UNIVERSAL PICTURES Presents

A CHRIS MELEDANDRI Production

STEVE CARELL

JASON SEGELRUSSELL BRAND

KRISTEN WIIGMIRANDA COSGROVE

WILL ARNETTDANNY MCBRIDEJACK MCBRAYER

andJULIE ANDREWS

Executive ProducersNINA ROWAN

SERGIO PABLOS

Based on a Story bySERGIO PABLOS

Screenplay byCINCO PAUL & KEN DAURIO

Produced byCHRIS MELEDANDRI

JANET HEALY JOHN COHEN

Directed byCHRIS RENAUDPIERRE COFFIN

– 1 –– 1 –

CAST

Gru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE CARELLVector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JASON SEGELDr. Nefario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RUSSELL BRANDGru’s Mom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JULIE ANDREWSMr. Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WILL ARNETTMiss Hattie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KRISTEN WIIGMargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIRANDA COSGROVEEdith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANA GAIERAgnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ELSIE FISHERTim the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFINBob the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFINMark the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN Phil the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFINStuart the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN Dave the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS RENAUDJerry the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JEMAINE CLEMENTCarnival Barker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JACK MCBRAYERFred McDade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANNY MCBRIDETourist Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JACK MCBRAYERTourist Mom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MINDY KALINGAnchorman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROB HUEBELEgyptian Guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEN DAURIOTalk Show Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEN JEONGAdditional Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHARLES BRIGHT

KATIE LEIGH RANJANI BROW

SCOTT MENVILLE HOLLY DORFFEDIE MIRMAN

JACKIE GONNEAUAL RODRIGO

WENDY HOFFMANNJAKOB ROSTON

JAMES KYSON LEEHANS TESTER

TONY LEEDEBI MAE WEST

CREW

Directed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS RENAUDPIERRE COFFIN

Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS MELEDANDRIJANET HEALYJOHN COHEN

Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CINCO PAUL & KEN DAURIO

Based on a Story by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERGIO PABLOSExecutive Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NINA ROWAN

SERGIO PABLOSProduction Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . YARROW CHENEYEditors . . . . . . . . . PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-SHEFLAND

GREGORY PERLERScore by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PHARRELL WILLIAMS

HEITOR PEREIRAOriginal Songs and Themes by . . PHARRELL WILLIAMSMusic Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HANS ZIMMERMusic Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATHY NELSONArt Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ERIC GUILLONCharacter Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . CARTER GOODRICHComputer Graphics Supervisor . . . BRUNO CHAUFFARDAssociate Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT TAYLORProduction Supervisor . . . . . . . . . CHRISTELLE BALCONAnimation Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIONEL GALLATAnimation Supervisor . . . . . LAURENT DE LA CHAPELLESupervising Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE AVON

NICOLAS BAUDUINBARTHÉLÉMY BOIROT

LUC DEGARDINJEAN HEMEZ

PIERRE LEDUCELISABETH PATTE

JULIEN SORETLayout Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KYLE BALDAStereo Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN RA BENSONLighting Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NICOLAS BRACKEffects Animation Supervisor . . . . . . . PIERRE VILLETTEGlobal Technology Supervisor . . . . . . . . . BRUNO MAHE

Character Supervisors

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JÉRÔME GORDONCloth & Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BENJAMIN LE STERRigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAMIEN GAUTRONSurfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADRIEN BORZAKIAN

Set Supervisors

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANÇOIS LAUNETSurfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FABIEN POLACK

Compositing Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . CÉLINE ALLÈGREANTONIN SEYDOUX

Stereo Compositing Supervisor . . . . BENOIT PHILIPPONAssistant CG Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID PELLÉ

DELPHINE POTEVINProduction Managers . . . . . . . . . . JEAN LUC FLORINDA

CHRISTINA DESILVA ROWELLJILL RAGAWAY

Story Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVE ROSENBAUM

– 2 –

Story Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEITH BAXTERDAVID BERTHIER-DUVERNEUIL

MATT FLYNNSTEPHAN FRANCKJOHN HOLMQUIST

MIKE KIMJAVIER LEDESMA

STEVE MOOREJUAN PABLO NAVAS

MARK O’HAREJUAN D. POZUELO

JAMES SUHRAdditional Story Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAL BRUNKER

DEREK EVANICKJUN FALKENSTEIN

JOHN INFANTINOPIET KROON

RITA LICHTWARDTGLEN MCCOY

RAYMIE MUZQUIZWILBERT PILJNAAR

PETER SHINADAM VAN WYK

DAVID WACHTENHEIMSequence & Set Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAUL MAGER

VINCENT MASSEYLOIC RASTOUTBRIAN WOODS

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERGIO CASASOLIVIER DELABARRECLÉMENT GRISELAIN

CARLOS FELIPE LEONAdditional Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARCOS CALO

DAVID CATROWMAREC FRITZINGER

ROBIN JOSEPHMARTIN TRYSTRAM

PHILIPPE TILIKETEAdditional Character Design . . . . . . . . . . ERIC GUILLON

CHRIS RENAUDPAUL MAGER

PHILIPPE TILIKETECharacter Animation and Computer Graphics provided by . .

MAC GUFF, PARISMac Guff Senior Executive . . . . . . . . . . JACQUES BLEDHead of Production . . . . . . . . . . . . ARNAULD BOULARDLayout & Stereo Manager . . . . . . . . . . . SOLENN COLASLayout Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RÉGIS SCHULLERStereo Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VALÉRIE GABRIELLayout Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GUY-LAURENT HOMSY

GÉRALD CLEVY

JAIRO BAMBANG OETOMOSÉBASTIEN TIFFON

HENRI ZAITOUNCharacter Animation Manager . . . . . . . . . . . JOY POIRELCharacter Animation Leads . . . . . . . . . PATRICK DELAGE

FABRICE JOUBERTCharacter Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . HICHEM ARFAOUI

SALEM ARFAOUIJEAN-FRANÇOIS BARTHELEMY

ARNAUD BERTHIER-DUVERNEUILXAVIER BOLOGNADANIEL CALLABY

JÉRÔME CHARTONBRICE CHEVILLARD

CÉLINE CHOTARDMICHAEL CROUZAT

SIMON CUISINIERJONATHAN DEL VAL

BRUNO DEQUIERSAMUEL DEVYNCK

MOISE ESSAMEMATHILDE FABRY

AUDREY FOBISVINCENT GARCIA

JEAN-CHARLES GONINBENOIT GUILLAUMOT

BASILE HEIDERSCHEIDGUILLAUME HERENT

YANNICK HONORESILKE JAGER

KARIN KEMPFSÉBASTIEN KUNERT

BENOIT LACOSTEDIANE LAFORET

FRANÇOIS LAURENTCHLOÉ LANG-WILLAR

ADRIEN LIVMAX MALEO

STÉPHANE MANGINGIUSI MARONE

GAËL MATCHABELLI RENAUD MEGANGEMATHIEU MENARD

LOIC MIERMONTDAVID NASSER

ELENA ORTEGOGWÉNOLÉ OULC’HEN

CHRISTEL POUGEOISENICOLAS PROTHAIS

ERIC PREBENDEPATRICK PUJALTE

– 3 –

MITJA RABARCORENTIN SACRE

JEAN VINCENT SALESJULEN SANTIAGO

SÉBASTIEN TIFFONMIRCO TOMADINI

CLÉMENTINE TRONELLUCAS VALLERIECOLINE VEITH

EMMANUEL VERGNEJORGE VIGARA ALONSO

Cloth & Hair Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ABDOU KARIMIROMAIN PRIVAT DE FORTUNIE

Cloth & Hair Animators . . . . . . . . STANISLAS ABELANETADRIEN CHARTIE

LOIC DAVIDJEREMY DELCHIAPPO

CHRISTOPHE LE DEROUTSTEVEN DUPUY

AXEL GRAUXTHOMAS HAAS-CHRISTENSEN

JOSSELIN JALLUTSYLVIE LIMARION MAHU

MATHIEU MALARDPIERRE-ANDRÉ PERUCAUD

URIELL PRISERFABIEN RIXENS

DAVID RODRIGUESKEN SHIMIZU

SÉBASTIEN STOIANOVSIMON TROUILLER

MAXIME VALLONTHOMAS VILPORT

MILAN VOUKASSOVITCHEffects Animation Manager . . . . . . . . . . . ANAÏS PERLOTEffects Animation Lead . . . . . . . . . . . MATHIEU NEGRELEffects Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XAVIER BREUIL

NICOLAS CROCHETMATHIEU GÉRARDJÉRÔME HERENGVINCENT HOUZE

JEAN-FRANÇOIS MACELUDOVIC RAMISANDRAINA

MILO RICCARANDJOSSELIN TONNELLIERNICOLAS ZBOROVSKA

Character Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . DELPHINE LE ROCHCharacter Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID ARNOULD

JULIEN BADOILROMAIN COTE

DAVID FOURRAGEADRIEN MONTERO

Rigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NICOLAS COMBECAVEMATHIEU TRINTZIUS

GUILLAUME BARLIERGUILLAUME BOUDEVILLE

DAVID LIEBARDPIERRE LOIC HAMON

LARSON LIBERLIN DE SHORIBA DIOP Surfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIRGINIE TARAVEL

BLANDINE CHANTEURCHARLES CHOREIN

JÉRÉMIE DROULERSBENJAMIN FOURNET

JIMMY LAPLAIGEAURÉLIE MONFAIT

MAXIME LEDUCSÉBASTIEN NAIT-MERABET

JULIEN ODICGABRIEL PICARD

JULIEN ROCCHISets & Props Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NATHALIE VANCAUWENBERGHEDENIS WALGENWITZ

Set & Props Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HERVÉ ARPHIFRANCK CLARENCJÉRÔME CORDIER

MARTIN COUSTENOBLENICOL JEAN DUFLAUT

AURÉLIEN HULOTCAROLINE LALOUETTE

LUDOVIC RAMIERENICOLAS VALADE

FABIEN YORGANDGIANSet Dressing Supervisor . . . . . . . . AXELLE DE COOMANLighting & Compositing Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EMMANUELLE CARLIERKARINE FRIANG

DELPHINE LASSERRELead Lighting Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SELIM DRAÏA

SOPHIE GUILLOISTHIERRY NOBLET

MAX TOURRETDAMIEN VIATTE

Lighting Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALEXANDRE BERMONDSAIDOU BERNABE

VINCENT BLANQUÉCÉDRIC BURKARTH

JUSTINE CODRON LIONEL CUENDETTHOMAS DAIRAIN

VIVIAN DAVIDBERTRAND DE BECQUE

– 4 –

EPHRAÏM DROUETPIERRE GOBILLARD

SÉBASTIEN GOURDALSIMON GREZESMATHIEU GROS

STEPHAN GUÉRINMATHIEU LE MEUR

PIERRE LOPESOLIVIER MARTINYMATHIEU MOLINA

ROMAIN SILVA MACEDOHUGUES SSOSSE

Lead Compositing Artists . . . . . MARIE CLAIRE BAZARTMARIE BOURGUET

BERTRAND BREUZEYANN LEROUX

STÉPHANIE MACHURETMARION ROGER

FRANÇOIS TURQUETYLAETITIA YUNG

Compositing Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLORIAN BESTELMATTHIEU CHATELIER

SOLEN COLLIGNONCLÉMENT DARBOIS

ANTOINE DOUADILOIC FLAMAND

LUCIEN FOSTIERPHILIPPE HUBERDEAU

DEAN KOONJULJOLA KUDELA

FRANÇOIS LE BASTARDJEANNE LOYERSERGEÏ LOURIÉ

OLIVIER LUKASZCZYKGASTON MARCOTTI

ALEXIS PERASTESIMON RAFIN

DANE RAPAPORTSTÉPHANIE SAILLARD

MARINE SAMYNJEREMY SÉGUIN

GEROME VIAVANTANTHONY VOISIN

KEVIN WILLMERINGStereo Compositing Artists . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS ASSIE

JÉRÔME AULIACJEAN NICOLAS COSTARUDYARD CRETENET

CHRISTOPHE DUFLAUTDELPHINE GARRELIS

KEVIN KERGOAT

KHALED LABIDITHOMAS LEFEBVRE

PIERRE YVES MOULARDYVAN-ANDRÉ NGNODJOM

MAYÀ PELLEJULIEN ROGER

NIRANJAN SIVAGURUNATHANVINCENT MARTIN

Compositing Technical Director Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NATHALIE BONNIN

EMMANUELLE DE AMEZAGACompositing Technical Directors . . . . . . DÉMIAN BOUDE

BENOIT FOURNOLMATHIEU GOUBY

JULIEN THEBAULTLead Matte Painter . . . . . . . . . . . JEAN-DENIS COINDREMatte Painters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANÇOIS BELLIART

JÉRÔME BILLETPipeline Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WASSILA LMOUACIPipeline Supervisors . . . . PIERRICK BRAULT-VANDAME

EMMANUEL PREVOTPipeline Technical Directors . . . . . . DAMIEN BELLANTAN

MICHAEL BETHUNEPIERRE BRINDEL

FRÉDÉRIC BRUNAJULIEN DEPOORTERE

HENRI DESOUSALEXANDRA HOFF MATTHIEU GOUIN

PATRICK GUILLERMLAURENT HUBERT

ELODIE LABBEQUENTIN RICCI

Supervising Technical Director . . . . . ETIENNE PÊCHEUXIT Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHEL ROY

DAVID LEROUXDAVID GUEDJ

FLAVIO PEREZMOSTAFA YACOUBI

Rendering Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS FONCELLERender Wranglers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SYLVAIN BLEROL

DAVID CANCELA ILYAS CHODKIEWIEZ

Head of Research & Development . . PHILIPPE DELORMEResearch & Development Team . . . . . . THOMAS METAIS

SÉBASTIEN MASINOJULIEN FRANTZ

ALEXANDRE VERLHACERIC PLACOLY

DAMIEN COUREAULUDOVIC LEFEVE-GOURMELON

– 5 –

Financial Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . GARY WOHLLEBENAssistant Production Accountants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HUMBERTO MEZA, JR.CARLOS ROCADAS

