Despicable Me 4 Director Chris Renaud Reveals The Fantastic Inspiration Behind Mega-Minions

Despicable Me 4 follows Gru and his family, including his new son Gru Jr., after they are forced to leave the home they know and love when his nemesis Maxime Le Mal and Maxime’s girlfriend Valentina come after him. When Poppy, the neighbor girl, recognizes him, she instantly blackmails him to help her become a villain and pull a heist. Meanwhile, some of the minions become Mega Minions while staying at the Anti-Villian League.

Chris Renaud has been a part of the Despicable Me franchise from the very beginning, directing the first and second film, as well as producing the third. Not only is he the director of Despicable Me 4, he voices Principal Übelschlecht, the overarching antagonist. Despicable Me 4 is available to rent or own on digital, complete with two Minion mini-movies, including Benny’s Birthday and Game Over and Over.

Screen Rant spoke with Despicable Me 4 Director Chris Renoud about bringing Will Ferrell and Joey King into the iconic franchise. He also reveals the inspiration behind the Mega Minions, the challenges they brought to the film, and if we might ever see them again. Chris also details how getting to play in the booth and doing additional voices is helpful when he is directing.

The Despicable Me Films Are Relatable

Screen Rant: What do you think it is about Minions and Despicable Me that resonates with everybody?

Chris Renaud: I think it is several factors. With Gru and the family, it’s that relatability. They’re a family, like any family. They live in our world. They’re humans. So we can hang those kinds of problems, even though it’s animated and we do it in our way. And then, with the minions, I think it’s a combination of elements, but it’s truly lightning in a bottle. One of my first descriptions of them, when we first started developing the characters, was toys from a Japanese toy store. And I think they still have that kind of quality.

It’s almost like the minions could have been a forgotten Pokemon, you know what I mean? And of course, their language, that means something to everybody and nobody at the same time. Their behavior. Their incompetence. They’re children and lovable children, and their design, which is so simple that anybody can draw it. I just think that so many people can take ownership of the characters in the best possible way. And I think that is something that has tremendous appeal.

The Minions Story In Despicable Me 4 Changes Multiple Times

Screen Rant: Can you talk about kind of finding the balance in the Despicable Me movies between how much we see the minions and how much we follow the family?

Chris Renaud: Well, I’ll tell you, it evolves. When we started, we had a lot less minions, and they’re like, “You know, what? That scene’s not playing, put some minions in.” Which we’ve been doing since the first Despicable Me. Coming off of Minions: Rise of Gru, which is a Minions movie, even though Gru is prominently featured, we were like, “Okay, what do we do with the minions?” It’s always a trick to figure out what to do with hundreds of characters as a subplot, and we evolved them.

Originally, they were hanging out with Dru, believe it or not, Gru’s brother, and then they came to Mayflower, the town where Gru moves to, and they’re hanging out at the Yacht Club and playing golf. And it was funny, but kind of directionless. So then we went to that they joined the AVL because Silas and the Anti-Villain League move Gru and the family, so it felt like a good idea that he would take them to the headquarters.

But again, we’d seen Minions test weapons, even since the first film, so it wasn’t fresh enough. So then that was where we got into the Mega Minions, but also we had the three minions that accompany Gru and the family. We knew we needed that. We needed some guys that, and if you remember, we did the same thing when they go to Fredonia and meet Dru. We have a couple of minions alongside, just because they’re these great characters. You just put the camera on and figure out what they’re going to do, and they instantly elevate any scene that they’re in.

Screen Rant: They’re so much fun! I love the one that gets stuck in the vending machine.

Chris Renaud: You know, it’s funny because I was hoping they might do a minion in the vending machine Funko Pop, but I don’t know, maybe eventually they will.

The Mega Minions Were Inspired By Marvel’s First Family

Screen Rant: Obviously, it feels like the Mega Minions are inspired by Fantastic Four, but what other inspirations did you pull for them?

Chris Renaud: Well, you know, it’s funny. As we were developing them, what I felt we needed were very iconic, simple powers. And one per minion. We talked about something like Nightcrawler from the X-Men, who teleports, but it’s just too complicated. We talked about things like that. But I quickly was like, I don’t think so, just because they didn’t have a lot of screen time.

So one guy flies, one guy stretches, one guy’s invulnerable and rock-like, one guy’s strong, and one guy has heat-vision, basically. So once we settled on the powers that became how we felt we could define them by misusing those particular powers. It’s funny, Jerry, who’s the rock, and Dave is the strong guy. They’re kind of similar, but we, in animation, started developing this idea with the rock guy eating things, and he visually was so cool – taking the thing and sort of simplifying him. So our influences were all Fantastic Four, first and foremost.

If you notice, even the Incredibles sort of use that as a main source of influence, because the Fantastic Four is one of the few super teams that wears the same uniform. Most of them don’t – the Avengers, Justice League. The minions being so iconic in yellow and blue, we wanted to reinforce that idea. So the Fantastic Four, that’s why, I think automatically, they sort of look like those characters.

Screen Rant: Do you think we could get a Mega Minions movie at some point?

Chris Renaud: Listen, I think anything is on the table, right? But I will tell you that, given the amount of superhero material out there, it was a challenge locating comedy and what to do with these characters that felt like it was new. I mean, ultimately, where we landed was doing it through the lens of the minions themselves. That’s how you can find a distinction. And you notice, even in the climactic battle, they don’t actually even use their superpowers, not really anyway, which is a very minion thing to do. So, yeah, I mean, it’s possible, but it certainly, given my experience on making Despicable Me 4, would have its challenges.

