Which is exactly what minions can't have. Who are the minions: the story of funny minions of villains

In the midst of the summer holidays of 2010, the cartoon "Despicable Me" was released on the screens. The picture told young viewers about a supervillain who […]

In the midst of the summer holidays of 2010, the cartoon "Despicable Me" was released on the screens. The picture told young viewers about a supervillain who had to become a foster father for a while, which made him change and become kind. The main idea of the cartoon, however, was the funny assistants of the main villain - "minions" (from English - servants).

A million little yellow men, speaking in an incomprehensible language and behaving rather strangely, immediately attracted the attention of the audience. As a result, Despicable Me got a sequel, the minions became a brand, and on July 9, 2015, the spin-off of Despicable Me, dedicated to the minions themselves, hits the screens of Russian cinemas.

It would seem that what could be harmful in little funny men? But if you think about it, the very brand of "minions" and their history is full of very ambiguous hints and meanings. Let's figure it out.

WHO ARE THE MINIONS?

If in the first cartoons it was not yet clear who the minions were and where they came from, then the trailer of the new feature film gives answers to these questions: according to legend, minions have been on earth since time immemorial, starting at least from the era of dinosaurs. Since the Despicable Me trio also participated in the events of the 17th century, it becomes clear that they are immortal. Wherein, they live only for one purpose - to serve the villains. Without submission to the villain, the minions become depressed. They find the most evil one and entrust themselves to him for guidance, serving him faithfully until he dies, then they look for the next one. They cannot be called a people, because the minions do not have children, old people, women. And now we invite you to watch the trailer for the new cartoon.

The trailer is very telling. In addition to what we already know about the minions, they also showed us in three minutes: several deaths in a row (0:50-1:20); dressing the minions as a woman with a prominent bust, which she showed to a passerby (2:29); minion wearing a women's swimsuit (0:36); the mustachioed father of the family in a bright red dress and make-up (1:50); mockery of a sick person and a blow in the groin (2:19); a colorful demonstration of the torture chamber and, in the same place, a game with the gallows (2:56); a minion in a thong (3:13) and a minion kissing in a jacuzzi what he perceives to be two women (3;16).

But the most impressive thing is not even that the main characters of the children's cartoon portray either boys or girls and consciously serve evil, but the fact that they are shown as positive, cheerful and funny characters, from whom children will certainly want to follow an example.

From previous cartoons, it is already known that minions not only do evil, but also do good. All their existence they helped the villains of all eras, but accidentally served as the reason that the villains most often died: they burned Dracula, shot Napoleon. They fight, and then they perform cutely at the wedding, eat ice cream funny and go to steal the moon. They obeyed the villain and showed great delight in his villainous plans, and later with the same enthusiasm admired his plans to save the world. Try reading this to-do list to a child, and then ask a question that often torments children when watching movies and cartoons: are minions good or bad, good or evil?

The child will not be able to give you an answer, and it will also be difficult for an adult to decide on this issue. Thus, in the child's psyche, and the cartoon is intended for an audience of "6+", the concepts of good and evil will be blurred. You can be nice, but fight for a banana with someone you've known for many years, take someone else's and help the villains.

And one more thing - the minions, as already mentioned, come from the word "servant", and their unquestioning obedience to the villain, who in one situation may well be engaged in the production of murder weapons, and in another - ice cream, only confirms this name. They are servants made to serve, they wear working uniforms, they do not think about orders and only in the evening allow themselves to go about their business, which is most often fights, cruel jokes and mockery of each other. Isn't this the image of a typical representative of the consumer society, which is actively imposed on us by modern mass culture that came from the West? Identical creatures that have neither their own opinion, nor the meaning of life, nor any moral qualities and only want to serve.

NOW LET'S ASK ONE MORE QUESTION: WHAT GENDER ARE THE MINIONS?

Judging by the names, the main characters - Stuart, Bob and Kevin - are clearly men, to a greater extent they also have male character traits. Sometimes they even “fall in love”: in Despicable Me 2, the minion Stewart fell in love with a woman. However, the authors deliberately often focus on the fact that, if desired, the minions can be a girl.