JULIEN SABOURDINLOETITIA VILLENEUVE

JULIEN VIRGILEEditorial Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALEX DOWDING

MIKE BAUMAdditional Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE LIU

PATRICK VOETBERGCLAIRE DODGSON

1st Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED FULLERAssistant Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GILAD CARMEL

KAREN HATHAWAYMIKE ROSTKER

Editorial Conformation . . . . . . . . . . . FANNY BOUQUARD

Production Staff

Art Coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATIE BALLENTINEAMELIE PEYRACHE

Editorial Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOSH MORGANLighting & Compositing Coordinator . . MARION LOLOUMMarketing Coordinators . . . . . . . . . AMBER CHAMBERS

CELINE LOCATELLIStory Production Assistant . . . . . . . . DANIEL DOTTEREREditorial Production Assistant . . . . . . . . TYLER WERRINGeneral Production Assistant . . . . . . . . . JEFF COWARDAssistants to Chris Meledandri . . . . . . . . . . LISA HOLME

KRISTIN WONG-WARDLYNLEY BIRD

KELLY MARTINAssistants to Janet Healy . . . . . . . . . . . JESSICA STONE

NAIRYE APELIANAssistants to John Cohen . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW SHORT

KRISTIN MACLARENAssistants to Jacques Bled . . . . . . . . . SOLANGE LOBO

VIRGINIE GROSSCasting Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARY HIDALGOPost-Production Supervisor . . . . . . JEANNINE BERGERPost-Production Sound Services by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SKYWALKER SOUND, A LUCASFILM LTD. COMPANYMARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor . . . . . . . . . . . .CHRISTOPHER SCARABOSIO

Supervising Sound Editor . . . . . . . . . DENNIS LEONARDADR Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANIEL LAURIESound Effects Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID C. HUGHES

STEVE BISSINGERJEREMY PAUL BOWKER

Re-recording Mixers . . . . CHRISTOPHER SCARABOSIOTOM JOHNSON

Sound Design Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . RANDY THOMFoley Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . LUKE DUNN GIELMUDAFoley Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E. LARRY OATFIELDAssistant Supervising Sound Editor . . . . COYA ELLIOTTAssistant ADR Editor . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER BARNETTAssistant Sound Effects Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

JESSICA LEMES DA SILVAAssistant Sound Designer . . . . . . . . . . . LEFF LEFFERTSFoley Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL LYLE

SEAN ENGLANDFoley Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER BARNETTFoley Recordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COREY TYLERMix Technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NATHAN NANCE

ZACH MARTINDigital Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN COUNTRYMAN

MARCO ALICEARecordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLINT SMITHDigital Editorial Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID HUNTER

TIM BURBYDANNY CACCAVO

Engineering Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE MORRISDOUG FORD

HOWIE HAMMERMANNSupervising Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VICKI HIATTMusic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SLAMM ANDREWSAssistant Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANIEL SCOLARIRecording Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW COLEMANRecording Engineer Assistants . . . . . . . . . MIKE LARSON

SEBASTIAN ZULETASATOSHI NOGUCHI

RAMON RIVASJOSH GUDWIN

DUSTIN CAPULONGGHAZI HOURANI

GUILLERMO LEFELDSAM ALLISON

Recording Studios . . . . . . . . MIDNIGHT BLUE STUDIOSTHE RECORD PLANT

Mixing Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . FABIAN MARASCUILLOMixing Engineer Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . . JASON DALE

BRANDON JONESELIZABETH GALLARDO

Mixing Studios . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIT FACTORY CRITERIAGERMANO STUDIOS

Additional Music by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN SPONSLERTOM GIRE

Orchestrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRUCE FOWLERWALT FOWLER

– 6 –

RICK GIOVINAZZOKEVIN KASKA

Music Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REPRISE MUSICOrchestra Contractors . . . . . . . . DECRESCENT/ROTTERMusic Production Services . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE KOFSKYGirl Vocalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CENTRE FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS, LONDONChoirmaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LYNDA RICHARDSONChoral Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JENNY O’GRADYMusic Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GAVIN GREENAWAYChoir Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GEOFF FOSTERChoir Recorded at . . . . . RAK RECORDING STUDIO LTDScore Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW ZACKScore Recorded at . . . . . . 20TH CENTURY FOX STUDIOScoring Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DENIS ST. AMAND

TIM LAUBERTOM STEEL

GREG DENNONScore Recorded and Mixed by . . . . . ALAN MEYERSONMusic Mixed at . . . REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTIONS RCP Studio Manager . . . . . . . . . . . CZARINA RUSSELLDigital Intermediate by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EFILMDigital Intermediate Colorist . . . . . . . . . . . JASON HANELDigital Intermediate Producer . . . . NICOLAS PETERSONDigital Intermediate Editor . . . . . . . . . . LISA TUTUNJIANColor Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TERRY CLABORNLocation Laboratory Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-MACEnd Title Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROKIT STUDIOMarketing Animation . . . . . . . . . . . SAMUEL TOURNEUX

NICOLAS CAZAUXANTOINE COLLET

LUCAS VAN ROSSUMJÉRÔME TRANNOY

SOUNDTRACK ON STAR TRAKENTERTAINMENT/INTERSCOPE RECORDS

“SWEET HOME ALABAMA”Written by Edward King, Gary Rossington,

Ronnie Van ZantPerformed by Lynyrd SkynyrdCourtesy of Geffen Records

Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

“DESPICABLE ME”“FUN, FUN, FUN”

“PRETTIEST GIRLS”“ROCKET’S SONG”

Written and Performed by Pharrell WilliamsProduced by Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes

Courtesy of Star Trak Entertainment/Interscope Records

“GAROTA DE IPANEMA”Written by Antonio Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes

“BOOGIE FEVER”Written by Frederick Perren, Keni St. Lewis

Performed by The Sylvers Courtesy of Capitol RecordsUnder license from EMI Film & Television Music

“THE WAY IT IS (VECTOR’S THEME)” Written by Pharrell Williams and D.A. Wallach

Performed by D.A. WallachProduced by Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes

Courtesy of Star Trak Entertainment/Interscope Records

“COPACABANA”Written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, Bruce Sussman

Performed by Various Studio MusiciansCourtesy of Stingray Music

“MY LIFE”Written by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke

Performed by Robin ThickeProduced by Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes

Courtesy of Star Trak Entertainment/Interscope Records

“YOU SHOULD BE DANCING”Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb

Performed by The Bee GeesCourtesy of Reprise Records

By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

Location support provided by Peninsula FilmsJohn Bernard

Frederic Greene

THIS MOTION PICTURE HAS BENEFITED FROM THETAX CREDIT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FOREIGN

MOTION PICTURES IN FRANCE.

Special Thanks

CHRISTOPHE ASSELINJEAN-JACQUES BENHAMOU

RODOLPHE CHABRIERFRÉDÉRIC GUY

CHRISTINE LAGARDEJACQUES LE PAPE

ERIC MARTINETAGNÈS RAULT

PHILIPPE SONRIERMARTIAL VALLANCHON

– 7 –

COPYRIGHT © 2010 UNIVERSAL STUDIOSAll Rights Reserved.

Animated Universal Studios Logo © 1997 Universal Studios

Country of First Publication: United States of America.Universal Studios is the author of this motion picture forpurposes of the Berne Convention and all national laws

giving effect thereto.

THIS MOTION PICTURE IS PROTECTED UNDER THE LAWS OFTHE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES. UNAUTHORIZEDDUPLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR EXHIBITION MAY RESULT IN

CIVIL LIABILITY AND CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS DEPICTED IN THISPHOTOPLAY ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY SIMILARITY TO ACTUAL

PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.

Credits as of April 23, 2010.

– 8 –

NO. 46025

MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

(L to R) Edith (DANA GAIER), Gru (STEVE CARELL), Agnes (ELSIE FISHER) and Margo (MIRANDA COSGROVE) roller coast away.

Universal Pictures and Illumination Enter-

tainment invite you and your family to their inaugural

3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me. From producer

CHRIS MELEDANDRI (Ice Age, Dr. Seuss’ Horton

Hears a Who!) comes the story of one of the world’s

greatest super-villains who meets his biggest chal-

lenge when three children enter his life.

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by

white picket fences and flowering rose bushes sits a

black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the

neighbors, hidden deep beneath this home is a vast

secret hideout. Surrounded by an army of mischie-

vous little minions, we discover Gru (STEVE

CARELL of Get Smart, Horton Hears a Who!, televi-

sion’s The Office) planning the biggest heist in the

history of the world. He is going to steal the moon

(Yes, the moon!).

Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his

arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready

vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand

in his way. That is, until the day he encounters the

immense will of three little orphaned girls who look

at him and see something that no one else has ever

seen: a potential Dad.

– 9 –

Appearing alongside Carell in Despicable Me are

comedy stars JASON SEGEL (Forgetting Sarah

Marshall, I Love You, Man), MIRANDA COSGROVE

(Nickelodeon’s No. 1 live-action show iCarly) and

legendary Academy Award® winner JULIE ANDREWS

(The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, The Princess

Diaries series).

The troupe of established and emerging comedic

actors who joins them includes RUSSELL BRAND

(Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall),

KRISTEN WIIG (Date Night, TV’s SNL), WILL

ARNETT (Monsters vs. Aliens, Dr. Seuss’Horton Hears

a Who!), DANNY MCBRIDE (Tropic Thunder,

Pineapple Express) and JACK MCBRAYER (TV’s 30

Rock, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

Despicable Me is directed by Oscar®-nominee

CHRIS RENAUD (Annie Award-winning short No

Time for Nuts, director of upcoming Dr. Seuss’ The

Lorax) & PIERRE COFFIN (Pat et Stanley). The

film is produced by Meledandri, JANET HEALY and

JOHN COHEN. Leading the talented behind-the-

scenes team are editors PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-

SHEFLAND (Open Season, The Emperor’s New

Groove) and GREGORY PERLER (Enchanted,

Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit),

as well as production designer

YARROW CHENEY and art

director ERIC GUILLON.

Creating the original songs

and themes for the f ilm is

Grammy Award-winning artist

and blockbuster music producer

PHARRELL WILLIAMS, who

composes the score with

HEITOR PEREIRA (It’s Com-

plicated, Beverly Hills Chihua-

hua). The music is produced by

Academy Award® winner HANS

ZIMMER (The Lion King, The

Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes).

The 3-D CGI f ilm is based on a story by

SERGIO PABLOS and a screenplay by CINCO

PAUL & KEN DAURIO (Horton Hears a Who!,

Dinner for Schmucks). The animated comedy’s

executive producers are NINA ROWAN (Oscar®-

winning animated short Bunny) and Sergio Pablos.

Finding Illumination:Meledandri Joins Universal

In early 2007, Universal Pictures began to

build its family and animation film business by

bringing aboard blockbuster producer Chris

Meledandri to shepherd the initiative. Meledandri

had spent many years at 20th Century Fox, where

he founded the studio’s animation division and

oversaw the launch of its blockbuster Ice Age fran-

chise. With the creation of Meledandri’s new

production company, Illumination Entertainment,

Universal would finance and distribute a slate of– 10 –

BEFORETHEPRODUCTIONBEFORETHEPRODUCTION

Gru tells the minions about his new mission: to steal the moon.

live-action and animated films that would be led

by the successful filmmaker.

Meledandri, who had been an executive at Fox

for 13 years, became founding president of 20th

Century Fox Animation during his tenure at the

studio. He headed that division for eight years,

amassing more than $2 billion in global box-office

revenue for the studio. The producer oversaw Fox’s

1998 acquisition of the East Coast-based, small

visual-effects house Blue Sky Studios and its

transformation into the studio’s successful CG-

animation arm, which employs more than 250

artists. While there, Meledandri also supervised

and/or executive produced such blockbusters as

Robots, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Simpsons

Movie and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!

Offers Meledandri about the transition: “I

found that I could not turn away from the extraor-

dinary opportunity that Universal offered me: the

entrepreneurial aspect, the excitement about a new

company, the breadth of the production mandate to

include all forms of animation, as well as live

action, and the studio’s ideas about movies—

specifically their commitment to quality, as well as

their ideas about how to market movies in an

increasingly competitive marketplace.”

So Despicable:The Project Begins

“The original concept of Despicable Me was pitched

to me by Sergio Pablos, who is a Spanish animator based

with a small animation studio in Spain,” explains Chris

Meledandri. “We immediately knew that screenwriters

Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio were the team to write the

screenplay.” The writers had worked with the producer

on the global hit Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, and

Meledandri felt they had just the sensibility to bring

Sergio Pablos’ original story to life.

Paul and Daurio had navigated intricate animated

worlds before with Meledandri. In their last film

together, they gave life to Dr. Seuss’ beloved char-

acter Horton, telling the story of a gentle elephant

who hears a faint cry for help from a dust mote that’s

floated past. The film, directed by Jimmy Hayward

and Steve Martino, was an enormous hit and solidi-

fied the two as comedy scribes. For their newest

project, they elaborated upon Pablos’ idea of one of

– 11 –

ABOUTTHEPRODUCTIONABOUTTHEPRODUCTION

His minions are in awe of Gru’s plan.

the world’s greatest super-villains, a man who finds

more to life than reveling in wicked deeds.

From the beginning, it was important to Illumi-

nation to construct a tale that would put a trademark

stamp on the types of films the production house would

be creating. That would not involve two-dimensional

heroes or antagonists. Reflects Meledandri: “The idea

of making an animated film in which the villain is your

protagonist is unusual and very challenging. By the end

of the film, Gru has undergone a transformation, and

it’s that transformation that’s made possible by starting

him in a place where there are aspects of him that are

downright unlikable. You would not have a sense of

appreciation for the journey he’s gone on as a character

had we not started him at that point.”

Fellow producer John Cohen knew that

Despicable Me would stand out by showing the side

of our humanity of which we’re not always so proud.

