixed up with Gru or heist plans involving the moon. Critics praised the visuals, characters, comedy, and music, although some claimed the plot was lazy and the production value was below that of the original. It made $970 million, falling short of the billion-dollar mark but still accomplishing something completely unbelievable considering the film's budget of just $76 million. The Minions were a big thing by now, and that, combined with the success of Pharrell Williams' chart-topping, toe-tapping hit 'Happy,' propelled the cinematic follow-up to crazy box office success. RELATED: The 10 Highest-Grossing Universal Movies Of All Time (According To Box Office Mojo) While he seems to be content with his modest home life, this changes once he's recruited by the aptly titled Anti-Villain League to discover the whereabouts of a dangerous chemical substance capable of causing mutation, which has been stolen by an elusive, skilled supervillain with dastardly intentions. The story once again follows Felonius Gru, though he's no longer a supervillain.

Continuing the story made more than enough sense for the studio execs to green-light a sequel, Despicable Me 2, which was released in 2013. While Illumination had been toying with different ideas during the early 2010s (such as mixing live-action and animation with Hop, a failed experiment they wouldn't try again), none were as successful as Despicable Me. It also introduced the Minions, characters which are now veritable pop culture icons.Īvailable on: Amazon, DirecTV, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, YouTube Either way, it was an undeniable box office success, making more than $540 million on a fairly small $69 million budget and establishing Illumination as a force to be reckoned with right out of the gate.

The film was praised by critics, with many describing the story as rising above trite animated fare and the performances as amusing but believable, although some thought of it as shallow and much less mentally challenging than the works of studios like Pixar or Dreamworks. RELATED: 10 Plot Holes In The Despicable Me Franchise While he initially intended his connection to the girls to be that of pawns to a player, he begins to find himself acting fatherly, even becoming attached to the trio as he questions his despicable lifestyle. First, however, he has to steal a shrink ray from his main rival, Vector, which he's not able to do until he adopts three young girls small and stealthy enough to infiltrate Vector's base. Illumination Entertainment's debut feature film, Despicable Me, was released in 2010 and follows Gru, a super-villain, who, after being consistently upstaged by his evil peers, decides to go for the biggest bounty imaginable: the moon.

All named minions