Screen Rant: It would be very entertaining.

​​​​​Chris Renaud: We could always do a short or something. There could be something that’s maybe not a full 90-minute film, who knows. That’s the thing for these characters. You can do a bunch of things.

Working With Will Ferrell Was A Dream Come True

Screen Rant: Will Ferrell is so good in this movie. What was it like working with him?

Chris Renaud: Oh, for me, it was really a dream come true. I’d always wanted to work with him and cast him in something. I’m a big fan of his since Saturday Night Live, and a big fan of Saturday Night Live in general, as you can probably tell by the people we tend to work with. The character in the script that we sent to Will was named Maxime Le Mal, and so Will came in with this great, funny French accent. And while we did try a couple of things, because it was early days, and had Will come in and said, “Oh, man, I would love to do this as a Swedish guy”, we would have changed the name, but he came in with this great accent.

Usually, what happens in the first session, it’s like a workshop session or working session in a lot of ways, because they’re getting comfortable with it. They’re getting comfortable with you as a director. And you’re sort of finding it, but definitely from that first session, some of that material is in the movie. De just came in already having some very clear, funny thoughts, and that’s the direction we went.

Animation Adjusted Poppy’s Look To Fit Joey King’s Idea

Screen Rant: I’ve got to talk to you about Joey King too, because she’s hilarious in this movie. I love Poppy. She came up with the idea for the lisp, right?

Chris Renaud: Yes. Joey is awesome. I really couldn’t say enough good things about her. I think that character is the secret weapon of the movie, in some ways. It’s such a fun idea that a neighborhood kid is blackmailing Gru and forcing him to help her with her college application or private school application. So Joey, we tried it first with her regular voice, and then she’s like, “Oh, I’d like to try this lisp.” And then we went back and changed the character design and added braces to support that idea. She’s just terrific. She’s a great actress, really. And I just think that that character is just a jewel in the Despicable Me world. A lot of fun from the design, Joey’s performance, her animation, it really came together beautifully.

Screen Rant: Do you think we could see her again, potentially in the future?

Chris Renaud: Maybe. I mean, I certainly would be interested in seeing where she ends up and what happens to that character.

Screen Rant: Her and Gru made such a great team.

Chris Renaud: It did have something we hadn’t seen before, something like a Batman and Robin vibe, for sure.

The Heist Sequence Helped To Unlock The Whole Story

Screen Rant: Their heist sequence is a blast.

Chris Renaud: That scene was pivotal to this movie. The original version of the scene as scripted was much more ordinary. Then, as we went on, we decided that they would break into the school and try to steal a honeybadger, and it got more and more ridiculous. This always happens in these movies, I find, that as you’re developing them, it can be quite difficult, quite challenging, to locate the story and the balance of ideas, but then there will be a scene that you put together, and you’re like, “Ah, that’s the movie.” And that one, that scene, for me, and I think a lot of people on the project, was the one that unlocked it. Like, “Okay, this is what we’re doing.” Because, again, it’s got an absurdist quality that is just distinct to the Despicable Me world.

Doing Some Of The Voice Recording Is Helpful For Chris As A Director

Screen Rant: You do some additional voices throughout the Despicable Me and Minions movies. How fun is it for you to get to play in the booth?

​​​​​​​Chris Renaud: I love it. You’ll find a lot of animation directors, Pierre obviously as the minions, Garth Jennings is Miss Crawly, it’s a very common thing. The directors who did the Madagascar penguins. I’m sure part of it is serving our egos, but it’s also quite informative too, because I will do ten voices for characters that have actors doing them. But very often we’ll do voices as we’re building the story reels, because we haven’t recorded the actor yet, or whatever. I find, I’ll decide what voice I’ll cast myself as, I suppose. It’s very helpful, actually, in discovering what the performance is, because you’re not on the set every day with an actor saying, “Oh, maybe it should be this. Maybe it should be that.”

So it gives you a moment to actually figure out what you think it should be, even on bigger roles than Principal

Übelschlecht. And then when you’re talking to the actor, you’re a bit informed, because you have done a pass yourself. So I actually enjoy doing it, and I think it’s a common thing with animation directors, partly because of the process. We don’t have the actor every day. We get them every few months, typically. So you’ve got to keep things moving forward. And so there’s a reality to it, but there’s also the discovery portion, which is a lot of fun and very informative.

Screen Rant: Every few months? I didn’t realize that.

Chris Renaud: Well, you got to remember, we’re making this movie, I think production was over three years, so it’s long. You get a major role, like Gru or Maxime, anywhere between eight and ten sessions in that period. Smaller roles are less – like four to five. It depends on how often we make changes or how far we get in the session.

About Despicable Me 4

Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes welcome a new member to the family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina, and the family is forced to go on the run.

Check out our interviews with the Despicable Me 4 cast:

Despicable Me 4is now available to rent or buy on digital platforms.

Despicable Me 4

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The infamous (and kind-hearted) not-super villain Gru returns in Despicable Me 4, the fourth entry in the long-running movie series from Illumination Entertainment. The fourth film also sees the return of Gru’s wife, Lucy, portrayed again by Kristin Wiig, and introduces their son.

Director

Chris Renaud , Patrick Delage

Release Date

July 3, 2024

Studio(s)

Universal Pictures , Illumination Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Writers

Mike White , Ken Daurio

Runtime

95 Minutes

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