Despicable Me

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Despicable Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pierre Coffin Chris Renaud
Produced by	John Cohen Janet Healy Chris Meledandri
Written by	Ken Daurio Cinco Paul
Story by	Sergio Pablos
Starring	Steve Carell Jason Segel Russell Brand Julie Andrews Will Arnett Kristen Wiig Miranda Cosgrove Dana Gaier Elsie Fisher
Music by	Pharrell Williams Heitor Pereira
Editing by	Gregory Perler Pam Ziegenhagen
Studio	Illumination Entertainment Universal Animation Studios Mac Guff
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	July 9, 2010
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$69 million^[1]
Gross revenue	$541,897,970 ^[2]
Followed by	Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me is a 2010 American computer-animated 3D comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. The film stars Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and Miranda Cosgrove. It is the first CGI feature produced by Universal, in association with its Illumination Entertainment division. It was entirely animated in the French studio Mac Guff in Paris, France.
The story is of a supervillain named Gru who plans to use three orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, only to find that their innocent love is profoundly changing him.
The film earned positive reviews from critics, and grossed more than $500 million worldwide, against a budget of $69 million.

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[edit] Plot

The movie begins with the news revealing that an Egyptian pyramid was stolen. When super-villain Gru (Steve Carell) hears of this, his pride is wounded and he plans to pull the biggest heist of the century by stealing the Moon.
Gru tries to get a loan from the Bank of Evil (which a sign notes tongue-in-cheek was "Formerly Lehman Brothers") and meets a young super-villain, Vector (Jason Segel), who annoys him. Bank president Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) refuses to grant Gru the loan until he obtains the shrink ray necessary for the plan. Mr. Perkins tells Gru that he is getting too old and that new super-villains are younger and better, like Vector, who is revealed to be the one who stole the Pyramid of Giza.
Gru and his minions steal the shrink ray from a secret lab in East Asia, but Vector steals it from him and shrinks his ship. Gru attempts to get the shrink ray back from Vector's lair, but all his attempts to enter the lair prove futile. After seeing three orphaned girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) enter the lair to sell cookies to Vector, Gru adopts the girls from Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig), the head of the orphanage, to use them to steal back the shrink ray. Gru has his assistant Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) build robots disguised as cookies. He then has the girls sell the robots to Vector, and the robots help Gru steal the shrink ray.
On the way home the girls ask to go to an amusement park. Gru agrees, intending to leave the girls there. Instead, the attendant says he, as an adult, has to ride the roller coaster with them. Gru ends up having fun with the girls. Back at home, he presents his plan to Mr. Perkins via video. The girls keep interrupting him. Perkins again refuses to give him the loan, claiming that although he doesn't have a problem with the plan, he just wants a younger villain to do it instead. Gru has a flashback of his childhood, depicting his wanting to go to the moon after seeing the first moon landing. When he tried to impress his mother (Julie Andrews) with models of the rocket (and an actual working one), she just ignored him. Mr. Perkins calls Vector (revealed to be his son, whose real name is Victor) to the Bank of Evil to inform him that Gru has the shrink ray. Vector reassures his father that he will get the Moon. Gru almost abandons his plan due to lack of funds, but the girls and the minions take up a collection to keep it going.
However, Gru has to make a choice, because the moon will be in the optimal position for the heist on the same day as the girls' ballet recital. Dr. Nefario, seeing the girls as a distraction, contacts Miss Hattie, who arrives to take the girls back. Gru, the Minions, and the girls are heartbroken. Gru goes on with his plan and flies to the moon.
Gru successfully shrinks and pockets the Moon. Gru remembers the ballet recital and rushes to it. However, it has ended by the time he arrives. There, he finds a ransom note from Vector demanding the moon in exchange for the girls. After Gru hands over the moon, Vector reneges on the deal, keeping the girls and the moon. This enrages Gru, who storms Vector's lair, this time successfully breaching the defenses. Vector flies off in an escape pod with the girls. Gru holds on to the exterior of the ship. He nearly falls to his death, but is rescued by Dr. Nefario piloting the same ship that Vector shrunk before. Nefario reveals that the bigger the object, the quicker the effects of the shrink ray wear off. Very soon, the moon begins to grow and roll around inside Vector's ship, hurting him and freeing the girls. The girls see Gru outside of the ship, and Gru tells them to jump over to him. Edith and Agnes successfully make it onto the ship, but before Margo can jump, Vector grabs her. The moon rolls again and knocks Vector over, and Margo grabs onto Gru's grappling hook. Gru rescues her with the help of his minions, while the rapidly-expanding Moon wrecks Vector's controls, causing his ship to carry it back into orbit.
Gru and the girls settle down to live a happy life as a family and Vector is stranded on the Moon. The girls give a special ballet recital for Gru, his minions, and his mother, who finally tells him she is proud of him and acknowledges him to be the better parent. The music changes from Swan Lake to You Should Be Dancing, and everyone rushes on stage to dance as the film ends.

