Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

UNIVERSAL PICTURES Presents 

A CHRIS MELEDANDRI Production 

STEVE CARELL 

JASON SEGEL 

RUSSELL BRAND 

KRISTEN WIIG 

MIRANDA COSGROVE 

WILL ARNETT 

DANNY MCBRIDE 

JACK MCBRAYER 

and 

JULIE ANDREWS 

Executive Producers 

NINA ROWAN 

SERGIO PABLOS 

Based on a Story by 

SERGIO PABLOS 

Screenplay by 

CINCO PAUL & KEN DAURIO 

Produced by 

CHRIS MELEDANDRI 

JANET HEALY 

JOHN COHEN 

Directed by 

CHRIS RENAUD 

PIERRE COFFIN 

– 1 –

CAST 

Gru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE CARELL 

Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JASON SEGEL 

Dr. Nefario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RUSSELL BRAND 

Gru’s Mom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JULIE ANDREWS 

Mr. Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WILL ARNETT 

Miss Hattie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KRISTEN WIIG 

Margo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIRANDA COSGROVE 

Edith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANA GAIER 

Agnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ELSIE FISHER 

Tim the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN 

Bob the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN 

Mark the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN 

Phil the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN 

Stuart the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE COFFIN 

Dave the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS RENAUD 

Jerry the Minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JEMAINE CLEMENT 

Carnival Barker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JACK MCBRAYER 

Fred McDade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANNY MCBRIDE 

Tourist Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JACK MCBRAYER 

Tourist Mom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MINDY KALING 

Anchorman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROB HUEBEL 

Egyptian Guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEN DAURIO 

Talk Show Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEN JEONG 

Additional Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHARLES BRIGHT 

KATIE LEIGH 

RANJANI BROW 

SCOTT MENVILLE 

HOLLY DORFF 

EDIE MIRMAN 

JACKIE GONNEAU 

AL RODRIGO 

WENDY HOFFMANN 

JAKOB ROSTON 

JAMES KYSON LEE 

HANS TESTER 

TONY LEE 

DEBI MAE WEST 

CREW 

Directed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS RENAUD 

PIERRE COFFIN 

Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS MELEDANDRI 

JANET HEALY 

JOHN COHEN 

Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CINCO PAUL & 

KEN DAURIO 

Based on a Story by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERGIO PABLOS 

Executive Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NINA ROWAN 

SERGIO PABLOS 

Production Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . YARROW CHENEY 

Editors . . . . . . . . . PAMELA ZIEGENHAGEN-SHEFLAND 

GREGORY PERLER 

Score by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PHARRELL WILLIAMS 

HEITOR PEREIRA 

Original Songs and Themes by . . PHARRELL WILLIAMS 

Music Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HANS ZIMMER 

Music Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATHY NELSON 

Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ERIC GUILLON 

Character Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . CARTER GOODRICH 

Computer Graphics Supervisor . . . BRUNO CHAUFFARD 

Associate Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT TAYLOR 

Production Supervisor . . . . . . . . . CHRISTELLE BALCON 

Animation Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIONEL GALLAT 

Animation Supervisor . . . . . LAURENT DE LA CHAPELLE 

Supervising Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIERRE AVON 

NICOLAS BAUDUIN 

BARTHÉLÉMY BOIROT 

LUC DEGARDIN 

JEAN HEMEZ 

PIERRE LEDUC 

ELISABETH PATTE 

JULIEN SORET 

Layout Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KYLE BALDA 

Stereo Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN RA BENSON 

Lighting Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NICOLAS BRACK 

Effects Animation Supervisor . . . . . . . PIERRE VILLETTE 

Global Technology Supervisor . . . . . . . . . BRUNO MAHE 

Character Supervisors 

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JÉRÔME GORDON 

Cloth & Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BENJAMIN LE STER 

Rigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAMIEN GAUTRON 

Surfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADRIEN BORZAKIAN 

Set Supervisors 

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANÇOIS LAUNET 

Surfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FABIEN POLACK 

Compositing Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . CÉLINE ALLÈGRE 

ANTONIN SEYDOUX 

Stereo Compositing Supervisor . . . . BENOIT PHILIPPON 

Assistant CG Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID PELLÉ 

DELPHINE POTEVIN 

Production Managers . . . . . . . . . . JEAN LUC FLORINDA 

CHRISTINA DESILVA ROWELL 

JILL RAGAWAY 

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

– 2 –

Story Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEITH BAXTER 

DAVID BERTHIER-DUVERNEUIL 

MATT FLYNN 

STEPHAN FRANCK 

JOHN HOLMQUIST 

MIKE KIM 

JAVIER LEDESMA 

STEVE MOORE 

JUAN PABLO NAVAS 

MARK O’HARE 

JUAN D. POZUELO 

JAMES SUHR 

Additional Story Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAL BRUNKER 

DEREK EVANICK 

JUN FALKENSTEIN 

JOHN INFANTINO 

PIET KROON 

RITA LICHTWARDT 

GLEN MCCOY 

RAYMIE MUZQUIZ 

WILBERT PILJNAAR 

PETER SHIN 

ADAM VAN WYK 

DAVID WACHTENHEIM 

Sequence & Set Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAUL MAGER 

VINCENT MASSEY 

LOIC RASTOUT 

BRIAN WOODS 

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERGIO CASAS 

OLIVIER DELABARRE 

CLÉMENT GRISELAIN 

CARLOS FELIPE LEON 

Additional Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARCOS CALO 

DAVID CATROW 

MAREC FRITZINGER 

ROBIN JOSEPH 

MARTIN TRYSTRAM 

PHILIPPE TILIKETE 

Additional Character Design . . . . . . . . . . ERIC GUILLON 

CHRIS RENAUD 

PAUL MAGER 

PHILIPPE TILIKETE 

Character Animation and Computer Graphics provided by . . 