“For a while, we’ve wanted to make a movie about a

villain told from the villain’s perspective,” he says.

“Chris heard this idea that came from Sergio Pablos,

who is a terrific animator. Sergio and Nina Rowan,

who are executive producers, brought this original

idea to Chris, and he immediately fell in love with it.

It’s a great, clear concept for a movie with comedy

built in and a very unique character at the core.”

Cohen liked ex-

ploring the notion that

each of us has a bit of

wickedness inside just

waiting to be expressed.

He continues: “Gru

offers a wish fulfillment.

When you’re waiting in

line at a grocery store—

and the person in front

of you has 25 items in

the express line and

decides to pay with a

check—that would be

the perfect time to use a freeze ray. There’s a great deal

of comedy that springs from a character who gets to act

out some of the things we wish we could do.”

When it was time to select the project’s directors,

Meledandri turned to Academy Award® -nominated

filmmaker Chris Renaud and acclaimed Sorbonne-

trained animator Pierre Coffin to helm the project.

Renaud’s years of collaboration with Marvel and DC

Comics allowed him to illustrate some of the most

iconic characters of the modern era. For his part,

Coffin has created several of the most viewed

animated shorts on YouTube, including “The Lion

Sleeps Tonight.”

“Chris Renaud is somebody who I’ve worked

with for many years, going back to Fox and Blue Sky

Studios,” Meledandri comments. “He came up

through our story department and started out as a

storyboard artist, but his experience prior to joining

us involved a much deeper level of animation experi-

ence. His roots come from the comic book world,

where early on in his career he illustrated comic

books. Chris has a wonderful sense of story and how

to translate that into imagery. We had a particularly

successful experience with him directing a short at

Blue Sky called No Time for Nuts, which was nomi-

nated for an Oscar®.”– 12 –

Gru uses his freeze ray to get to the front of the line.

Coffin comes to this side of the industry from his

work in celebrated animated shorts such as Flying

Fish Tobby Who Aimed for the Stars and Pings. “He’s

worked on a number of short animation pieces that

are absolutely extraordinary,” continues Meledandri.

“Pierre has that gift of being able to capture and

define personality with the most subtle of move-

ments. My attention was drawn to Pierre while

visiting Paris and being shown about 15 minutes of

his work. I knew that he could bring a sense of

personality and character to this film that would be

wonderful in defining the character of Gru and

finding his vulnerability, as well as his edge.”

While Renaud’s strength is in storyboarding,

fellow director Coffin’s primary work has been in

animated performance. Indeed, that is primarily how

the two men split their Herculean responsibilities as

they crafted Despicable Me. Management of the

lighting, compositing and art direction teams would

be divided between the two.

Good vs. EvilWho’s Who in Gru’s World?

While it’s initially a bit uncertain who is naughty

and who is nice in Despicable Me, all will be revealed

as the story unfolds. Below is a guide to the dastardly

and delightful players in

Gru’s world:

Gru (Steve Carell)

is a villain who

finds great plea-

sure in doing deliciously

wicked things to other

people. Whether it’s freezing

a long queue of customers

ahead of him at a coffee shop

or creating a balloon animal

for a small boy just to pop it,

Gru gets to do all of the

things we only wish we could. He’s on track to

become the greatest villain of all time by committing

the crime of the century, but Gru’s about to face his

toughest challenge yet: Fatherhood.

Gru’s nemesis, the nerdy Vector (Jason

Segel), is way too geeky to be this cocky.

Holed up in his sleek house/fortress,

Vector can usually be found in his orange warm-

up suit, playing video games while plotting his next

move. His favorite weapon is a gun that fires live pira-

nhas. Unfortunately for him, Vector has a hard time

keeping the carnivores inside the gun’s barrel...

The eldest of the three orphans, Margo

(Miranda Cosgrove) is naturally protective

of her two sisters. Raised without a family,

she distrusts most people and knows the only ones the

girls can count on are one another. A tough cookie

and a strong protector, Margo is not afraid to chal-

lenge Gru as he tries to parent the girls. He has finally

met his match.

The kid who tests all limits, Edith (new-

comer DANA GAIER) might just be the

last girl in the orphanage you would run to

adopt. Wearing a hat pulled down over her eyes and

eager to test out Gru’s dangerous weaponry, she is

seen as a bit of a scoundrel. Though this middle child

needs (and wants) limits, she’ll never let you know it.

Orphanage matron Miss Hattie (KRISTEN WIIG) lectures Agnes, Margo and Edith.

– 13 –

An innocent little girl who loves uncon-

ditionally and wants desperately to be

loved, the youngest of the three orphans

lives to hug. Agnes (scene-stealing newcomer ELSIE

FISHER) is obsessed with unicorns and says random,

sweet things. She longs for nothing more than parents

to make her family complete…and that unicorn

wouldn’t hurt.

Gru’s Mom (Julie Andrews): Behind

every great villain is a disapproving

mom. Nothing Gru has done has been

good enough for his judgmental grump of a

mother. While she believes she’s quite smart in

her parenting approach, the 80-year-old still treats

Gru like he’s eight years old. Her overly critical

attitude has inspired him toward ever-increasing

feats of villainy in order to impress his

harrumphing mom.

Gru’s resident mad scientist, Dr. Nefario

(Russell Brand) looks to be approximately

150 years old and vacillates between

flashes of brilliance and black holes of spaciness.

Always hard at work building his boss the latest in

incredible vehicles and weaponry, Nefario is (some-

times) sharp as a tack. His hearing, however? That

began to fade at least 50 years ago.

Small, mischie-

vous yellow crea-

tures, the minions

(Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

and JEMAINE CLEMENT)

form Gru’s not-so-bright

pit crew. Hardworking and

devoted to their leader and

his mad exploits, the

minions are content to

serve as his crash test

dummies. When they meet

Gru’s adopted children,

however, they find three

little girls who are just as much fun as they are.

Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) runs the local

orphanage where Margo, Edith and Agnes

live before they are sent to live with Gru. A

seemingly kind and concerned caretaker, Miss Hattie

is actually a stern Southern belle who believes in

tough love and big business. If you’re not making

your quota by selling cookies, you’re headed for Miss

Hattie’s “Box of Shame.”

Gru’s noodge of a next-door neighbor, Fred

McDade (Danny McBride) is, naturally, the

president of the homeowner’s association.

Quick to point out any minor infractions of the neigh-

borhood code, McDade is a constant thorn in Gru’s

side. He just needs to keep an eye on his dog unless he

wants to incur the wrath of Gru.

An unforgiving loan manager who runs the

Bank of Evil, Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) has

long funded Gru’s wicked plans. A monster

of a man who has grown unsatisfied with Gru’s imper-

fect track record, Perkins has reached the end of his

financing rope and refuses to give Gru a loan to fund his

intricate plot to steal the moon.

The tackiest tourists you’ll encounter (Jack

McBrayer and The Office’s MINDY

KALING), this family is on vacation with– 14 –

Gru tries to ignore his nemesis, Vector (JASON SEGEL).

their young son. Armed with wild clothes, disposable

cameras and bad fanny packs, the tourists are in for a

more exciting trip than they could ever dream of when

they discover someone has stolen the Great Pyramid.

The Carnival Barker (also voiced by Jack

McBrayer) at Super Silly Fun Land has no

intention of allowing Margo, Edith or Agnes

out of the park with a prized stuffed animal. Calling out

taunts like “Someone’s got a frowny face!” will only

motivate Gru to pull out the big guns to win Agnes her

beloved unicorn.

A cross between a bulldog and a piranha

with the attitude to match, Kyle is Gru’s

guard dog. The recipient of many unwel-

come hugs by Agnes, Kyle isn’t sure whether he

wants to swallow the little girls whole, or just cuddle

up next to them.

Populating Despicable Me:

Casting Comic Talent

When bringing together the cast for Illumination’s

first animated feature, the directors and producers of

Despicable Me were adamant about selecting actors

who could not only bring out the humor of their

voices, but also channel

their comic physicality to

inspire the many animators

who worked on the project.

Cohen explains: “The way

we approached the casting

is that we wanted to find

the absolute best improvi-

sational comedians out

there. They brought a

level of spontaneity and

naturalistic performances

to the film.”

To choose the comedy’s primary super-villain, a

character who is at his wit’s end trying to become the best

in his profession, the team members had to look no

further than a former collaborator. Performer Steve

Carell is known to millions of fans through his roles on

television’s The Office and popular films including The

40-Year-Old Virgin, Get Smart and Date Night, but it was

his voice that most interested the filmmakers. He first

worked with Meledandri on Horton Hears a Who!, in

which he vocalized the role of the Mayor of Who-ville.

“Steve has great pathos in his voice, but his voice

also carries his comedy effectively,” says Meledandri.

“Working with him is unique because he comes to the

process as an actor, an improviser and a writer. It’s rare

that Steve will not give you a version of the scene that

everybody agrees has just taken that comic or dramatic

sequence and made it significantly better. The process

of working with him is one of discovery. You never

quite know where he’s going, and yet he always takes

you to a place that’s a more elevated level than where

you started.”

When the team sat down with Carell to discuss his

ideas about a vocal approach to Gru, Carell made the

observation that great villains in movies have very

memorable voices, and he didn’t want the audience to

pinpoint the accent. Explains Meledandri: “Carell

started to play with different vocals that involved

Bank of Evil manager Mr. Perkins (WILL ARNETT) taunts Gru.

– 15 –

accents, and he came up with one that lands somewhere

between Ricardo Montalban and Bela Lugosi. As soon

as he started playing with that voice, it began to inform

our visual conception of the character.”

It wasn’t only the opportunity to play a villain that

attracted Carell to the project. “The story is really

sweet,” he offers. “That’s what drew me to it. As crazy as

Gru sounds and as diabolical and mean and awful as he

is, there is humanity to him. It comes out in little bits,

all the way through. It says a lot about how people can

change, and how aspects of a person can come to the

surface, given a different circumstance. People aren’t

either good or evil…there’s always some good to evil

and there’s always some evil within good. When you see

someone who on the surface just seems despicable, and

then they’re not, that’s interesting and fun to explore.”

Carell also appreciated how Gru was in competition

with Vector to win the title of World’s Best Villain. “It’s

very frustrating for Gru to be the second-best villain in

the world, because he’s a perfectionist,” the actor adds.

“He’s somebody who takes pride in his work, and he

wants to be the best at being bad. But there’s someone out

there who is upstaging him…and he doesn’t like it a bit.”

To play Gru’s archnemesis, Vector, the team chose

comedy actor/writer Jason Segel. A formidable oppo-

nent to Gru, Vector is described by Carell as “younger

and with a lot of technology at his disposal. He really

gets under Gru’s skin. When

you’re competing for steal-

ing the moon, you can’t

really be friends.”

A newcomer to the world

of animation, Segel was

excited for his first time out.

He also had a chance to tap

into his geeky side when he

came up with the voice for

Vector. “I’d never done any-

thing like this,” says Segel.

“The closest I’d come to it

was puppetry, but this was pretty spectacular. I didn’t

realize that I wouldn’t be working with other actors. You

read all the lines on your own, so it’s a real exercise in

imagination. To get into character as Vector, I tried to

find my dorky self from when I was really young. I’d left

it behind, but I re-channeled.”

Just as Gru is struggling to impress his considerably

dour mother, Vector will do anything to get attention

from his aloof and evil father. Segel explains: “My char-

acter’s relationship with his father is a bit strained in the

film. He doesn’t have faith in me and that’s actually one

of the driving forces, as it is with most villains. It comes

down to a weird relationship with your parents.”

Teen superstar Miranda Cosgrove of television’s

juggernaut hit iCarly joined the Despicable Me produc-

tion as Margo, the eldest of the three sisters whom Gru

adopts. A veteran of Nickelodeon since her time on

Drake & Josh, Cosgrove has helped to build her show

about an entrepreneurial teen who produces webcasts

with her best friends into the highest rated live-action

show on the network and the No. 1 series on all of tele-

vision among kids 2-11. Indeed, an episode of iCarly

holds the record as Nickelodeon’s highest-rated and

most-watched live-action telecast in the history of the

network. It was Cosgrove’s deadpan vocal timing and

inherent knack for physical comedy on iCarly that

snagged her the part of Margo.– 16 –

Gru and two of his minions get their game faces on.

As the most suspicious of the orphans whom Gru

attempts to dupe into doing his malevolent deeds,

Margo remains vigilant in protecting her little sisters.

The directors and producers knew they wanted

Cosgrove to be their Margo the moment they met her.

Renaud explains their choice: “The role is a tough

role, and Miranda landed something important for us.

The girls are the soul of the movie, and Margo—more

than even the other two—is the conscience for Gru

and she’s the big sister to everybody…including Gru.

It was an important choice to get Miranda, who has

fantastic acting capability and gave Margo exactly the

voice we needed, one with weight to it.”

What sealed the deal for Cosgrove was the chance

to work with a fellow comic performer she admired.

“Steve Carell is one of my favorite actors,” she says.

“So when I found out he was a part of the film, it was

icing on the cake. The whole story’s fun. I love that

he’s the villain, and that the villain is the lead for once.

Gru ends up having this amazing heart and being a

really nice guy in the end. I love stories like that. I also

liked being the oldest orphan, the one who is keeping

it all together. I get to say a lot of witty, fun things.”

Cast as the middle sister, Edith, was newcomer

Dana Gaier. Describing Edith, the young actress says:

“She’s mischievous and sarcastic. She’s really a

troublemaker, which is

something I can almost

relate to because I make

trouble with my sister.

Edith likes to touch lots

of things when she’s

told not to. She’s the

kind of person that

really doesn’t listen, but

it’s just because she’s

curious and likes to ex-

plore. It’s all in fun for

me and for Edith. We

really love our sisters.”

As well, the filmmakers discovered young Elsie

Fisher to play Margo and Edith’s littlest sister, Agnes.