[edit] Cast

Steve Carell as Gru, the world's former number one supervillain.
Jason Segel as Vector, the world's new #1 supervillain after he stole the pyramid of Giza and egotistical nerd. He has a penchant for inventing weaponry that launches fish and other sea creatures.
Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, Gru's elderly, hearing impaired scientist, collaborator and good friend.
Julie Andrews as Gru's mother Marlena. In several of Gru's flashbacks, he showed her his plans to go to the Moon, but she ignored everything he said.
Will Arnett as Mr. Perkins, the president of the Bank of Evil and Vector's father. He is strong enough to crush an apple with one hand, and he views Gru as being too old and out of date for supervillain work.
Kristen Wiig as Miss Hattie, the mistress of a local orphanage, Miss Hattie's Home for Girls. For the most part she seems to hate her job and sees the girls more as an irritation than anything else as well as using the kids as child labor.
Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, the oldest of three orphaned sisters. Cosgrove describes the character very protective of her two younger sisters.
Dana Gaier as Edith, the middle sister of the group. A bit of a tomboy, she is described by her voice actor to be "sort of a trouble maker".^{[citation needed]}
Elsie Fisher as Agnes, the youngest sister. She is known for her fondness of unicorns.
Pierre Coffin as Tim / Bob / Mark / Phil / Stuart, five of Gru's minions.
Chris Renaud as Dave, one of Gru's minions.
Ken Jeong as Talk Show Host.
Danny R. McBride as Fred McDade, Gru's next door neighbor.
Jack McBrayer as Tourist Father / Carnival Barker.
Mindy Kaling as Tourist Mother.
Jemaine Clement as Jerry, one of Gru's minions.
Rob Huebel as Anchorman / Newscaster.
Ken Daurio as Egyptian Guard.

[edit] Music

Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Soundtrack by Various
Released	July 6, 2010
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Interscope Records
Producer	The Neptunes (except tracks 5 & 9)

Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released July 6, 2010. It features new songs from the film written, performed, and/or produced by composed by Pharrell Williams, and performances by Destinee & Paris, The Sylvers, Robin Thicke, The Bee Gees and David Bisbal. A soundtrack album including the many other songs that appear in the film has not been officially released.
The film's score was composed by Heitor Pereira and produced by Hans Zimmer. It was recorded with a 67-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.^[3] As of December 30, 2010, the film's score has not been officially released; however, 8 tracks appeared on MagicBoxMusic.com in November, 2010.^[4]^[5]

Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer	Length
1.	"Despicable Me"	Pharrell Williams	Pharrell	4:13
2.	"Fun, Fun, Fun"	Pharrell Williams	Pharrell	3:26
3.	"I'm On a Roll"	Pharrell Williams/Robin Thicke	Destinee & Paris	3:11
4.	"Minion Mambo" (feat. Pharrell & Lupe Fiasco)	Pharrell Williams/Lupe Fiasco	The Minions	3:04
5.	"Boogie Fever" (from the 1976 album Showcase)	Freddie Perren/Kenneth St. Lewis	The Sylvers	3:28
6.	"My Life"	Pharrell Williams/Robin Thicke	Robin Thicke	3:54
7.	"Prettiest Girls"	Pharrell Williams	Pharrell	3:19
8.	"Rocket's Theme"	Pharrell Williams	Pharrell	4:03
9.	"You Should Be Dancing" (from the 1976 album Children of the World)	Bee Gees	Bee Gees	4:18
10.	"The Unicorn Song"	Pharrell Williams	Agnes (Elsie Fisher)	2:08
11.	"Soñar (My Life)" (iTunes only Bonus track)	Pharrell Williams/Robin Thicke	David Bisbal	4:03

Despicable Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (More Music)
No.	Title	Performer	Length
1.	"Casino Royale"	Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass	2:39
2.	"Despicable Me (The Balloon)"	Pharrell	2:16
3.	"Sweet Home Alabama"	Lynyrd Skynyrd	4:45
4.	"Rocket's Theme (Bed Scene)"	Pharrell	0:35
5.	"Garota de Ipanema"	Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius De Moraes	3:31
6.	"Despicable Me II (Checking Inn)"	Pharrell	1:48
7.	"Prettiest Girls (Introduction)"	Pharrell	0:42
8.	"Copacabana"	Barry Manilow	5:46
9.	"The Way It Is (Vector's Theme)"	D.A. Wallach	0:48
10.	"Prettiest Girls (Theme Park)"	Pharrell	2:17
11.	"Swan Lake Waltz"	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	6:52
12.	"Fun, Fun, Fun (Orchestra Version)"	Pharrell	2:52