In the new trailer, the minion comes out of the water and, seeing that everyone is in swimming trunks, but he is not, in fear, he rushes into the water and comes out of it - in a bra (0:36). Having received a blow to the groin area (2:23), the minion is at first surprised, and then simply laughs, demonstrating that he is not in pain at all.

The authors clearly make it clear that the minions are bisexual, if desired, they can be both a boy and a girl, as they wish, as it will be beneficial for them. Let us remind you once again that the main target audience of such cartoons is children, and it is in their minds through such images that the idea is laid not only of tolerance for perversions, but also that it is absolutely normal to change one's gender.

MODELS OF BEHAVIOR

And now about how the minions communicate with each other. Despite the fact that the main characters have known each other for a thousand years without exaggeration, their relationship cannot be called friendly. They constantly argue, mock each other, laugh at any oversight or failure of their comrade.

This passage shows, how one wants to hit the second with a club, then one laughs at the other, then they fight, but in the final scene, while one is kidnapped by unknown evil, the other lets him go and escorts him into the unknown with a malicious grin.

How will the child behave after watching such a scene? What is she teaching? Obviously not friendship, care or mutual assistance. Despite the fact that these yellow characters can combine their efforts in certain situations, for example, when they need to commit some villainy, we are not talking about teamwork, because even here it is not possible without trying to set up a friend and stand out from the rest. During one cartoon, they fight for the helm of the aircraft, for the computer, and the rest, seeing the conflict that has flared up, pick up the call “fight-fight” (fight-fight) and watch with pleasure. During the fight, the minions can not only bludgeon each other with thin handles, but also beat their heads on the table, use improvised items.

Such words as honor, conscience or dignity are simply not included in the circle of their concepts. Minions are devoted only to the evil master and their ego and are more like a ball of rats ready to devour each other for a bonus and any handout from the owners. These are the models of behavior brought up by this cartoon.

SUMMARIZE. THE MINIONS BRAND IS AIMED AT:

Blurring the concepts of good and evil: minions are villains and help villains - this is the meaning of their immortal existence, but they are depicted as cute and funny, they do both good and bad deeds, thereby blurring in the minds of the young viewer the concepts of what is "good" and what is "bad".

Perversion propaganda- minions can be both boys and girls at will or mood.

Cultivating Unquestioning and Thoughtless Obedience. The minions themselves are just servants, and, as noted above, they don't care what ideals they serve. It turns out that the brand of new idols for children, which is being promoted around the world, is a “fun servant” without any moral guidelines.

Education in the viewer of individualism and rivalry for the sake of petty goals. Minions are very cocky and boastful, they fight with each other just to show off in front of the owner or for fun. Despite the fact that the minions have known each other for thousands of years, they do not have friendly relations.

Propaganda of vulgarity. Minions are extremely immoral guys, in the frame they hint at things that do not fit into the "6+" rating.

Do not take your child to this cartoon, tell your loved ones about its harmfulness to the child's psyche and get involved in the work to revive morality in the media!

BOLDER, COMRADE, glasnost is our strength!

In contact with

Thousands of small yellow men speaking in an incomprehensible language immediately attracted the attention of the audience. As a result, Despicable Me got a sequel, the minions became a brand, and on July 9, 2015, the spin-off of Despicable Me, dedicated to the minions themselves, hits the screens of Russian cinemas.

Who are minions?

What was shown in the trailer?

They obeyed the villain and showed great delight at his villainous plans, and later with the same enthusiasm admired his plans to save the world. Try reading this to-do list to a child, and then ask a question that often torments children when watching movies and cartoons: are minions good or bad, good or evil?

The child will not be able to give you an answer, and it will also be difficult for an adult to decide on this issue. Thus, in the child's psyche, and the cartoon is intended for an audience of "6+", the concepts of good and evil will be blurred. You can be a cute and funny hero, but fight for a banana with someone you've known for many years, take someone else's and help the villains.