Whenever the directors needed Agnes to dissolve

into a fit of giggles, Fisher was always game to

provide the laughs. In fact, some of the biggest laughs

of the production came from off-the-cuff deliveries

that Fisher gave. Whether it was when she was asked

to vocalize what Agnes would say when she gets the

unicorn of her dreams (“It’s so fluffy!!!”) or how she

would deliver one of Paul and Daurio’s lines when

Gru demands the girls not bother him (“Does this

count as annoying?”—before she playfully taps her

cheeks), Fisher never failed to amaze the filmmakers

with her natural comic timing.

For Fisher, she loved knowing that her character

would be getting a father of her own. She says, “I

have a really great dad, so I know it’s important for

Agnes to have one too.”

One of the greatest finds of the production was

when beloved actress Julie Andrews signed on to voice

Gru’s demanding, never-pleased mother. At every

opportunity, she’s poo-pooed Gru’s many successful

diabolical ventures and let him know he’s never good

enough. Meledandri remembers his first meeting with

the legend: “When we asked Julie to become involved

in the movie, her reaction was an initial excitement, and

Agnes cuddles an unwilling Kyle while Margo and Edith look on.

– 17 –

then a resistance when she learned about the character.

She plays a character in this film that is almost the anti-

Mary Poppins, someone who is a mean and nasty and

demanding mother.”

Writers Paul and Daurio had imagined a mother

who wants her son to be the best that he can be, but who

is also a woman with a quite awful parenting method-

ology. “Julie’s response was that not only had she never

played anybody like this, but that she had never met

anybody remotely like this,” Meledandri continues.

“That initial resistance very quickly turned into her

excitement about taking on a challenge and performing

a role that was unlike anything she had done before.”

When describing our super-villain’s often scowling,

nagging kickboxer of a mother, Andrews laughs: “Gru’s

mother is a terrible lady. I was sometimes appalled at what

my character was trying to do, and sometimes it cracked

me up so badly.” However, she loved the project enough

to trust Renaud and Coffin’s vision. “The film has such

heart,” the actress notes. “Ultimately, it’s about the power

of love and about the wonder that children have. These

three little children have no idea that there’s such a thing

as evil or anything else. They just want to be loved.”

Just as Carell adopted a curious accent for his char-

acter, so did Andrews find a signature voice. Of Gru’s

mother’s vocals, she explains: “Her voice ends up being

a little European and a little bit Jewish, German, Middle

European, English white

bread. I knew that Steve was

going for a very low, slightly

halting voice. So I thought,

‘Well, where would he have

gotten that? Wouldn’t he have

gotten that from Mum? Maybe

they came from a sort of

Middle European background

and then came over here.’”

Describing his on-screen

mother, Carell laughs: “If there

was a less appropriate person

to play a nasty, terrible mom, it would be Julie

Andrews. But she’s fantastic.” He deadpans: “Maybe

there’s a side of her that’s really awful, and it comes

out in this movie.”

Helping to bring Gru’s plans to fruition and protect

his fortress from interlopers (be they girls selling

cookies or overly friendly/nosy neighbors) is Gru’s mad

scientist-in-residence, Dr. Nefario. Brought onto the

production to voice the dotty and hearing-impaired

inventor was British comic performer Russell Brand.

Brand explains that he tried different vocal tones

with the filmmakers until they found one that fit the

character they’d imagined. “I looked at how Nefario

walks and how he thinks and tried to have a reaction to

it. He sounds sort of like a Ray Winstone-y gangster, but

with a mellowness underneath. I also had to add some

age to the voice. I made a vocal cake out of vibrations

in my throat.”

The role of the raging, blustering Mr. Perkins was

given to Carell’s fellow Horton Hears a Who! comic

voice talent, Will Arnett. The actor, who has a number

of animated films—from Ratatouille to Monsters vs.

Aliens—to his credit, had to delve into his wicked side

when he composed the voice for the Bank of Evil’s

manager. Perkins wants nothing more than to see the

loan-seeking Gru grovel at his feet while his own son,

Vector, beats Gru in their race to steal the moon. – 18 –

Gru’s resident mad scientist, Dr. Nefario (RUSSELL BRAND), advises the minions.

“I wanted him to have a holier-than-thou, haughty

accent that was snobby and moneyed,” Arnett

explains. “I thought he should sound like he was

working his way through sentences. He almost eats

the words; he chews them over and devours every

situation that he’s in. He’s a monster in human form.

The writers created such a great moody world, and it

was a terrific opportunity to get into a really heavy,

awful, growling, animalistic and beastlike character.”

Not all of the villains in Despicable Me are male.

Perhaps the most evil mastermind of the players in

Gru’s world is Miss Hattie, the proprietor of the

orphanage where we meet Margo, Edith and Agnes.

If she is not plunking down girls in her “Box of

Shame” for a perceived slight, Miss Hattie may be

found sending her orphan army out into inclement

weather to hawk minty mints, choco swirlies and

coconutties cookies.

When the filmmakers searched for the perfect

villainess, they recruited the woman of a thousand

faces and voices herself, Saturday Night Live veteran

Kristen Wiig. “I grew up watching animated movies;

they were such a big part of my youth,” notes the

actress. “I always try to do something different with my

voice, especially coming from SNL. It’s really exciting

to do that and then have my character built around it.”

Wiig met with the

filmmakers to discuss the

inspiration behind Miss

Hattie. “We had an after-

noon of f ind ing her

voice,” she says. “We

discussed Miss Hattie

sounding sweet, but not

saying nice things. We

found this saccharine,

Southern lady who is not

really meant to be

trusted…but she sounds

nice on the phone.”

30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer was one of the only per-

formers who provided vocals for multiple characters in

Despicable Me. “When I first met the team, they showed

me pictures of what my first character would be, which

is this larger, Southern gentleman… a tourist. I was also

asked to play the Carnival Barker, and both of these

characters look exactly like me.”

Suburban Gothic:Visual Style of the Animated Comedy

When the filmmakers were determining what the

world they had imagined would look like on film,

they instinctively knew that Gru should never plot his

villainy in a boring, humdrum neighborhood.

Explains Cohen: “The look of Despicable Me and the

world of the movie is very much inspired by a Charles

Addams and Edward Gorey sensibility. The art

director of the movie, Eric Guillon, and the produc-

tion designer, Yarrow Cheney, have come up with a

bright and vibrant visual aesthetic that’s unlike any

other animated movie you’ve ever seen.”

Meledandri elaborates on the film’s distinctive

design elements: “The characters are largely carica-

Gru fends off an errant laser as Agnes, Margo and Edith laugh.

– 19 –

tures of human characters. They’ve been designed by

one of the great CG character designers, CARTER

GOODRICH, who among many other films designed

the characters for Ratatouille. There is sophistication

to the design language of this film that at first glance

might skew a little bit older. The environments are

designed by Eric Guillon, who is such a great talent.”

Producer Healy, who has worked with designer

Goodrich before, admits: “I love how complex,

humorous and interesting Carter’s character designs

are. He captures so much about humanity in each of

his drawings; he is just prolific. What I love about

the characters he designed is that there is a huge

range of types, but the people all inhabit the same

world. Carter’s work demonstrates the diversity in

our world, and he always gives us a unique twist of

personality. His people have appeal, and I want to

know more about them. That’s always a good start for

building a character performance.”

Reflecting upon the art director, she adds: “Eric has

a sense of fun and humor in all of his designs. His color

palette is sophisticated and not overly flashy, allowing

the shapes and whimsy to be at the forefront. He can

draw in many styles, and all of them have a freshness

and a unique appeal. Eric strongly contrasts shapes in

his compositions, and the variety of the linework

provides a dynamic move-

ment and interest that is

apparent at first glance. But

it’s his imaginative view of

the world that sets him

apart. He made a cohesive

world for Despicable Me,

and I never tire of exploring

all the incredible pieces of

imagery because they are

fun, comedic, inventive and

totally his own.”

To find inspiration for

the film, the team looked

to one of its first drawings. Offers Renaud: “One of

the first things Eric designed was Gru’s car, which

remains identical to the way he originally drew it. We

looked at that car and said, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a

car like that before!’ The world grew out of that in a

weird way. That was the image we first started refer-

ring to: ‘This is our world. This is Gru’s car.’”

When they imagined how Gru would move, direc-

tors Renaud and Coffin were inspired by physical

comedians from Peter Sellers to Rowan Atkinson.

The super-villain is a towering presence with hunched

shoulders and a hooked nose. But when he needs to

do so, Gru can move with the grace of a cat. Tonally,

the filmmakers created a “Spy vs. Spy” world in

which Gru would be subject to all sorts of explosions

and attacks—from rocket launchers to domestic

sharks—and live to fight again.

It was clear to all involved that they had no

interest in creating a universe for Gru and his

extended family and foes that had a photorealistic

quality to it. They wanted the film to have a unique

color palette and a distinct stylization. But the details

within the world would need to be quite striking in

their hyperrealism—an incredulous fantasyland for a

super-villain that was populated with very true-to-

life details.– 20 –

Gru samples a snack brought by Agnes, Margo and Edith.

Gru is deliciously wicked, and his surroundings

reflect that. The keen observer of Despicable Me can

find elements throughout the film that offer nods to

the brooding humor. In a direct nod to the father of

The Addams Family, there is a painting on the wall in

Gru’s lair in which a boulder is falling off a cliff and

about to squash a hapless tour bus that is motoring by.

Stuffed game mounted on the wall showcase—what

else?— predator swallowing prey that is swallowing

weaker prey. As well, in the Bank of Evil, as Gru

walks through the main corridor, the pillars progres-

sively show hapless victims squished by the columns.

These are simply some of the many tongue-in-cheek

references inserted by the team.

For the environmental design, Coffin brought art

director Guillon, an artist with whom he has worked

for many years, onto the production. “Eric actually

spoke maybe three or four words of English,”

Meledandri explains. “Pierre has tremendous confi-

dence in Eric. From the very first images that Eric

drew, the suggestion of both color and style of the

world was absolutely present. His artwork is so

extraordinary that when he creates a piece of what we

call ‘visual development’ or ‘visual design,’ he does it

in a way that when you look at it, you say, ‘Oh my

gosh!’ The personality that he places in his design is

extraordinary. There’s a whimsy to it; there’s warmth

and a distinctive edge.”

As they considered creating locations for Despicable

Me, the directors and producers knew that there had to

be a significant discrepancy between the Gothic lines of

Gru’s black house (first imagined by production designer

Cheney) and the postmodern visuals of the spoiled-

rotten Vector’s fortress. Offers Meledandri: “The array

of styles was designed by Pierre and Chris and Eric to

reflect how the characters fit into this world. Gru lives

in a black house in this picture-perfect suburban neigh-

borhood where the only blight on the neighborhood is his

home, with its hint of a Gothic style. His vehicle is prob-

ably the least environmentally conscious vehicle ever

placed on Earth. It’s all a bit ragged since he’s a character

who is no longer in his prime.”

– 21 –

Gru and his minions are on an ambitious mission.

Conversely, Meledandri explains of Gru’s rival’s

lair: “His nemesis, Vector, is a rich-kid brat who has

been denied nothing in life. He lives in a very modern,

state-of-the-art massive video game console, which

has been paid for by his rich banker father. The

dueling styles are reflective of the character conflict

that’s going on between these two guys.”

Adorable Gibberish:Amassing a Minion Army

Born out of the animation process were the scene-

stealers the production came to know as Gru’s

minions. Though not in the original pitch, the

adorable (yet incredibly mischievous) minions

quickly became favorites for the animators as they

built Gru’s world. Renaud laughs: “Minions tend to

work best when there are at least 20 of them. So that’s

20 more characters to animate. Almost every scene

with them became a crowd scene, which was techni-

cally very challenging.”

According to producer Janet Healy, the minions

represent “a melding of the wonderful talents of each

director.” She commends: “They are a result of the

special collaboration of two of the nicest and most

talented directors one can hope to work with. Chris

conceived their initial design

and their mission as Gru’s

underground mole people,

and Pierre added the silly

animation style and most of

the voices. But the directors

brought these characters to

the screen together and had

huge fun defining them. The

result is wonderful comedic

moments that add another

layer of interest and humor,

and it came from the deeply

funny brains and imaginations of Chris and Pierre.

Once they gave them names and special funny hair-

styles—and decided who was a monoc or a binoc—

the personalities of the minions started to emerge. I

had trouble remembering who was Jerry or Dave or

Tim, but the directors always knew. The scenes just

kept getting more special, and the fact that all minions

are similar is what makes them funny.”

The voices of the workers were largely the

creation of Coffin. While the team was pondering

different vocals they could give the creatures, Coffin

came to work one day with a voice test the entire

crew loved. They compressed the sound, and the

minions were born. The two men subsequently

designed a language for Gru’s army that is intended

to be an indescribable vocal expression, and the

directors and New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement

split up the voice work.

Coffin worked with his fellow director to develop

the complex language for the minions. To help us

understand them, every once in a while a word of

English sneaks out during a scene. Renaud and Coffin

discovered how to compress the sound of their voices

so that they were able to tweak slightly both their and

Clement’s voices for each little guy’s vocals.

“The language is much more about sound than it

is about any kind of meaning,” says Meledandri.– 22 –

Two of the minions struggle with the shrink ray as Edith, Margo and Agnes return from Vector’s.

“Pierre works very quickly to present his ideas visu-

ally, and not just in a still form. He’s much more

comfortable communicating an idea by bringing it to

life with some limited animation. From the very first

time we were introduced to the idea of these charac-

ters, they were immediately appealing. We had a

sense from day one that the minions were slowly

going to try to take over the movie; they’re irresistible

in their combination of innocence and mischief.”

Adds Cohen: “They’ve created this incredibly

unique language for the minions, where a lot of times

it sounds like it’s gibberish. You hear all kinds of

languages being incorporated into the way they

speak. Then occasionally, you hear a word or two of

English, and that gives you a sense of what the

minions are actually saying.”