Despicable Me Score
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Happy Gru"	0:52
2.	"Door Bell Rings"	0:22
3.	"Kyle Attacks"	0:30
4.	"Nefario Calls Gru"	1:08
5.	"Minion March"	1:29
6.	"Miss Hattie's Face"	0:49
7.	"Gru Calls Mom"	0:43
8.	"Meeting Mr. Perkins"	1:10
9.	"Explosion"	0:19
10.	"Meet The Girls (Reprise)"	0:27
11.	"Adoption Process"	4:02
12.	"Gru's Lair"	1:01
13.	"Gru's Kitchen"	1:41
14.	"All Girls Amped Up"	0:18
15.	"Girls To Bed"	1:58
16.	"Girls To Dance Class"	0:34
17.	"Gru Is Angry"	1:04
18.	"Nefario Is Angry"	0:27
19.	"Teleconference"	3:37
20.	"Piggy Bank"	2:18
21.	"Hyper Girls"	0:37
22.	"Sleepy Kittens"	3:38
23.	"Nefario Confronts Gru"	1:43
24.	"Don't Let Her Take Us"	1:34
25.	"Kisses Goodnight"	2:41

Despicable Me Promo Score
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Logo – Beautiful Egypt"	1:42
2.	"Mal Mart"	1:36
3.	"Cookie Delivery"	3:30
4.	"Drunk Unicorn"	0:36
5.	"Blast Off"	1:32
6.	"Gru In Space"	0:47
7.	"Rushing Back"	1:34
8.	"Gru VS. Vector"	6:02

[edit] Release

[edit] Marketing

Sneak peeks were shown in episodes of The Biggest Loser. Despicable Me was also featured on Last Comic Standing when Gru comes in to audition. There has also been a minion that came in to audition, but he was mute for the duration.
IHOP restaurants promoted the film by introducing three new menu items, a kids' breakfast meal, and a drink all having the word "minion" in them.
Best Buy released a free Smartphone application called "Movie Mode" that translates what the Minions are saying during the end credits. Special content can be unlocked from the application after seeing the film.^[6]

[edit] Books

In May, 2010, three books related to the movie were published, as well as the children's puppet book featured in the film. The first, My Dad the Super Villain (ISBN 0316083828), was rated as a preschool book. The second, Despicable Me: The Junior Novel (ISBN 0316083801) was rated as being a Junior Reader for ages 8 to 12. The third, Despicable Me: The World’s Greatest Villain (ISBN 0316083771), was rated for ages 3–6 years. The puppet book, Sleepy Kittens (ISBN 031608381X), was written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio and illustrated by Paul.

[edit] Video game

A video game titled Despicable Me: The Game was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii. A Nintendo DS version was released under the name Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Namco also released a version for the iPhone and iPad platform entitled Despicable Me: Minion Mania, developed by Anino Games.^[7]

[edit] Home media

Despicable Me was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on December 14, 2010.^[8] The release included three new short films, titled Home Makeover, Orientation Day and Banana. Also, the website Minionmadness.com was launched to promote the home media release.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical response

The film has received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 82% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 179 reviews, with an average score of 6.8/10. The critical consensus is: "Borrowing heavily (and intelligently) from Pixar and Looney Tunes, Despicable Me is a surprisingly thoughtful, family-friendly treat with a few surprises of its own."^[9] Among "Top Critics," comprising critics from the top newspapers and other publications, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 32 reviews.^[10] Metacritic, another review aggregation website, assigned the film a score of 72%, based on 34 reviews from mainstream critics.^[11]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, awarding it three stars out of a possible four.^[12] Other positive reviews came from Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune and Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.^[13]^[14]
In contrast, A. O. Scott of the New York Times disliked the film, stating "while there's nothing worth despising, there's not much to remember either."^[15] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "there's nothing in this to engage an audience. Obviously, no one cares if this guy gets to remain as the world's top bad guy. Nor is this situation inherently amusing in a character way or even interesting in a satirical or sardonic way. There is simply nothing here, except a pretext for lots of labored, slapstick spy-versus-spy type shenanigans between the two 'villains.' Twenty minutes into "Despicable Me," nothing has happened."^[16]
The film received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 68th Golden Globe Awards^[17] and the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film at the 64th BAFTA Awards.^[18]

[edit] Box-office performance

Released on July 9, 2010, in the United States, Despicable Me opened at the number one spot at the box office and pulled in $56.3 million, making it the third biggest opening grossing for an animated film in 2010 behind Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After.^[19] In its second weekend, the film dipped to 42% to second place behind Inception with $32.8 million earned. The film then had another drop of 27% in its third weekend and finished in third place with $23.8 million. On August 5, 2010, the film crossed the $200 million mark, becoming the first Universal film to reach the milestone since 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum.^[20]
On the weekend lasting from September 3–5, 2010 it surpassed Shrek Forever After to become the second highest-grossing animated film of 2010 in the United States and Canada, behind Toy Story 3. It is also the highest-grossing non-Shrek/non-Disney·Pixar animated film of all time in these territories. The film has made $251,513,985 in the United States and Canada as well as an estimated $290,500,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $542,013,985, against its $69 million production budget. This film is also Universal's sixth highest-grossing film (unadjusted for inflation)^[21] and the tenth-highest-grossing animated feature of all-time in North America.^[22] In worldwide earnings, it is the sixth biggest film of Universal Studios,^[23] the third-largest animated movie of 2010 trailing Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After, the 14th largest animated film of all time and the 8th highest-grossing film of 2010.^[24]