It's time to tap into your nefarious side because we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of Despicable Me here on the blog. Amazingly, it's been one whole decade (going by the American release date) since we were introduced to Steve Carell's loveably scheming Gru and his loyal Minions, so here are 10 fun facts to mark the occasion.
1. Despicable Me originally went under the title Evil Me.
2. The film was the first project from animation studio Illumination Entertainment.
3. Steve Carell described Gru's accent as a mixture of Ricardo Montalban and Bela Lugosi.
4. Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud developed the 'minionese' language heard in the movie. It's formed of multiple dialects including Spanish, French and Russian.
5. Voice actor Will Arnett gained weight in order to better get into the character of Mr. Perkins.
6. The Minions were designed as a partial homage to the Oompah Loompas from Gene Wilder classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
7. Various comedy influences gave rise to Despicable Me, including Charlie Chaplin and Rowan Atkinson.
8. The Bank of Evil is credited as 'formerly Lehman Brothers', a reference to one of the financial institutions that crashed during the 2008 recession.
9. Gru was designed to be a villain who would echo, in the words of the directors, "the world of James Bond, thinking of characters like Goldfinger and obviously the Bond-ian world of technology".
10. American retailer Best Buy released a free smartphone app called 'Best Buy Movie Mode', which translated what the Minions were saying during the end credits of the 3D theatrical release.
Got some Despicable Me facts of your own? Let us know @Cineworld. And don't forget that Minions 2: The Rise of Gru arrives on 16th July 2021. Check out the trailer below.
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