While the comic actors improvised certain lines in

the film, it was Steve Carell who actually helped to

name the minions. During vocal sessions as Gru, he

would throw out a name to the minions, such as Dave

or Tim. Though there were tons of them, and many

look the same, Carell was certain that Gru would know

each of his happy workers. Once the directors heard

Carell calling them out by name, they thought it was a

terrific idea to give several other of the minions names

that would match their unique personalities.

Space forComedy:Shooting

in 3-D

Not only is Despicable

Me Illumination’s first film,

it is also the first project

that the Meledandri team

has produced in 3-D.

Before the layout began,

the producers and direc-

tors knew that Gru’s world would be further

embraced by audiences if an extra dimension was

added. They requested that Paul and Daurio look for

opportunities to utilize 3-D as they crafted their

script, but only when it made logical sense. The

screenwriters were guided in their decision making

to insert 3-D suggestions in such scenes as when Gru

and Vector fire their array of missiles, when airships

fly past or when smoke trails from a vehicle float out

across the audience.

Whether it be during the death-defying shrink-ray

heist, explosions in midair from errant missiles or on

the rollercoaster ride on which Gru takes the three

girls, the animators aimed to bring the audience into

the journey with the characters of the movie. The

filmmakers also discovered that they could use the

space as an opportunity to create comedic effect.

Since this was a relatively new domain for them, it

gave them the chance to deliver laughs that come at

very unexpected times.

Meledandri was adamant that the team con-

sciously used the space appropriately, as opposed to a

simple 3-D transfer of a 2-D look. He reflects: “The

utilization of the dimensional space helps to define

the visual look of the film. There are many sequen-

ces in the film where we simply take advantage of the

Gru sits miserably through the girls’ ballet class.

– 23 –

dimensional space in subtle ways. Our goal is always

to immerse the audience in the film and to make

them feel like the film’s environment is expanding

around them. We also use the action to put the audi-

ence right smack in the middle of it. Chris Renaud

and Pierre Coffin had tremendous fun in staging and

boarding these sequences.”

“From the beginning, we envisioned this as a 3-D

movie,” adds Cohen. “We needed to find someone

who understood how to make a 3-D movie and how

to tell a story from shot to shot and scene to scene.

We found a fantastic stereographer in JOHN

BENSON, who was 3-D specialist on Coraline. He

moved to Paris and worked on this movie from the

very beginning.”

From the start, the filmmakers knew that they

wanted Despicable Me to be in 3-D. They explored

different scenarios in which to utilize the extra

space, and then began to layer the story with more

and more 3D-friendly sequences. The filmmakers

even built a model of the entire rollercoaster at

Super Silly Fun Land to enhance the way it appears

on screen in 3-D. Renaud offers: “We layered 3-D in

more and more as the movie went along. We were all

seeing the impor-

tance of 3-D and

how the audiences

embraced it. Having

an element that is

completely built

creates a cool exper-

ience. The thing

with designing in this

media is that you

can’t trick the cam-

era, so everything

has got to be there

for it to feel like a

true experience.”

A Global Production:From France to the U.S.

As the team began preproduction on Despicable

Me, Meledandri searched across the world to find

production houses that would be ideal partners in

animating the film. As they built Illumination, they

felt it was important to choose the shops that were the

best fit for each production in the pipeline. After

visiting a number of studios, the producer traveled to

France to investigate shops that embraced this

country’s tremendous traditions in animation.

The filmmaker would find the perfect fit at the

Paris-based digital visual effects studio Mac Guff.

Meledandri explains: “France has one of the

greatest animation schools in the world called

Gobelins. They have a sense of comedy in France

that has a great connection to our sense of comedy

here. I visited a number of studios, and within an

hour after arriving at Mac Guff, I knew that these

were right partners. I had a tremendous amount of

confidence in the people that I met and in the work

that I saw.” – 24 –

Gru’s Mom (JULIE ANDREWS) shows Agnes, Edith and Margo Gru’s childhood photos.

As Illumination was building its production

process, it set out to create a very efficient, stream-

lined approach to make the first of its f ilms.

Considering the technology and artistry that was

available, the crew began preproduction in Los

Angeles. There, they conducted a good deal of the

storyboarding and engaged in the initial editing and

designs. As Illumination built up its team in France,

it began to transition character animation and

computer graphic work to Mac Guff.

Illumination moved about 15 people to France to

live full-time. There, they would work on the

production under producer Janet Healy’s leadership;

together, they became a very tight group. Offers

Meledandri of the process: “The technology that we

use to work collaboratively is relatively simple. We

used Skype and iChat because there’s such an ease of

use that we preferred. These are both very low-key

and casual, everyday forms of communication…

rather than fancy state-of-the-art teleconferencing.

We had linked editing rooms and due to the time

difference, we had a production working 24 hours. It

was a tremendously cohesive process.”

Renaud found Mac Guff to be “a world-class

studio.” He commends: “There’s a dedication to

craft that is second-

to-none. What’s inte-

resting about France

is that they have an

education system that

supports animation

and the visual arts,

which is not easily

found everywhere on

the globe.”

Healy agrees: “We

initially looked at

studios all over the

world, and we recog-

nized that Mac Guff

had a uniquely talented crew and a very stable, full-

featured set of CG tools. They had just finished a

French film that showed a lot of production value.

Our instincts were right: the leadership at the studio

was amazing to partner with on a daily basis, and the

artists have terrific talent and remarkable technical

understanding. We are still astonished at how

straightforward, good-natured and productive the

team is, and how well they collaborate.”

The producer explains the process of bringing

this international crew together: “Seven Americans

came to France as the key leadership. The group

included one of the directors, me as producer, the

associate producer, the editor and the assistant editor,

the stereographer and the production designer.

Everyone else we needed was available within the

Mac Guff team. We brought decades of feature

animation experience from the leading American

animation studios, and that experience helped the

Mac Guff team undertake more complexity in their

images. We understood the paradigm of driving a

production with constant story improvements, always

rewriting, reboarding, trying versions and making

changes—no matter how far into the process we

were. This dynamic ability to strive to improve the

Gru reads the kitten-loving Agnes a book.

– 25 –

work at every stage was the key difference between

how we were used to working and how European

studios have usually worked in the past.”

When it came to the process discussions—such

as translating artwork to modeling in CG, how

rough layouts would get in stereo, or how anima-

tion would be approved—the team had similar

expectations and a mutual understanding of the

workflow. There were about 14 departments that

worked in CG, and the artists had unique specialties.

As well, the many dependencies between depart-

ments made management of the duties complex.

Initially, workflow conversations took some time,

but the crew members approached the CG manu-

facturing work similarly and found that their ways

of problem solving and past experiences shared

much in common.

With the American team taking French lessons

and French crew members taking English lessons, it

was an education for crew on both sides of the

Atlantic. Whenever Meledandri addressed the team

as a whole, an interpreter was used. Of the global

company, the producer adds: “We’ve got an

American director and a French director. We’ve had

crew working in Canada, New Jersey, Los Angeles

and the Midwest. We had numerous nationalities

represented on our

crew, and in Paris we

have people from the

U.K. Our philosophy

was based on the

notion that if you’re

going to make a movie

for a global audience,

the complexion of

your crew should be a

global one.”

The trans-Atlantic

process also extended

to the vocal talent, as

some sessions were recorded in Paris while actors

were in Los Angeles. Explains Renaud: “We did

our first few sessions with each actor in person, so

that we could work out who the character is.” Once

Renaud and Coffin were in Paris, the filmmakers

and actors iChatted or Skyped so they could see

one another and try different takes of the dialogue

reads. “It was very important to us to read the

actors’ body language,” Renaud notes.

The production crew connected Renaud and

Coffin to a high-quality ISDN audio line so that

they could hear each of the actor’s performances.

The actors recorded the audio in Los Angeles,

which was then delivered to the studio in Paris.

With the nine-hour time difference, production

ran on a 24-hour cycle, as teams worked

constantly on two sides of the ocean.

Working with a director via Skype was a new

experience for some of the talent. “It was pretty

crazy having the director all the way in

Paris…strange to work with somebody but not be

in the same room with them physically,” recalls

McBrayer. He laughs: “I think they were nine hours

ahead, so they could tell the future.”

– 26 –

Edith, Agnes and Margo play a game while a Carnival Barker (JACK MCBRAYER) and Gru watch.

Having a Bad, Bad Day:

Music of Despicable Me

In the past several years, Grammy Award-winning

artist Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes and

N.E.R.D. has written and produced for such block-

buster global musicians as Gwen Stefani, Justin

Timberlake, Usher, Madonna, Kanye West and

Shakira. In 2009, Billboard magazine named The

Neptunes producers of the decade, and Williams and

his collaborators have played an enormous role in

shaping the culture of the music landscape. Naturally,

the next step for the artist was to explore the interplay

between music and movies.

Williams has been interested in scoring music for

feature films for some time, and he became more

eager to work in this realm after observing Jack

Johnson’s musical involvement in creating the best-

selling soundtrack to Universal’s animated Curious

George. Williams expressed his interest to friend and

music supervisor KATHY NELSON. He remembers:

“I told Kathy that the very next time something comes

your way, you call me and let me know what it is. She

said, ‘Pharrell, I really like you, but I’m not going to

just give you anything.

I’m going call you

when it’s the right

thing.’ And I got the

call for Despicable Me.”

A longtime anima-

tion fan, Williams was

eager to take on the

challenge of crafting

original songs and

themes for his first

film. “What I like about

the philosophy on

Despicable Me is that

the filmmakers don’t make children’s films. They

make films for humans that use some of the tricks and

treats of youthful entertainment, but at the same time,

there’s an amazing storyline.”

Though the task of scoring his first feature

seemed daunting, Williams was grateful that he was

surrounded by Academy Award® winner Hans

Zimmer as the film’s music producer and skilled

guitarist Heitor Pereira as fellow composer. Says

producer Meledandri: “The moment that we showed

Pharrell the imagery, it took him about 30 minutes to

say, ‘I’ll work on this film in any way possible.’ He

was immediately struck by the character designs and

the notion of the story; his enthusiasm never waned.

“Pharrell, like our directors, took on the

challenge of doing something that he had never

done before; this is the first time he’s scored a feature

film,” Meledandri continues. “We knew that there was

going to be an opportunity in the film for a number of

songs that would be used as song score. What’s resulted

from his songs is a group of musical themes that he’s

worked on with the talented Heitor Pereira and

legendary Hans Zimmer.”

Williams’ collaboration with Pereira began as

Williams watched preliminary footage of the film and

then created musical ideas he thought would fit into

Two of the minions feign innocence as Agnes, Edith and Margo look on.

– 27 –

each sequence. Pereira would then expand upon some

of Williams’ ideas and come up with additional

creative works. On working with Pereira, Williams

says: “Heitor took those pieces and songs, and he

connected the dots. He is the glue in this house of

cards. He scored some incredible scenes and embel-

lished some of the scenes that I scored and took those

to the next level.”

Williams composed several original songs for the

film, including the title track, “Despicable Me.” The

artist was inspired by the whimsical narrative of the

lyrics from Annie, and he wanted to write lyrics that

were as kid-friendly as that musical, but also as

moody as Gru’s character. He elaborates: “I’ve

never made a song about having a bad day and

being in a super bad mood. So I thought I would

make it really fun but, at the same time,

if you were to hear it without the

lyrics, it would sound like

th i s t r ack tha t you’d

want to hear coming out

of someone’s truck.”

Music producer

Hans Zimmer’s storied

career in film has resulted

in his composing unforget-

table scores for live-action block-

busters such as Rain Man, Twister and Thelma

& Louise, as well as the worldwide hits Sherlock

Holmes and films from the Pirates of the Caribbean

series. But it was his instantly classic composition for

1994’s The Lion King that brought Zimmer an Oscar®

for Best Original Score and ignited his passion to

craft the music behind such modern animated classics

as Shark Tale, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. His

frequent music partner and world famous guitarist,

Heitor Pereira, has collaborated with him on many a

project. Despicable Me is their latest effort.

****

Universal Pictures Presents A Chris Meledandri

Production: Steve Carell in Despicable Me, starring

Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Miranda

Cosgrove, Will Arnett, Danny McBride, Jack

McBrayer and Julie Andrews. The original songs and

themes are by Pharrell Williams; the score is by

Pharrell Williams and Heitor Pereira. Despicable

Me’s editors are Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland and

Gregory Perler; the production designer is Yarrow

Cheney. The 3-D CGI film’s executive producers are

Nina Rowan and Sergio Pablos. It is based on story by

Sergio Pablos and from a screenplay by Cinco Paul &

Ken Daurio. The film is produced by Chris Meledandri,

Janet Healy, John Cohen, and it is directed by

Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin. © 2010 Universal

Studios. www.despicable.me

– 28 –

STEVE CARELL (Gru) has emerged as one of the

most sought-after comedic

actors in Hollywood. He first

gained recognition for his

contributions as a correspon-

dent on Comedy Central’s

Emmy Award-winning The

Daily Show With Jon Stewart,

and has successfully segued

into primetime television and

above-the-title status in the

film world with equal aplomb.

Carell’s first lead feature, The 40-Year-Old

Virgin, which he co-wrote with director Judd

Apatow, opened at No.1 and remained there for two

straight weekends. The surprise hit of 2005 went on

to gross more than $175 million worldwide and had

No. 1 openings in 12 countries. The success of the

film has continued as it has also generated more than

$100 million in DVD sales in North America alone.

AFI named the film as one of the 10 Most Out-

standing Motion Pictures of the Year and it took

home Best Comedy Movie at the 11th annual Critics’

Choice Awards. The film also earned Carell and

Apatow a co-nomination for Best Original Screen-

play by the Writers Guild of America.

Carell starred as Maxwell Smart, opposite Anne

Hathaway and Alan Arkin, in Get Smart. The film

grossed more than $230 million worldwide. Due to

the success of the film, Warner Bros. recently

announced it will release a sequel in 2011. He also

lent his voice as the Mayor of Whoville in 20th

Century Fox’s animated film Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears

a Who!, based on the children’s book written by Dr.