MAC GUFF, PARIS 

Mac Guff Senior Executive . . . . . . . . . . JACQUES BLED 

Head of Production . . . . . . . . . . . . ARNAULD BOULARD 

Layout & Stereo Manager . . . . . . . . . . . SOLENN COLAS 

Layout Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RÉGIS SCHULLER 

Stereo Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VALÉRIE GABRIEL 

Layout Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GUY-LAURENT HOMSY 

GÉRALD CLEVY 

JAIRO BAMBANG OETOMO 

SÉBASTIEN TIFFON 

HENRI ZAITOUN 

Character Animation Manager . . . . . . . . . . . JOY POIREL 

Character Animation Leads . . . . . . . . . PATRICK DELAGE 

FABRICE JOUBERT 

Character Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . HICHEM ARFAOUI 

SALEM ARFAOUI 

JEAN-FRANÇOIS BARTHELEMY 

ARNAUD BERTHIER-DUVERNEUIL 

XAVIER BOLOGNA 

DANIEL CALLABY 

JÉRÔME CHARTON 

BRICE CHEVILLARD 

CÉLINE CHOTARD 

MICHAEL CROUZAT 

SIMON CUISINIER 

JONATHAN DEL VAL 

BRUNO DEQUIER 

SAMUEL DEVYNCK 

MOISE ESSAME 

MATHILDE FABRY 

AUDREY FOBIS 

VINCENT GARCIA 

JEAN-CHARLES GONIN 

BENOIT GUILLAUMOT 

BASILE HEIDERSCHEID 

GUILLAUME HERENT 

YANNICK HONORE 

SILKE JAGER 

KARIN KEMPF 

SÉBASTIEN KUNERT 

BENOIT LACOSTE 

DIANE LAFORET 

FRANÇOIS LAURENT 

CHLOÉ LANG-WILLAR 

ADRIEN LIV 

MAX MALEO 

STÉPHANE MANGIN 

GIUSI MARONE 

GAËL MATCHABELLI 

RENAUD MEGANGE 

MATHIEU MENARD 

LOIC MIERMONT 

DAVID NASSER 

ELENA ORTEGO 

GWÉNOLÉ OULC’HEN 

CHRISTEL POUGEOISE 

NICOLAS PROTHAIS 

ERIC PREBENDE 

PATRICK PUJALTE 

– 3 –

MITJA RABAR 

CORENTIN SACRE 

JEAN VINCENT SALES 

JULEN SANTIAGO 

SÉBASTIEN TIFFON 

MIRCO TOMADINI 

CLÉMENTINE TRONEL 

LUCAS VALLERIECOLINE VEITH 

EMMANUEL VERGNE 

JORGE VIGARA ALONSO 

Cloth & Hair Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ABDOU KARIMI 

ROMAIN PRIVAT DE FORTUNIE 

Cloth & Hair Animators . . . . . . . . STANISLAS ABELANET 

ADRIEN CHARTIE 

LOIC DAVID 

JEREMY DELCHIAPPO 

CHRISTOPHE LE DEROUT 

STEVEN DUPUY 

AXEL GRAUX 

THOMAS HAAS-CHRISTENSEN 

JOSSELIN JALLUT 

SYLVIE LIMARION MAHU 

MATHIEU MALARD 

PIERRE-ANDRÉ PERUCAUD 

URIELL PRISER 

FABIEN RIXENS 

DAVID RODRIGUES 

KEN SHIMIZU 

SÉBASTIEN STOIANOV 

SIMON TROUILLER 

MAXIME VALLON 

THOMAS VILPORT 

MILAN VOUKASSOVITCH 

Effects Animation Manager . . . . . . . . . . . ANAÏS PERLOT 

Effects Animation Lead . . . . . . . . . . . MATHIEU NEGREL 

Effects Animators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XAVIER BREUIL 

