Early one Saturday morning in the summer of 2015, I attended a press screening of an animated film with a few other critics and a lot of happy families. Before the movie started, the studio played a trailer for “Minions,” a universal spin-off based on the characters from the popular series “Despicable Me.”
I’ve never heard the voice of an audience so enthusiastic about my life. The auditorium trembled with laughter and applause. The children around me bounced off their seats, screaming and screaming with delight. When the trailer was over, they refused to settle down. When the actual function began, he seemed to be talking about the entire room when the boy in the front row shouted “I want a minion!” At the top of his lungs.
The boy immediately granted his wish. The first “Minions”, starring those round-shaped yellow humanoids in blue overalls and goggles that seem irresistible to children, continued to earn over $ 1 billion worldwide. The second Minions: The Rise of Guru, released last week, updated its Independence Day weekend box office record.Minions products are everywhere, and on social media Minions are Leading the trend of TikTok And star-in Memes loved by baby boomers..Writer Zack Kotzer ClaimPersuasively, Universal’s generous attitude towards copyright enforcement helped Minions reach a cultural saturation point.
But the simple, streamlined comedy of their fun brand, with slapstick enthusiasm and non-verbal brio, realizes a sort of borderless comic nirvana.
In the appearance of their first screen, “despicable me(2010), Minions was a bit player. Steve Carell spoke to Guru, the world’s number one supervillain. Guru relies on an army of his failed helpers (like the evil Oompa Loompa) to run his hideout. One of the film’s directors, Pierre Coffin, Told the Guardian in 2015 The Minions were a “complete accident” and were originally thought to be ferocious and muscular, but after being judged to look more calm and sympathetic with a less threatening design, the “male type of underground mole” It was reconsidered as a “creature of the creature”.
“Despicable Me” is the story of Gru, but the one that impressed me the most was Minions. “Despicable Me Minion 2” (2013) and their own cars in 2015. At the heart of their charm is their unique way of communicating. The casket itself speaks out, and they speak a uniquely crafted language, Minionese. It’s unreadable and strangely coherent. Borrowing words from English, Spanish, Dutch and other languages, the Gibberish tongue has a frothy, hilarious tone that is mostly used for musical effects.when Minions hijack plane “Rise of Gru” announces to passengers via the intercom. What he says is nonsense. But it sounds like a bland, soothing pattern for pre-takeoff pilots. It’s a joke to get the gist of the message without identifying a single word.
Of course, Minions don’t use plain language, so their humor isn’t based on the jokes spoken. This definitely helps the franchise to succeed abroad — there are few English punch lines and little loss in translation. However, due to its focus on sight gag and physical humor, Minions movies are very different from what you would expect from a contemporary family-friendly animation. Given the abundance of acrobatic antiques, pitfalls, and slapstick actions, Minion movies are most similar to the silent era comedy.
The casket often mentioned The influence of silent comedians He said he was inspired by giants such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd about the style and spirit of the Minions. In particular, their gift is to tell a story through a character that conveys humor, emotions, and even plasticity. .. You can often see traces of the famous silent era gag. In “Rise of Gru,” the side profile ride on a cross-country bike is reminiscent of Keaton’s “Sherlock Junior” classic stunts. (1924); The other is a homage to Lloyd’s “Safety Last!” Most iconic sequence, with someone hanging from the clock tower. (1923).
These references may please the cinephilia of the eyes of some eagles in the audience, but it is safe to assume that the nod to Chaplin will be lost to the children. Still, by continuing the comedy tradition of the silent era, “Minions” and “Rise of Guru” are clearer and more distilled than typical family-friendly animated films. From the slightly moody punch line of “Shrek” to the irreverent wink bunter that clogs Marvel movies, the form that feels like an antidote to the joke and ironic humor that is dominant elsewhere is pure. I have.
One of the joys of seeing minion behavior is to successfully avoid these traps and instead focus on simpler joys, such as a chaotic mudcap yellow creature in blue overalls exploding or collapsing. Is to guess. It’s refreshing and helps explain why these movies are such a huge hit.
Netflix specials have great sketches.John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch BunchThe comedian plays the movie executive who runs the focus group for “Bamboo 2: Bamboozled,” a new animated comedy for children. He forces the kids to appreciate the cast of all-star celebrities. — And did they understand the joke about “fake news”?
It’s a sharp bit that nails the general tensions of soulless children’s entertainment — a kind of expensive, market-driven children’s blockbuster that shamelessly scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
Pictures of “Minions”, especially the three “Despicable Me”, are almost inevitable from these urges. Character actors Cameo (Steve Coogan, Alan Arkin, Jenny Slate, etc.), subplots for humans, jokes involving more or less guru: this is familiar and uninteresting. A distraction from the substance of the movie.
Minions are entities. Minions have not been voiced by celebrities. Minions makes no mention of timely pop culture. Minions hit the gag after the gag: a pure physical comedy without borders.
And that’s how Minions took over the world.