Seuss. The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward

(Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc.) and Steve Martino,

and Carell played opposite Jim Carrey, which helped

launch the film to international success by earning

more than $295 million worldwide. In 2006, he

starred with Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette as part of

an ensemble cast in the black comedy Little Miss

Sunshine, which earned an Academy Award® nomi-

nation for Best Picture and won the Screen Actors

Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast

in a Motion Picture.

Carell’s previous film credits include Anchorman:

The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Bruce Almighty, Bewitched

and Dan in Real Life. Carell currently stars in the

American adaptation of Ricky Gervais’ acclaimed

British television series The Office. The show is in its

sixth season and continues to flourish in the ratings. For

playing the role of Michael Scott, Carell has earned

three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead

Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2006, Carell earned a

Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor

in a Television Series—Musical or Comedy and has

received four more nominations since then. The show

won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding

Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Carell’s endeavors and successes in acting, writing

and producing were an organic segue into the creation

of his new production company, Carousel Productions.

Born in Massachusetts, Carell now resides in Los

Angeles with his wife, actress Nancy Walls (NBC’s

Saturday Night Live), whom he met while at The

Second City improv group in Chicago, where both

were members. He is the proud father of a daughter

and a son.

– 29 –

ABOUT THE CAST

ABOUT THE CAST

JASON SEGEL (Vector) most recently starred

opposite Paul Rudd as a quirky,

alpha-male stockbroker named

Sydney Fife in the box-office

hit I Love You, Man , for

Paramount Pictures. With John

Hamburg (Meet the Parents) as

writer/ director/producer and

Donald De Line (The Italian

Job) also producing, the team

produced a film full of laugh-

out-loud awkwardness, managing to turn Segel and

Rudd into a memorable comedic duo. The film grossed

more than $71 million at the domestic box office.

Segel landed his first major motion picture star-

ring role as Peter in Universal Pictures’ Forgetting

Sarah Marshall, which he also wrote. Released in

April 2008, produced by Judd Apatow and Shauna

Robertson, and directed by Nicholas Stoller, the film

went on to make more than $100 million worldwide

and led Segel’s writing skills to be desired by many

studios. Segel, along with Stoller, signed with Disney

to write and direct the next Muppets film. Segel wrote

a Dracula musical performed by puppets, which was

a personal idea and passion he incorporated into

Forgetting Sarah Marshall that emboldened him to

pitch his concept for a Muppets movie.

As another result of the film’s success, Segel was

asked to co-produce a spin-off titled Get Him to the

Greek, in which Jonah Hill and Russell Brand

reunited as co-stars. The film, written and directed by

Nicholas Stoller, was released in June 2010.

In June 2007, Segel was summoned by Apatow to

share the great success of the comedy Knocked Up,

with stars Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd and

Leslie Mann. The film grossed more than $140 million

domestically and won the People’s Choice Award for

Favorite Movie Comedy. Segel’s feature film credits

also include Slackers, New Jersey Turnpikes, SLC

Punk!, Can’t Hardly Wait and Dead Man on Campus.

On the television front, Segel is in his fifth year star-

ring as Marshall, opposite Alyson Hannigan, Josh

Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris, in the CBS hit comedy

series How I Met Your Mother. TV Guide recently

pegged it as a “returning favorite” and it was touted by

Time magazine as one of the “Ten Best Shows of 2005.”

However, it was his recurring role as Eric on Undeclared,

the FOX series about college freshmen that was

named one of Time magazine’s “Ten Best Shows of

2001,” that first put him in the minds and hearts of tele-

vision viewers.

In 1999, Segel portrayed Nick on Freaks and Geeks,

Judd Apatow’s Emmy Award-nominated television series

for NBC. Segel played a lanky, fun-loving freak dreaming

of stardom as a rock-and-roll drummer like his idol, John

Bonham of Led Zeppelin, and won the eye of Apatow.

Segel just wrapped the highly anticipated remake of

Gulliver’s Travels, starring alongside Jack Black and

opposite Emily Blunt. The film is scheduled to be

released in December 2010.

Segel was born and raised in Los Angeles and

continues to reside there.

RUSSELL BRAND (Dr. Nefario) recently brought

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

character Aldous Snow back to

life in Universal Pictures’

comedy Get Him to the Greek.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall,

which was written by and

starred Jason Segel, grossed

more than $100 million at the

worldwide box office. The

year 2008 also saw Brand star

in the Disney film Bedtime Stories, which also featured

Adam Sandler and Keri Russell. It was in September

2008 that Brand cemented his fame in the U.S., when he

hosted the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA).

The year 2009 saw the U.S. release of Brand’s writing

debut “My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and– 30 –

Stand-Up.” The autobiography, already a huge success

in the United Kingdom, went on to stay on The New York

Times best-seller list for five weeks in a row. Continuing

his stand-up tour in the U.S., Brand’s third live DVD was

released after originally airing on Comedy Central. The

year 2009 ended on an even brighter note for Brand

when he assumed the role as host of the MTV Video

Music Awards for the second year in a row and garnered

the biggest VMA audience since 2004, with nearly nine

million viewers.

Brand recently started production on the remake

of Arthur, in which he takes on the role of the title

character for Warner Bros. In addition, he is due to

take on the voice of the Easter Bunny in the

Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment live-

action/CGI-animated hybrid comedy Hop, opposite

James Marsden.

In addition to acting, Brand continues to work on his

second book.

A comedic star born from the Saturday Night Live

stage, KRISTEN WIIG (Miss

Hattie) has become one of the

most sought-after talents in

film and television today. Wiig

recently earned her first Emmy

nomination for Outstanding

Supporting Actress in a Com-

edy Series for her incredible

work playing such memorable

characters as the excitable

Target Lady, Lawrence Welk singer Doonese, the hilar-

ious one-upper Penelope, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

and Suze Orman, among others.

Wiig will soon start production as the lead in an

untitled comedy that she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo.

She was recently seen in MacGruber, in which she

starred opposite fellow SNL cast member Will Forte and

Ryan Phillippe. Her upcoming films include Greg

Mottola’s Paul, co-starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost,

and Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things, opposite Ryan

Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella. She also

contributed her voice to the recently released animated

feature film How to Train Your Dragon, starring Gerard

Butler and Jay Baruchel, for DreamWorks Animation.

Wiig made her big-screen debut to universal high

praise as Katherine Heigl’s passive-aggressive boss in

Judd Apatow’s smash-hit comedy Knocked Up. Her

additional film credits include Mike Judge’s Extract,

with Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck and Mila Kunis; Drew

Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It, starring Ellen

Page; Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, with Ryan

Reynolds, Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg; David

Koepp’s Ghost Town, with Ricky Gervais; and Jake

Kasdan’s Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, another

Apatow-produced film in which she starred opposite

John C. Reilly.

Wiig’s past television credits include guest-starring

on NBC’s Emmy-winning series 30 Rock, the HBO

series Bored to Death, with Jason Schwartzman, and

HBO’s The Flight of the Conchords.

A native of Rochester, New York, Wiig worked as a

main company member of the Los Angeles-based

improv/sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings. As a

Groundlings alumna, she joins the ranks of such SNL

castmates as Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman,

Will Forte and Jon Lovitz.

Wiig lives in New York City.

MIRANDA COSGROVE (Margo) is one of Holly-

wood’s hottest young stars.

She can currently be seen

on the Emmy Award-nomi-

nated iCarly, Nickelodeon’s

highest-rated live-action show.

A January 2010 episode titled

“iSaved Your Life” attracted 12

million viewers, beating out its

time slot competition on both

broadcast and cable television.– 31 –

The episode also has the distinction of being the most

watched telecast on cable that entire week. On the show,

Cosgrove stars in the title role (Carly Shay) as a teenager

who lives with her twenty-something brother/guardian

and produces webcasts from a makeshift loft studio

with her two best friends. Not only is the show a success

in the U.S., it has broad international appeal as well.

iCarly has won the Kids’ Choice Award (KCA) for

Favorite TV Show, the Australia KCA for Favorite

Comedy and the Germany KCA for Favorite TV Show.

Cosgrove received Kids Choice Award nominations

for Favorite Television Actress in 2009 and 2010 and a

Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice TV Actress:

Comedy in 2009; won the Nickelodeon U.K. Star of the

Year Award in 2010; received a nomination for Favorite

International TV Star from the 2008 Australia Kids’

Choice Awards; and received a nomination for Favorite

Female TV Star from the 2008 U.K. Kids’ Choice

Awards. iCarly was nominated for a Creative Arts

Emmy Award in 2009 and a Teen Choice Award in

2009 and won Kids’ Choice Awards in 2009 and 2010.

Cosgrove recently signed with Columbia Records

and recorded her first album, “iCarly,” which features

four original songs that she sings. Her debut solo

album, “Sparks Fly,” hit stores on April 27, 2010. She

co-wrote the first single, “Kissin’ U,” with influential

producer Dr. Luke.

She received rave reviews for her work in Richard

Linklater’s School of Rock as Summer Hathaway, the

overachieving preppy manager of Jack Black’s rock

band. Her other film credits include Yours, Mine and

Ours and Keeping Up With the Steins. Her theater

credits include Back Again, with the Orison group.

Cosgrove got her big break when she landed the

highly sought-after role of Megan Parker on

Nickelodeon’s megahit Drake & Josh. She played the

deceptively sweet, mischievous little sister whose

scene-stealing role led to her own show, iCarly. She

recently appeared in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh

on Nickelodeon.

Cosgrove’s voice-over credits include Here Comes

Peter Cottontail: The Movie (as Munch the mouse) and

What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (as Miranda Wright).

She is also one of the faces of Neutrogena, along-

side Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere, Susie Castillo,

Vanessa Hudgens, Jennifer Garner, Diane Lane and

Emma Roberts.

In her spare time, Cosgrove enjoys horseback

riding, fencing, bike riding, tennis, shopping, trav-

eling and writing. Born and raised in Los Angeles,

she currently lives there with her family.

WILL ARNETT (Mr. Perkins) has been an

extremely busy man of late. He

can currently be seen in the

Warner Bros. and Legendary

Pictures Western action film

Jonah Hex, based on the DC

comic of the same name. In the

film, Arnett stars opposite

Megan Fox, Josh Brolin and

John Malkovich. This fall, he

will return to television on

FOX’s much anticipated new comedy series Running

Wilde, opposite of Keri Russell. Arnett will play an

extremely wealthy Beverly Hills man who falls for an

environmental activist. He will star and write for the

series alongside writer/director Mitchell Hurwitz.

Arnett was most recently seen starring in the Walt

Disney Pictures’ romantic comedy When in Rome,

opposite Kristen Bell, and in the live-action/CGI film

G-Force, opposite Penélope Cruz, Nicolas Cage,

Steve Buscemi and Zach Galifianakis, for Disney and

Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Last year, he voiced a char-

acter in DreamWorks’ hugely successful, 3-D ani-

mated adventure film Monsters vs. Aliens, alongside

Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen,

which opened at No. 1 at the box office. He also

starred in the basketball comedy Semi-Pro, opposite

Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson, and lent his voice– 32 –

to the hugely successful, animated comedy Horton

Hears a Who! In 2007, he was seen opposite Will

Ferrell and Arnett’s wife, Amy Poehler, in the figure

skating comedy Blades of Glory, and co-starred

opposite Will Forte in The Brothers Solomon.

In 2006, Arnett earned his first Emmy nomination

for his work on the critically acclaimed FOX sitcom

Arrested Development, in which he portrayed Gob Bluth

for three seasons. From time to time, Arnett guest stars

on NBC’s 30 Rock, in which he plays Devon Banks. Last

year, he earned his second Emmy nomination for Out-

standing Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.

Arnett also lent his voice to FOX’s animated sitcom Sit

Down, Shut Up, from creator Mitchell Hurwitz

Before Arrested Development, Arnett was a regular

on the NBC comedy series The Mike O’Malley Show.

His additional television credits include guest-starring

roles on Parks and Recreation, Sex and the City, The

Sopranos, Boston Public, Third Watch and Law &

Order: Special Victims Unit. Arnett also appeared on

NBC’s Will & Grace, in which he played Jack’s dance

nemesis while auditioning to become a backup dancer

for Janet Jackson.

Arnett’s other feature credits include Ice Age: The

Meltdown; RV, opposite Robin Williams; Monster-in-

Law; The Waiting Game; The Broken Giant; Southie;

and Ed’s Next Move. Additionally, he can be heard in

a variety of commercials, most notably as the voice of

GMC trucks.

Arnett currently resides in Los Angeles, where he

lives with his wife, actress Amy Poehler, and son, Archie.

DANNY MCBRIDE (Fred McDade) first gained

industry awareness with his

starring role in David Gordon

Green’s All the Real Girls,

winner of the 2003 Special

Jury Prize at the Sundance

Film Festival. However, it

was when he returned in 2006

with the Sundance Film

Festival’s smash-hit comedy

The Foot Fist Way that he

became a known name in Hollywood and desired by

its top producers and directors. McBride, who starred

in and co-wrote the film with longtime friends and

college classmates Jody Hill (Observe and Report)

and Ben Best (Superbad), caught the attention of Will

Ferrell and Adam McKay after it debuted at

Sundance. The film was supported by Ferrell and

McKay’s banner, Gary Sanchez Productions, and was

released by Paramount Vantage in May 2008. The Los

Angeles Times proclaimed the film “the sort of nimble

oddball discovery that one wishes would come along

more often,” while USA Today remarked that “Foot

Fist is more original and comical than such low-

budget sleeper hits as Napoleon Dynamite and Hot

Fuzz.” The Austin Film Critics Association bestowed

McBride with its 2008 Breakthrough Artist Award for

his role in the film.

McBride continued his success in 2008, starring

opposite Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) and James Franco

in Pineapple Express. The film, which was directed by

Green and co-written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg

(Superbad), centers on two buddies who get mixed up

with a drug gang. The members of the Detroit Film

Critics Society nominated McBride for Best

Newcomer for his role as Red. Sony Pictures released

the film in August and it opened at No. 1 at the box

office, earning more than $100 million worldwide.