And one more thing - the word “minions”, as already mentioned, comes from the word “servant”, and their unquestioning obedience to the villain, who in one situation may well be engaged in the production of murder weapons, and in another - ice cream, only confirms this name. They are servants, created only to serve, they wear working uniforms, they do not think about orders and only in the evening allow themselves to go about their business, which is most often fights, cruel jokes and mockery of each other. Isn't this the image of a typical representative of the consumer society, which is actively imposed on us by modern mass culture that came from the West? Identical creatures that have neither their own opinion, nor the meaning of life, nor any moral qualities and only want to serve.

And now let's ask one more question: what gender are the minions?

The little yellow creatures from the animated film Despicable Me earned everyone's love back in 2010. And now their finest hour has come - the minions received their own full-length film "Minions", which was released on July 9, and we are delighted with it!

Who are minions?

Minions live on the planet for a couple of million years longer than us. They have one obsession - to serve the most "nasty" personality available. After the minions foolishly destroyed all their masters, including Dracula and Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the "ugly" Gru was not yet in the project, they decided to isolate themselves from the world and start a new life in Antarctica. Sometime in the 1960s, the absence of the owner brought them to depression. And then the minions rushed to New York. There they are waiting for money, power, the fatal supervillain Scarlett Overkill and, of course, the most delicious "banana"! At least that's what they think...

Photo archives of press services

Kevin

Two-eyed, tall minion, hair sticking up in a bun. Likes to make fun and tease both people and minions. For example, ridicules Jerry for cowardice. Likes to play golf. Plays a big role in Despicable Me 2. One of the first was kidnapped and turned into an evil purple minion. Was used to attack the girls in Gru's lab, but Dr. Nefario used an antidote and restored him to his normal form. Also appears in a short bike video. Will become one of the main characters of the movie "Minions".

Photo archives of press services

Stuart

Small, one-eyed minion, parted hair. Cheerful and playful, great at playing video games. One of the most famous minions. Appears in both parts of Despicable Me. In the second part, he plays one of the main roles among the minions (and he is one of the few minions who did not turn into an evil purple minion), and will also become one of the main characters in the movie "Minions". Often appears in company with Dave.

Photo archives of press services

A two-eyed, small, fat and bald minion with multicolored eyes. Will do anything to get attention - even lighting bombs. Appears in the trailer for the audition for the role in the film "Minions", along with Kevin and Stuart. In the film itself, "Minions" will play one of the main roles - together with Kevin and Stuart, they will go in search of a villain who will save all the minions from extinction in Antarctica.

Photo archives of press services

7 facts about minions

The minion language is a peculiar combination of French, Indian, English, Spanish, Italian and other languages. And when it was created, culinary names were used. For example, "poulet tiki masala" is the name of a chicken dish!
The original director of the cartoon, Pierre Coffin, voiced the minions.
The word "minion" (fr. mignon - "baby", "cutie") is, in fact, the designation of a favorite, a favorite of a high-ranking person, that spread in France in the 16th century.
The main villain Scarlett Overkill in the original version of the minions is voiced by Sandra Bullock.
All minions wear metal goggles with the number of lenses corresponding to the number of their eyes, a blue jumpsuit with the "Gru" emblem on the front, black gloves, and boots.
Minions also have superpowers: they can glow in the dark, which is extremely convenient, for example, in order to walk in a dark ventilation shaft. They can also do without oxygen, which was demonstrated to us in the first part of Despicable Me, when the minion, after drinking an experimental liquid, flew to the moon and spent quite a good time there.
Minions are very fond of bananas and apples (or papples, as they call them), and one look at these fruits can throw their work ranks into complete chaos. They also find everything related to the buttocks extremely funny, and do not miss the opportunity to demonstrate it. Their sense of humor is a bit childish, if not silly, the sound of bubbles in a cooler, scanning their asses on a copier, and a word like "pops" will make them laugh. However, there are also things they don't like, such as being insecure and when Gru leaves their questions unanswered.

