{"id":903973,"date":"2026-06-30T21:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/903973\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:53:18","slug":"minions-creator-pierre-coffin-wanted-to-make-a-love-letter-to-old-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/903973\/","title":{"rendered":"Minions creator Pierre Coffin wanted to make a love letter to old Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Movies about the moviemaking of yesteryear \u2014 where do we go for those? Quentin Tarantino\u2019s \u201cOnce Upon a Time \u2026 in Hollywood\u201d or the Coen brothers\u2019 \u201cHail, Caesar!\u201d<\/a> come to mind. Maybe even Damien Chazelle\u2019s divisive \u201cBabylon.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a new \u201cMinions\u201d film?<\/p>\n

The banana-loving, villain-worshipping yellow blobs that have become animation\u2019s most enduring creations now take on classic Hollywood for \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d (in theaters Wednesday), their latest prequel adventure \u2014 and their most sophisticated, though still satisfyingly ridiculous outing yet.<\/p>\n

The plot isn\u2019t what you\u2019d expect: Passionate about storytelling, James, a Minion from a different tribe than the one audiences are familiar with, becomes determined to direct a monster movie after he and his pack accidentally arrive in 1920s Los Angeles. They decide to try their luck at the studio system.<\/p>\n

Pierre Coffin, the French inventor of the Minions, who also voices them and co-directed the first three \u201cDespicable Me\u201d movies, had his doubts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed some convincing, otherwise I was happy not doing anything except for the voices,\u201d Coffin, 59, says in English (and not Minionese) during a video call from France, where \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d had its world premiere at last week\u2019s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.<\/p>\n

That convincing would come down to a question of creative control.<\/p>\n

In 2022, producer Chris Meledandri called Coffin with an idea for a movie: a Minion wants to make a monster movie, so he needs to build a monster or summon one. As he listened to the proposed plot, Coffin thought about the time period it would take place in and whether it would involve Kevin, Stuart and Bob, the trio of Minions fans have come to adore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pitched him the idea of: Could it happen in Hollywood in the \u201920s?\u201d Coffin recalls. \u201cCould it be other Minions and can I write the script? Because I really wanted to be in control of how the story was told. I wanted to have the freedom to be able to rewrite the stuff without going through the whole chain of command that big studios have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Minions <\/p>\n

A scene from \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d pays homage to Charlie Chaplin\u2019s 1936 classic \u201cModern Times.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Illumination \/ Univeral Pictures)<\/p>\n

Meledandri said yes to all of Coffin\u2019s requests. They shared a history with these characters (Meledandri is also the founder and CEO of Illumination, the animation company behind these movies) and Coffin\u2019s proven record with its money-minting property was enough to take a chance.<\/p>\n

The two agreed that at some point another writer, Brian Lynch (who has credits on the previous Minions movies), would join the process. But at the onset, Coffin would take the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the time when cinema became an industry,\u201d he says, by way of explaining the appeal of early Hollywood to him. \u201cIt was very interesting for me to say, \u2018We\u2019ve got to do this building. We\u2019ve got to do these cars. We\u2019ve got to do these editing machines. We\u2019ve got to do these cameras.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He realizes it was a stretch and laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s visually a movie for kids and I don\u2019t think I cared that much,\u201d Coffin says, \u201cas long as I managed to do something that was very appealing to the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of these elements, which Coffin calls texture, convinced him to do the film. \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t convinced, I wouldn\u2019t be able to convince the 300 people working with me to give what I wanted from them, which is a lot in terms of energy and talent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d quickly becomes a tribute to cinema at large while still staying true to the signature silliness of his characters.<\/p>\n

As a child, Coffin was not allowed to watch TV, except for when his father would watch classic films. \u201cEvery time he would turn on the TV, it would be to watch very old things,\u201d he remembers. \u201cAnd I was happy to be able to watch TV, so I would watch what he was watching, which were black-and-white things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

Minions sneak their way into black-and-white classics in the movie \u201cMinions & Monsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Illumination \/ Universal Pictures)<\/p>\n

Later in life, when he studied animation at Gobelins Paris, Coffin realized that those actors in early Hollywood movies, particularly comedies, had provided the foundation for pioneering animators. (Animated versions of Charlie Chaplin from \u201cModern Times,\u201d as well as Buster Keaton<\/a> and Harold Lloyd make brief cameos in the new film as the Minions run around L.A.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you watch cartoons by Tex Avery or Chuck Jones, everything calls back to the perfect timing and the slapstick of those actors,\u201d he says. \u201cCartoons were inspired by the slapstick masters. This was a way to pay back to that period that also inspired the Minions.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the nods featured in \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d go even further back \u2014 call it a serious film school with training wheels.<\/p>\n