Immediately following the success of Pineapple

Express, McBride was back on top of the box office a– 33 –

week later with the Paramount Pictures release of Tropic

Thunder. Directed and written by Ben Stiller, the film

was No. 1 for two weeks in a row and earned more than

$100 million domestically. A star-studded cast joined

McBride, including Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Jack

Black, Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey.

McBride has starred in such comedies as Land of

the Lost, Hot Rod, The Heartbreak Kid and Drillbit

Taylor. He recently filmed Universal Pictures’

comedy Your Highness, which McBride co-wrote and

which was directed by longtime collaborator David

Gordon Green.

McBride is currently starring in HBO’s

Eastbound & Down, which he wrote and executive

produced with Jody Hill and Ben Best, along with

executive producing partners Will Ferrell, Adam

McKay and Chris Henchy. The show features

McBride as Kenny Powers, a star pitcher whose self-

destructive behavior knocks him out of Major League

baseball and back home to North Carolina, where he

ends up teaching physical education at the middle

school he once attended. The six-episode season

premiered on the network on February 15, 2009, and

was recently picked up for a second season.

Eastbound & Down also stars Katy Mixon (Four

Christmases), John Hawkes (Me and You and

Everyone We Know, HBO’s Deadwood), Jennifer

Irwin (Still Standing), Andrew Daly (Semi-Pro),

Steve Little (The Ugly Truth), Sylvia Jefferies (The

Notebook) and Best.

Born in Statesboro, Georgia, McBride grew up in

Virginia. He attended the North Carolina School of

the Arts, where he received a BFA in filmmaking.

JACK MCBRAYER (Carnival Barker/Tourist

Dad) currently stars as

Kenneth, the overeager but

loveable page, on NBC’s

Emmy Award-winning series

30 Rock, a performance that

earned him a 2009 Emmy

nomination for Outstanding

Supporting Actor in a Com-

edy Series, a 2009 Screen

Actors Guild (SAG) Award

for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a

Comedy Series and SAG nominations in 2008 and

2010.

McBrayer stars as the voice of Irving on Disney

Channel’s animated series Phineas and Ferb. He will

next be seen on the big screen in Brian Robbins’

dramedy A Thousand Words, with Eddie Murphy and

Allison Janney.

Previously, McBrayer starred with Jason Segel,

Paul Rudd and Russell Brand in the Judd Apatow-

produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall,

directed by Nicholas Stoller. He was also seen oppo-

site Will Ferrell in the NASCAR comedy Talladega

Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; opposite John C.

Reilly in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, directed

by Jake Kasdan; and in Spring Breakdown, opposite

Amy Poehler and Parker Posey.

McBrayer has received two Emmy Award nomina-

tions for his role in producing and starring in the 30

Rock: Kenneth the Webpage online web series for NBC.

He recently performed in select cities on the Conan

O’Brien 2010 Comedy Tour throughout North America.

He has made numerous appearances on Saturday Night

Live, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show

With Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Ellen

DeGeneres Show and the Today show.

– 34 –

DANA GAIER (Edith) is a 12-year-old, seventh

grade honors student from

New Jersey. She has always

loved all aspects of per-

forming since the age of one,

when she picked up a play

guitar and started singing the

Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It

That Way,” for a room full of

friends and family. At age

five, while Gaier was “enter-

taining” people in a restaurant, a talent manager handed

Gaier’s mother her card. At that time, Gaier’s mom

decided it wasn’t the right time for Gaier to expand her

interests beyond the local/community level. At age

eight, Gaier was asked to open and close her school’s

talent show with her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s

“Respect.” Gaier has great comedic timing and a terrific

sense of humor, and is often compared to the television

character Punky Brewster.

Gaier has always loved being on the stage, and has

performed the title roles in Annie and Alice in

Wonderland, Shprintze in Fiddler on the Roof, Iago in

Aladdin and a Fagin’s boy in Oliver, to name a few.

Last year, at an audition for Seussical: The Musical,

Gaier won the role of JoJo (a male role) over the boys

at the callbacks, and the show was nominated for a

Perry Award (New Jersey’s theater equivalent to the

Tony Awards). In September 2009, Gaier performed at

the Perry Awards ceremony, reprising her role as JoJo.

She also enjoyed making two national television

appearances on Nickelodeon’s ME:TV.

After hearing that she resembles Dakota Fanning

throughout the first five years

of her life, ELSIE FISHER

(Agnes) decided she wanted to

be an actress. With her parents

blessing, she took the plunge

and, in the very first month

of her career, was cast in

Despicable Me. Since doing

the film, Fisher has also made

appearances in several national

commercials and on the hit television show Medium.

When she is not driving back and forth to auditions

in Los Angeles, Fisher enjoys being in first grade, playing

video games and spending time with her best friend,

Deanna. When she grows up, Fisher says she would like

to be a scientist, the President or a pink kitty cat.

JULIE ANDREWS (Gru’s Mom) has been a

beloved and much honored

star of stage, screen and tele-

vision for more than half a

century. She was already a

Broadway legend when she

made her feature-film debut

in 1964’s Mary Poppins.

Andrews’ iconic performance

in the title role of the magical

nanny brought her an

Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. The

following year, she earned a second Oscar® nomination

and won another Golden Globe Award for her unforget-

table portrayal of Maria von Trapp in The Sound of

Music. She received her third Academy Award® nomi-

nation and won another Golden Globe Award for her

“dual” role in Victor Victoria.

Today’s young film audiences may be more familiar

with Andrews as a queen trying to train her teenage

granddaughter to be a princess in the hit film The

Princess Diaries and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2:– 35 –

Royal Engagement. Andrews also voiced the character

of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits Shrek 2 and

Shrek the Third. More recently, she voiced the narration

of the hugely successful Disney film Enchanted, The

Tooth Fairy and Shrek the Final Chapter.

Her earlier motion picture credits also include The

Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Thoroughly Modern

Millie, Star!, Darling Lili and 10, to name only a few.

Andrews was born and raised in England, where she

first came to fame as a young musical performer on

stage and on radio. She was still in her teens when she

made her way across the Atlantic and to Broadway in

her 1953 debut in the musical The Boy Friend. She went

on to create the role of Eliza Doolittle in Lerner and

Loewe’s Broadway musical My Fair Lady, which

became an instant classic and the longest-running

musical of its day. Andrews also won a New York

Drama Critics’ Circle Award and garnered a Tony

Award nomination for her performance. She received

another Tony Award nomination in 1961 when she orig-

inated the role of Queen Guenevere in the Lerner and

Loewe musical Camelot. Thirty-five years later,

Andrews returned to Broadway to star in the 1995 stage

adaptation of Victor Victoria. Her career came full circle

in 2005 when she directed a revival of The Boy Friend,

which toured throughout North America.

Andrews has also been honored for her work on

television, beginning in 1957 with her Emmy-nomi-

nated performance in the title role of Rodgers and

Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella. She later won an

Emmy Award for her own musical variety series, The

Julie Andrews Hour, and also earned Emmy nomina-

tions for Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (with her

“chum” Carol Burnett) and her performance in the

special The Sound of Julie Andrews. Andrews’ more

recent television movies includes One Special Night,

with her friend James Garner, Eloise at the Plaza and

Eloise at Christmastime, and she reunited with

Christopher Plummer in the CBS live production of

On Golden Pond.

Andrews, already an accomplished best-selling

author (1971’s “Mandy,” 1974’s “The Last of the Really

Great Whangdoodles”), has joined talents with her

daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton to pursue the

publishing of books committed to stimulating a sense of

wonder in children and young readers. “The Julie

Andrews’ Collection” was launched in October 2003

and has released more than 25 books to date, including

the “Little Bo” series, the “Dumpy the Dumptruck”

franchise, “The Great American Mousical,” “Thanks to

You: Wisdom From Mother & Child” and “Simeon’s

Gift” (the musical adaptation of which toured parts of

the U.S. in 2008 and will go out on a world tour in 2010).

Andrews’ autobiography “Home: A Memoir of My

Early Years” was released in April 2008 to rave reviews

and immediately climbed to No. 1 on The New York

Times best-seller list as well as several other prestigious

lists in the U.S. and abroad.

In addition to her stage and screen work, Andrews

has dedicated her life to her family and to serving

important causes including Operation USA, an inter-

national relief organization with which she has trav-

eled to such places as Vietnam and Cambodia. From

1992 to 2006, Andrews was honored as the Goodwill

Ambassador for the United Nations Development

Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which provides finan-

cial and technical support for low-income women in

developing countries.

Andrews received her honors as a Dame of the

British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on

New Year’s Eve 1999. She was also a 2001 Kennedy

Center Honoree. For more about Andrews and her col-

lection, please go to www.julieandrewscollection.com.

– 36 –

Having worked for Marvel and DC Comics from

1994 to 2000, CHRIS

RENAUD (Directed by/Dave

the Minion) comes from a

background in comic art.

From there, he moved to

production design at Shadow

Projects and Big Big Produc-

tions, where he oversaw all

aspects of the animation

process, including character

development, creating concept storyboards and manag-

ing teams of digital modellers and artists.

He progressed to Blue Sky Studios/20th Century

Fox Animation, where he worked as a story artist on a

number of feature animation projects, including

Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Dr. Seuss’Horton

Hears a Who! His role was to translate the screen

story into the visual language of cinema, inventing

and staging both dramatic and comedic action.

In 2007, Renaud conceived, wrote and story-

boarded the animated short No Time for Nuts, over-

seeing every creative aspect of production, including

design, layout, lighting, rendering, music composi-

tion and sound design. No Time for Nuts was nomi-

nated for an Academy Award®, and it went on to win

the animation industry’s Annie Award for Best Short.

PIERRE COFFIN (Directed by/Minion Voices)

studied cinema at France’s

Sorbonne University between

1985 and 1988, and the

Gobelins school of animation

from 1990 to 1993. He then

moved to England and worked

as an assistant animator at Am-

blimation, Steven Spielberg’s

animation studio.

In 1996, Coffin began

working at Ex Machina, one of the leading French

CG-animation companies at the time. While there,

he became lead animator, then animation director,

and directed his short film Pings (1997), which

captured the industry’s attention and started his long

career in commercials.

He then joined Passion Pictures as a director.

While there, he made highly praised and prize-

winning commercials, in addition to a miniseries

called Polar Bears (part of The Lenny Henry Show)

for BBC1. Coffin’s commercials and television series

shorts have been huge Internet successes. His Pat &

Stan pilot received more than 10 million hits in just a

few weeks.

In 2007, Coffin directed a seven-minute teaser for

his feature film Bones Story. The teaser, combined

with Coffin’s long career in animation, eventually got

Hollywood’s attention. By the end of 2008, Chris

Meledandri asked him to direct Despicable Me with

Chris Renaud.

– 37 –

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERSABOUT THE

FILMMAKERS

CHRIS MELEDANDRI (Produced by) is the

founder (2008) and CEO of

Illumination Entertainment,

which makes broad audience

films. The independent com-

pany has an exclusive financ-

ing and distribution agreement

with Universal Pictures.

Illumination, which will

produce one to two films a

year over the next five years,

is currently in production on a feature film version of

Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” which continues the successful

collaboration Meledandri has had with Theodor Seuss

Geisel’s widow, Audrey. Other upcoming films include

an original live-action/CG-hybrid film, Hop, starring

Russell Brand and James Marsden and directed by

Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Tim Hill, which is currently

in production, and the animated feature adaptation of

Ricky Gervais’ “Flanimals” books.

Meledandri was previously an executive at 20th

Century Fox for 13 years. While there, he became

founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation,

which he headed for eight years, amassing more than

$1 billion in global box-office revenue.

During his tenure, he helped Fox become a major

player in the world of animated feature films and in

1998, he led Fox’s acquisition of fledgling visual

effects/commercial house Blue Sky Studios, which he

built into a successful producer of animated features.

He oversaw the creative and business operations of

Blue Sky Studios, now Fox’s wholly-owned CGI

studio. While at the studio, Meledandri supervised

and/or executive produced movies including Ice Age,

Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, Alvin and the

Chipmunks, The Simpsons Movie and Dr. Seuss’

Horton Hears a Who!

Before joining Fox, Meledandri was president of

Dawn Steel Pictures at Walt Disney Pictures, where

he served as an executive producer on Cool Runnings.

JANET HEALY (Produced by) started her career

in live-action films with such great directors as

Stanley Kramer, Hal Ashby and Sam Peckinpah. She

worked with Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of

the Third Kind and 1941, serving as associate

producer on the latter. She then joined George Lucas’

premiere visual effects company, Industrial Light &

Magic (ILM), as a co-head of production.

At ILM, Healy produced some of the era’s most

groundbreaking visual effects work, including the

Academy Award®-winning visual effects for

Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park.

While producing the digital character work for

Casper, Healy fell in love with character animation.

She joined Walt Disney Feature Animation as the

head of digital production and oversaw work on the

films Tarzan, Dinosaur and Mulan. She moved to

DreamWorks Animation to serve as head of pro-

duction for several years and, while there, produced

Shark Tale.

In 2008, Healy joined Chris Meledandri as he was

beginning his new venture, Illumination Enter-

tainment, for Universal Pictures.

JOHN COHEN (Produced by) previously worked

at 20th Century Fox for seven years. As the vice presi-

dent of 20th Century Fox Animation, he worked

closely with Blue Sky Studios on films including Ice

Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Dr. Seuss’

Horton Hears a Who! He also had the idea to

reimagine the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise and

developed the 2007 film.