2010 gave the world new favorites - the characters of the animated film "Despicable Me". Who are the minions who suddenly won the love of millions of children around the world?

First appearance

For the first time, viewers saw minions in the cartoon "Despicable Me", which tells about the supervillain Gru, who, in order to confirm his status as the most dangerous criminal, planned to kidnap the moon. In many ways, the huge success of the cartoon was facilitated by Gru's numerous assistants - the minions. Funny yellow creatures, armed with huge lenses on their eyes and speaking in an incomprehensible language, instantly won the love of little viewers.

But the main intrigue was the question of the origin of the minions. Who are they - living creatures that have existed for thousands of years next to a person, or a product of genetic engineering? The answer to this question was received in 2015, when the cartoon "Minions" was released.

A prequel that reveals all the secrets of the origin

At the very beginning of the Minions cartoon, the viewer will find out where these funny creatures came from. As it turned out, minions, like all other living organisms on the planet, originated on Earth millions of years ago. They appeared long before man and lived in the time of dinosaurs. From the moment of their birth, they served one purpose - the most vile villain. First it was the Tyrannosaurus Rex, then the primitive man, the Egyptian pharaohs and other famous intruders.

The cartoon "Minions" became the box office record holder - at the box office, the story of the minions collected more than a billion dollars.

Appearance and abilities of minions

These are creatures of small stature and yellow color, outwardly similar to Kinder Surprise chocolate egg boxes. They have one or two eyes, wear large round glasses and blue overalls. Minions have several superpowers. They can do without oxygen and feel quite comfortable in outer space. Minions glow in the dark when needed. Unusually hardworking and have a sincere affection for their master.

Without serving the villain, they lose interest in life and become apathetic. Minions love their job, but they also enjoy having fun and having parties. The main delicacy is bananas. At the sight of this fruit, they lose their composure.

Minions are impulsive and lose control easily. At the same time, they are extremely simple-minded and look at the world like children, with their eyes wide open. Very curious and can be extremely annoying.

Minions can hardly be called a full-fledged people, since they do not have children and the elderly. Apparently, they are all about the same age.

Minion tongue is an incredible mix

The little henchmen of the villains speak a strange language that sounds very funny. It was not as carefully developed as, for example, the Navi language for James Cameron's Avatar, which was created by a professional linguist. But minion speech is not just a collection of sounds. Slightly modified words in Italian, Spanish, French, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian and English were used to create their funny language.

Minions in the cartoon speak with the voices of directors - Pierre Coffin and Chris Reno. In fact, the characters were supposed to be voiced by actors. But when the creators of the cartoon were testing how, according to their idea, the speech of the minions should sound, it was decided that no one could do it better than them. Koffen voiced the minions in all the cartoons.

Who are the minions - good or evil?

About these funny cartoon characters in adults, the opinion is diametrically opposed. Some parents consider them completely harmless and cute creatures. For some viewers, things are not so simple. They reproach the creators of cartoons about minions for the fact that their characters have many negative traits: unconditional obedience to their master, inability to behave in a team, the struggle for a leader's position, which becomes threatening, selfishness and love for cruel practical jokes.

For children, the answer to the question of who the minions are is simple and clear - they are the funniest helpers of supervillains, speaking in gibberish and doing a lot of senseless, but funny things.

Minions is one of the world's most popular brands

Barely on screen, Gru's little henchmen have become one of the most famous trademarks. Funny creatures have become characters in computer and mobile games; their images adorn children's clothes and dishes. There was even a flying new toy released in 2015. The principle of its operation is the same as that of Flying Fairy. Toddlers can choose one of two characters - Dave or Stuart.

So who are the minions? For children, this is one of the favorite cartoon characters. Funny and funny kids, simple-minded, impulsive and clumsy, they continue to be favorites of adults and children.

In the twentieth century, the favorite cartoon characters were the heroes of Disney fairy tales, for example, Mickey Mouse, Donald and others. In the twenty-first century, they were replaced by minions. The cartoon with their participation captivated the audience. They are not like anyone else. How did they appear and who created them?