The movie opens with a black-and-white credits sequence that features references to Eadweard Muybridge\u2019s 1878\u2019s \u201cThe Horse in Motion,\u201d the Lumi\u00e8re Brothers\u2019 footage of everyday life \u201cWorkers Leaving the Lumi\u00e8re Factory\u201d from 1895 and Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s\u2019 fantastical \u201cA Trip to the Moon\u201d<\/a> from 1902, all with Minions inserted into the footage.<\/p>\n

Later, in order to get the Minions from the Wild West to L.A., Coffin replicates Edwin S. Porter\u2019s 1903 \u201cThe Great Train Robbery,\u201d often considered one of the first films that used editing for storytelling \u2014 and one of the first action movies ever.<\/p>\n

Coffin, who lives in Paris, hasn\u2019t spent any substantial time living in Los Angeles. His re-creations relied on black-and-white photos, archival material and, not surprisingly, Hollywood\u2019s own product. \u201cMy education of Los Angeles is movies,\u201d he says. (Since this was still a Minions movie, Coffin wasn\u2019t too concerned about total historical accuracy.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to imagine what these environments would be like in color. And for that we used all the movies that were shot in the \u201950s or early \u201960s about that period, the \u201920s. If you take \u2018Singin\u2019 in the Rain,\u2019 for example, it was made in 1952, but it\u2019s set in 1927.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most astute plot points involves the Minions finding early success as actors in Hollywood during the silent era but then losing their status as the talkies took over, revealing their puny, screechy voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a tricky one though, because a lot of movies have done that already, like \u2018Singin\u2019 in the Rain,\u2019 \u2018The Artist\u2019 or \u2018Babylon\u2019 more recently,\u201d Coffin says. \u201cEvery time the big turning point is the arrival of sound and then something bad happens. I was really afraid of that moment because the other movies had done it, so if we were to do it, it had to be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

\u201cMy education of Los Angeles is movies,\u201d says Coffin, who wanted to pay homage to the black-and-white classics his father watched on TV.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d introduces the talkies with a sequence that shows the Minions failing to deliver their lines (because they don\u2019t speak a human language) while shooting scenes that honor classics like \u201cCitizen Kane\u201d and inky detective film noirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that those references aren\u2019t really for kids, but what happens in them is funny anyway,\u201d Coffin says. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have the reference, it\u2019s OK. If you have the reference, it\u2019s even better. But you can be a kid, watch that \u2018Citizen Kane\u2019 scene and it\u2019s ridiculous. I think you laugh because everyone is doing a raspberry at the end or saying, \u2018Oh, poop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the narrative kicks in, the movie starts at a museum exhibit where a tour group learns about the history of film. The exhibit serves as a perfect canvas to include even more movie icons. Statues of Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Bruce Lee, Keanu Reeves in \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d Kirk Douglas in \u201c20,000 Leagues Under the Sea\u201d and \u201cE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial\u201d decorate the hall.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also George Lucas<\/a>, who happens to be alive behind glass as part of the museum collection. Coffin, who saw the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d as a child when it was first released and was inspired to make movies, geeked out at the possibility of having Lucas in his film. \u201cThat was one of the highlights of this movie,\u201d he says, still a fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy producer knows George Lucas, so he just texted him and George said, \u2018I\u2019ll be in Paris in two weeks,\u2019 and then in 30 minutes we recorded him and he\u2019s in the movie,\u201d Coffin recalls, still amazed. \u201cI asked, \u2018Does he know it\u2019s a Minion movie? Does he know that we\u2019re going to make fun of him a little bit?\u2019 He knew all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the monster and sci-fi elements of the story, Coffin invoked his lifelong love of 1956\u2019s \u201cEarth vs. the Flying Saucers,\u201d specifically Ray Harryhausen\u2019s effectively unsettling stop-motion alien ships, as well as his childhood fear of the original \u201cThe Blob.\u201d Creature artist Fran\u00e7ois Launet designed the monsters that James summons, including a miniature take on H. P. Lovecraft\u2019s Cthulhu that the production nicknamed Goomi (also Launet\u2019s pseudonym and easier to pronounce than Cthulhu, says Coffin).<\/p>\n

That the Minions\u2019 new saga unfolds in L.A. makes sense. And not only because of all the references that Coffin packed into it. This has always been their home.<\/p>\n

If you drive on the 101 Freeway, you might catch a glimpse of the giant Minion that overlooks the city from the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Universal Minion, he\u2019s been there for years now, so he\u2019s part of the scenery,\u201d Coffin says with a laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Movies about the moviemaking of yesteryear \u2014 where do we go for those? Quentin Tarantino\u2019s \u201cOnce Upon a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":903974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[18046,49595,1582,276,1020,365940,472,14107,6276,2961,224,2444,5337,365939,364914,37602,3196,365938,3197,6620],"class_list":["post-903973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-actor","tag-animation","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-film","tag-gobelins-paris","tag-history","tag-hollywood","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-minion","tag-minions","tag-monster","tag-movie","tag-pierre-coffin","tag-reference","tag-time"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116841284214769260","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}