Cohen is currently a producer at Illumination

Entertainment. In addition to Despicable Me, up-

coming Illumination films for Universal Pictures

include Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, directed by Chris

Renaud and co-directed by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio;

Hop, directed by Tim Hill and starring Russell Brand

and James Marsden; Flanimals, based on the book

series by Ricky Gervais; and Where’s Waldo?– 38 –

Before joining Fox, Cohen worked at Scott Rudin

Productions. In 1998, he graduated from New York

University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

As 3-D productions are on the way to becoming

the norm, CINCO PAUL (Screenplay by) is right on

trend with two high-profile 3-D animated films on his

resume. He is set to co-direct the highly anticipated

Dr. Seuss’The Lorax, an adaptation of the iconic envi-

ronmental-themed children’s book, which is sched-

uled for release in March 2012.

Paul and his writing partner, Ken Daurio, are the

hot Hollywood screenwriting team who penned the

Horton Hears a Who! screenplay for executive Chris

Meledandri during his tenure at 20th Century Fox.

When Horton Hears a Who! led to a nearly $300

million worldwide box-office gross, Meledandri

formed the film production company Illumination

Entertainment, which specializes in animation.

Illumination’s first three movies given the green light

were all written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio:

Despicable Me, Hop and Dr. Seuss’The Lorax.

Paul and Daurio are known throughout the enter-

tainment industry for their unique pitching style,

often singing their pitches to high-level studio execu-

tives. For the Disney film College Road Trip, they

belted out the ’80s tune “Double Dutch Bus”

complete with harmony and melody. An estimated 90

percent of their pitches in the last nine years have

involved a musical performance.

Paul met Daurio while working on a church musical

and they bonded immediately. In 1999, they sold the

screenplay for their first short film, Special, and the film

went on to play in the festival circuit due to the dark

comedic storyline. Next came the 2001 cult classic

Bubble Boy, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Jimmy

Livingston (a boy without an immune system), a twisted

take on the John Travolta television movie The Boy in

the Plastic Bubble. Paul also turned the movie Bubble

Boy into a full-length musical and wrote the music and

lyrics. It will be directed by Stephen Schwartz and

released in 2011. His other film credits include Disney’s

megahit The Santa Clause 2.

Paul and Daurio had the distinct honor of being

handpicked by Audrey Geisel (the widow of Theodor

Seuss Geisel) to pen Horton Hears a Who! and The

Lorax film projects on behalf of the estate of Dr. Seuss.

Paul studied at Yale University, where he gradu-

ated summa cum laude with a degree in English.

Upon moving to Los Angeles, he attended the screen-

writing program at the University of Southern

California, winning a fellowship grant to pay for his

second year.

As 3-D productions are on the way to becoming

the norm, KEN DAURIO (Screenplay by) is right on

trend with two high-profile 3-D animated films on his

resume. He is set to co-direct Dr. Seuss’The Lorax, an

adaptation of the iconic author’s environmental-

themed children’s book that is scheduled for release in

March 2012.

Daurio and his writing partner, Cinco Paul, are

the hot Hollywood screenwriting team who penned

the Horton Hears a Who! screenplay for executive

Chris Meledandri during his tenure at 20th Century

Fox. After Paul and Daurio’s work on Horton lead to a

nearly $300 million worldwide box-office gross, the

duo found themselves in demand in the animation

world. Daurio and Paul further forged their strategic

relationship with Meledandri when he formed the

film production company Illumination Entertainment,

which specializes in animation. It’s no coincidence

that Illumination’s first three movies that were given

the green light were all written by Daurio and Paul

(Despicable Me, Hop and The Lorax), something

unheard of in the history of animation.

Daurio and Paul are known throughout the enter-

tainment industry for their unique pitching style,

often singing their pitches to high-level studio execu-

tives. For the Disney film College Road Trip, they– 39 –

belted out the ’80s tune “Double Dutch Bus,” com-

plete with harmony and melody. An estimated 90

percent of their pitches in the last nine years have

involved a musical performance.

Daurio met Paul while working on a church

musical and they bonded immediately. In 1999, they

sold their first screenplay, Special, which they later

turned into a short f ilm that played the festival

circuit due to the dark comedic storyline. Next came

the 2001 cult classic Bubble Boy, which starred Jake

Gyllenhaal as Jimmy Livingston (a boy without an

immune system), a twisted take on the John Travolta

television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Paul

and Daurio also had the distinct honor of being

handpicked by Audrey Geisel (the widow of

Theodor Seuss Geisel) to pen Horton Hears a Who!

and The Lorax film projects on behalf of the estate

of Dr. Seuss.

Upon graduating from high school, Daurio began

directing music videos for up-and-coming bands like

Blink 182, AFI and Jimmy Eat World. More than 100

music videos later, he teamed up with Cinco Paul to

write his first feature script. Daurio and Paul are

now one of Hollywood’s most sought-after screen-

writing teams.

SERGIO PABLOS (Based on a Story by/

Executive Producer) was born in Barcelona, Spain,

and studied character animation at the California

Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He is the

creative director and CEO of Animagic SL, based in

Madrid. Some of his early animation work includes

Batman: The Animated Series, Winnie the Pooh and

Christmas Too!, A Goof Troop Christmas and A

Goofy Movie.

Pablos also worked on the Disney films The

Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan and

Treasure Planet. For his work on Treasure Planet,

Pablos was nominated for an Annie Award for

Outstanding Character Animation.

He was a supervising animator and team super-

visor on Asterix and the Vikings and Nocturna; was the

art supervisor on Simon and Schuster’s “Trucktown”;

was the character designer and team supervisor for

Blue Sky Studios’ Rio; and is currently the super-

vision animator and team supervisor on Moon-

scoop’s Titeuf.

NINA ROWAN (Executive Producer) is a leader

in the field of CGI. As the producer of the 1998

Academy Award®-winning Best Animated Short

Film, Bunny, Rowan is known for her expert knowl-

edge of computer animation and her skill in devel-

oping teams that can tackle innovative and complex

animated projects.

Rowan is the founder and CEO of Plushy Feely

Corp (PFC). PFC is a children’s toy and multimedia

company that focuses on building self-esteem and

confidence in kids through creative educational prod-

ucts and animated entertainment. She invented and

launched a line of award-winning educational plush

toys called Kimochis—Toys With Feelings Inside that

are being sold by specialty retailers across the

country. PFC is dedicated to creating products with a

purpose that focus on promoting social and emotional

learning for parents and children.

Rowan is currently the president of TOT Indus-

tries, located in Marin County, California. For the

past four years, she has helped develop and expand

TOT Industries into becoming a leader in the family

entertainment industry, focusing on the creative and

technical aspects of original content development for

books, animated feature films and animation televi-

sion productions. She is currently producing a series

of children’s books for Simon & Schuster titled

“Trucktown,” created by renowned children’s book

author Jon Scieszka. “Trucktown” has appeared on

The New York Times’ Children’s Best-Sellers list.

Prior to TOT, Rowan joined Wild Brain in May of

1999 to help lead the company’s expanding computer-– 40 –

generated animation and visual effects division. She

has been responsible for recruiting artistic and technical

talent, developing a production pipeline to efficiently

create and manage CG film assets and developing CG

production and business strategies for the company. In

an effort to keep production costs down while still main-

taining high production value, Rowan has cultivated

relationships with some of the world’s top overseas

animation studios and has delivered high-quality anima-

tion at extremely competitive costs.

Rowan was also responsible for heading up creative

development for Wild Brain. She has worked closely with

writers, directors and producers, developing screenplays

for feature films and television series for both animation

and live-action productions. During her tenure at Wild

Brain, she sold an original television series idea to the

Disney Channel and an original feature film idea to

Universal Pictures; both properties are currently in

development. Rowan produced Wild Brain’s first CG

film, Hubert’s Brain, which is an original 17-minute

short that highlights the studio’s superb character anima-

tion. Hubert’s Brain won first place in its categories at

the World Animation Celebration, the ASIFA-

Hollywood Annie Awards and Synthesis 8 in Belgium;

garnered the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International

Film Festival; and received a host of other accolades

from film festivals around the world. The success of this

film led Wild Brain into the feature film arena by

securing a $40 million co-production partnership and a

five-picture deal with Miramax Studios.

Rowan segued to Wild Brain from Blue Sky

Studios in New York. In addition to producing Bunny

at Blue Sky Studios, Rowan was the executive

producer of the studio’s multimillion dollar feature

film and commercial production. She produced the

animation and digital effects for films including

MTV Networks/Geffen Pictures/Warner Bros.’ Joe’s

Apartment and The Bubble Factory’s A Simple Wish,

and was executive producer for Blue Sky Studios on

Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek: Insurrection.

Rowan’s film and commercial projects have

garnered the most prestigious awards in the industry

including the Oscar®, the Emmy, the CLIO, the Effie

and the Mobius, among others.

Prior to Blue Sky Studios, Rowan was a producer

of cel animation at Broadcast Arts Productions,

following her role as assistant to the director of

animation at Mark Zander Productions, both in New

York City.

Rowan has a BA in art history from the State

University of New York at Purchase. She is the

Northern California chairperson for Women in Toys

and is a member of ASIFA-Hollywood and the Visual

Effects Society.

YARROW CHENEY (Production Designer)

attended the California Institute of the Arts from 1992

to 1995, before beginning his career as a character

animator at Turner Feature Animation/Warner Bros.

Feature Animation on Cats Don’t Dance, Quest for

Camelot and The Iron Giant.

In 1999, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding

Main Title Design for his opening title sequence to

Sony’s Dilbert series. Cheney went on to design Sony

Pictures Imageworks’ Academy Award®-winning

theatrical short The Chubbchubbs! and Universal

Pictures’ Curious George.

In 2006, he directed, produced and production

designed The Very First Noel holiday special.

In 2008, Cheney joined Illumination Entertain-

ment as production designer for Despicable Me.

PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-SHEFLAND (Edited

by) grew up in Minnesota and went to St. Cloud State

University. She lived in Los Angeles from 1980 to 2006

and moved back to Minnesota in 2006.

While in Los Angeles, she worked on commer-

cials, rock videos and television shows like Quantum

Leap, the Emmy Award-winning Northern Exposure

(from 1991 to 1995) and the pilot for Melrose Place– 41 –

(1992). In 1995, she started working in feature anima-

tion at Walt Disney Pictures. While there, she was the

editor of The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and Mulan

II (2004). While at Sony Pictures Animation, she was

the editor of Open Season (2006).

Ziegenhagen-Shefland has been married to Alan

Shefland, a fellow editor, since 1997 and they have

one son, Gabriel, who is 14. She is currently working

on a documentary in Minnesota.

GREGORY PERLER (Edited by) is a f ilm

editor who has lived and worked in Los Angeles for

20 years. A New York University film school grad-

uate, he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 when he was

hired as an assistant editor on Disney’s Beauty and

the Beast (the first of only two animated films to be

nominated for an Academy Award® for Best

Picture). He was promoted to associate editor during

this production.

In addition to Despicable Me, Perler’s previous

feature-animation credits include A Goofy Movie,

Tarzan, the Oscar®-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy

Genius and the Oscar®-winning Wallace & Gromit in

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. His live-action credits

include 102 Dalmatians, Enchanted, the Hannah

Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert

film and two telefilms based on the classic “Eloise”

children’s books.

Perler was an editor on the first season of the highly

rated USA Network series Royal Pains and is currently

editing Illumination Entertainment’s Hop, which will be

released in April 2011.

Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/ pro-

ducer PHARRELL WILLIAMS (Original Songs and

Themes by/Score by) has made history for being one of

the most successful and prolific entertainers to emerge

during the last decade.

Williams is part of the beat-making duo The

Neptunes, with Chad Hugo, and the incredible trio

N.E.R.D., with Hugo and childhood friend Shae

Haley. Together, they have had multiple, critically

acclaimed platinum albums, Grammy nominations

and wins, and a fan base that stretches the globe. Their

newest album, “Nothing,” was released on June 15.

Additionally, Williams is an entrepreneur and a one-

man conglomerate with business ventures including his

clothing lines Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream; an

eco-fabric company called Bionic Yarn; artistic collab-

orations with Murakami and the Emmanuel Perrotin

Gallery; and a jewelry line with Louis Vuitton.

HEITOR PEREIRA (Score by) is establishing a

reputation for bringing international flavors to main-

stream American scores. From a Santa Monica studio

jammed with hundreds of instruments from around the

world, Pereira has composed scores for It’s Compli-

cated, Running the Sahara, Beverly Hills Chihuahua,

Illegal Tender, Curious George, Ask the Dust, Real

Women Have Curves, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

and Riding in Cars With Boys.

Pereira attracted Hans Zimmer’s attention for his

outstanding skills as a guitarist. Zimmer hired Pereira to

play on a few scores, and soon Pereira was following in

the footsteps of other well-known musicians-turned-

film-composers including Zimmer, James Newton

Howard and Danny Elfman. Pereira has played guitar on

and/or contributed music to the scores of Mission:

Impossible II, Black Hawk Down, Spanglish, As Good as

It Gets, I Am Sam, The Pledge, Something’s Gotta Give,

Shrek 2, Madagascar, Man on Fire, Spy Kids 3-D: Game

Over, The Rundown, Flushed Away, The Holiday,

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Simpsons

Movie, The Kite Runner, Bee Movie, The Dark Knight

and Angels & Demons.

Born to a family of musicians in the south of

Brazil, Pereira completed his conservatory studies in

guitar, harmony, counterpoint and composition in Rio

de Janeiro. He quickly began playing with some of

the leading artists in Brazil and attracted the attention– 42 –

of the producer of the band Simply Red. He enter-

tained millions of fans around the world as that band’s

lead guitarist. He has also released three solo albums

of his own music. Throughout his career, Pereira has

played guitar on the albums of widely diverse artists

who esteem him as much for his unique sensibility as

his astonishing guitar virtuosity. These artists include

Sergio Mendes, Caetano Veloso, Ivan Lins, Jack

Johnson, Bryan Adams, Sir Elton John, Willie Nelson,

Shania Twain, Seal and Nelly Furtado.

— despicable me —

– 43 –

– 44 –

NOTESNOTESNOTES

– 45 –

NOTESNOTESNOTES

– 46 –

NOTESNOTESNOTES

– 47 –

NOTESNOTESNOTES