"Parents" of minions

To understand who minions are, you should learn about their creation. The characters first appeared in 2010 in Despicable Me. Created by Pierre Soffin and Chris Renault. Unexpectedly for the filmmakers, the audience showed an incredible interest in the tricks of the yellow-headed creatures. They decided to make the main characters in several short animated films, and later released a full-length cartoon. The Minions prequel was written by Brian Lynch.

The most difficult task for the creators was writing the dialogues. The fact is that the characters are supposed to speak their own special language. It was created based on the languages of different countries. It is possible to understand the characters with the help of intonation and gestures, which are actively used by the minions. Directly involved in voicing the main characters took the director of the picture.

What attracts viewers in yellow tadpoles? According to Janet Healy, who worked on the franchise, the minions are touching with their infantilism, sincerity, expressiveness and invulnerability. Who are the minions from a moral point of view?

Funny characters strive to serve evil all their lives. At the same time, they are kind and sympathetic by nature. This duality lies in almost every person. They find their ideal home at Gru's. A sincere inextricable connection is being established between the villain and the yellow pranksters. But who were they before meeting Gru?

Minion legend

The minions of villains appeared on the planet millions of years ago. They came to earth from the depths of the sea as a result of evolution. Creatures cannot imagine their life without a master who must do evil. They help him in everything.

Over the history of life on land, they have been allied with Tyrannosaurus Rex, Caveman, Pharaoh of Egypt, Dracula and Napoleon. Thanks to the "help" of the yellow creatures, all the villains faced defeat and death.

Having lost all their owners, they settle in an ice cave. Minions live for their own pleasure, but gradually lose their meaning to life. In order not to wither completely, one of the minions decides to leave the shelter and find a new villain for his brothers. Two more minions go on a journey with him.

Once in New York in the sixties of the twentieth century, three friends find a suitable villain. Soon, all the minions find the meaning of life in serving the young Gru.

From the legend it becomes clear who the minions are. But what are they individually?

Characters

If you do not look closely, the minions seem similar to each other. They are all yellow and consist of a head and limbs. They also wear blue jumpsuits. Looking closely, you can see many differences. Some have hair, others are bald. Some have one eye, while others have two. They also differ in height and, of course, in character. To understand who the minions are, it is worth getting to know the main characters.

List of characters:

Stuart is a rebel and a tough guy. He dreams of becoming a rock musician and does not recognize the rules, so he can go against everyone. He's like a naughty teenager.
Kevin is a leader by nature. This Kevin decides on a journey to find the owner. He is smart and balanced, his decisions are always weighed. Kevin can be said to be Bob's guardian, who he takes care of.
Bob is the smallest minion, so he is considered a child. He always carries around with his toy. His teddy bear's name is Tim.
Dave - likes to play pranks with Stuart.
Phil - in one of the cartoons, he fired a bazooka and dressed as a maid. It was he who was kidnapped by Dr. Nefario, in order to make him evil.
Carl - he ran, howling a fire siren through Gru's house.
George - I remember from the episode with the copy machine. He sat on top and made copies of his "fifth point".

Whose voices do minions speak?

In total, more than ten people took part in voicing all the characters. However, the main characters, like all minions, were voiced by Pierre Coffin. To do this, he registered the image of each hero in his head and was able to show their characters with the help of the correct intonations.

When dubbing cartoons into other languages of the world, the voices of the minions were left unchanged.

Where can the characters be found?

The minions, photos of which are presented above, are the heroes of the franchise about the global supervillain Gru.

List of animated films of the project:

"Despicable Me 1.2" (2010 and 2013);
"Minions" (2015).

In addition, there are short animated creations, such as the cartoon "Minions: Monster", as well as "Makeover of the house", "Banana fever", "Bombs", "In the cinema hall", "Argument", "Light bulbs", "Laughter out of the box" and others.

In 2020, the second part of the feature film about yellow funny characters should appear. Work on the sequel has already begun.