NICOLAS CROCHET 

MATHIEU GÉRARD 

JÉRÔME HERENG 

VINCENT HOUZE 

JEAN-FRANÇOIS MACE 

LUDOVIC RAMISANDRAINA 

MILO RICCARAND 

JOSSELIN TONNELLIER 

NICOLAS ZBOROVSKA 

Character Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . DELPHINE LE ROCH 

Character Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID ARNOULD 

JULIEN BADOIL 

ROMAIN COTE 

DAVID FOURRAGE 

ADRIEN MONTERO 

Rigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NICOLAS COMBECAVE 

MATHIEU TRINTZIUS 

GUILLAUME BARLIER 

GUILLAUME BOUDEVILLE 

DAVID LIEBARD 

PIERRE LOIC HAMON 

LARSON LIBERLIN DE SHORIBA DIOP 

Surfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIRGINIE TARAVEL 

BLANDINE CHANTEUR 

CHARLES CHOREIN 

JÉRÉMIE DROULERS 

BENJAMIN FOURNET 

JIMMY LAPLAIGE 

AURÉLIE MONFAIT 

MAXIME LEDUC 

SÉBASTIEN NAIT-MERABET 

JULIEN ODIC 

GABRIEL PICARD 

JULIEN ROCCHI 

Sets & Props Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

NATHALIE VANCAUWENBERGHE 

DENIS WALGENWITZ 

Set & Props Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HERVÉ ARPHI 

FRANCK CLARENC 

JÉRÔME CORDIER 

MARTIN COUSTENOBLE 

NICOL JEAN DUFLAUT 

AURÉLIEN HULOT 

CAROLINE LALOUETTE 

LUDOVIC RAMIERE 

NICOLAS VALADE 

FABIEN YORGANDGIAN 

Set Dressing Supervisor . . . . . . . . AXELLE DE COOMAN 

Lighting & Compositing Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

EMMANUELLE CARLIER 

KARINE FRIANG 

DELPHINE LASSERRE 

Lead Lighting Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SELIM DRAÏA 

SOPHIE GUILLOIS 

THIERRY NOBLET 

MAX TOURRET 

DAMIEN VIATTE 

Lighting Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALEXANDRE BERMOND 

SAIDOU BERNABE 

VINCENT BLANQUÉ 

CÉDRIC BURKARTH 

JUSTINE CODRON 

LIONEL CUENDET 

THOMAS DAIRAIN 

VIVIAN DAVID 

BERTRAND DE BECQUE 

– 4 –

EPHRAÏM DROUET 

PIERRE GOBILLARD 

SÉBASTIEN GOURDAL 

SIMON GREZES 

MATHIEU GROS 

STEPHAN GUÉRIN 

MATHIEU LE MEUR 

PIERRE LOPES 

OLIVIER MARTINY 

MATHIEU MOLINA 

ROMAIN SILVA MACEDO 

HUGUES SSOSSE 

Lead Compositing Artists . . . . . MARIE CLAIRE BAZART 

MARIE BOURGUET 

BERTRAND BREUZE 

YANN LEROUX 

STÉPHANIE MACHURET 

MARION ROGER 

FRANÇOIS TURQUETY 

LAETITIA YUNG 

Compositing Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLORIAN BESTEL 

MATTHIEU CHATELIER 

SOLEN COLLIGNON 

CLÉMENT DARBOIS 

ANTOINE DOUADI 

LOIC FLAMAND 

LUCIEN FOSTIER 

PHILIPPE HUBERDEAU 

DEAN KOONJUL 

JOLA KUDELA 

FRANÇOIS LE BASTARD 

JEANNE LOYER 

SERGEÏ LOURIÉ 

OLIVIER LUKASZCZYK 

GASTON MARCOTTI 

ALEXIS PERASTE 

SIMON RAFIN 

DANE RAPAPORT 

STÉPHANIE SAILLARD 

MARINE SAMYN 

JEREMY SÉGUIN 

GEROME VIAVANT 

ANTHONY VOISIN 

KEVIN WILLMERING 

Stereo Compositing Artists . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS ASSIE 

JÉRÔME AULIAC 

JEAN NICOLAS COSTA 

RUDYARD CRETENET 

CHRISTOPHE DUFLAUT 

DELPHINE GARRELIS 

KEVIN KERGOAT 

KHALED LABIDI 

THOMAS LEFEBVRE 

PIERRE YVES MOULARD 

YVAN-ANDRÉ NGNODJOM 

MAYÀ PELLE 

JULIEN ROGER 

NIRANJAN SIVAGURUNATHAN 

VINCENT MARTIN 

Compositing Technical Director Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

NATHALIE BONNIN 

EMMANUELLE DE AMEZAGA 

Compositing Technical Directors . . . . . . DÉMIAN BOUDE 

BENOIT FOURNOL 

MATHIEU GOUBY 

JULIEN THEBAULT 

Lead Matte Painter . . . . . . . . . . . JEAN-DENIS COINDRE 

Matte Painters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANÇOIS BELLIART 

JÉRÔME BILLET 

Pipeline Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WASSILA LMOUACI 

Pipeline Supervisors . . . . PIERRICK BRAULT-VANDAME 

EMMANUEL PREVOT 

Pipeline Technical Directors . . . . . . DAMIEN BELLANTAN 

MICHAEL BETHUNE 

PIERRE BRINDEL 

FRÉDÉRIC BRUNA 

JULIEN DEPOORTERE 

HENRI DESOUS 

ALEXANDRA HOFF 

MATTHIEU GOUIN 

PATRICK GUILLERM 

LAURENT HUBERT 

ELODIE LABBE 

QUENTIN RICCI 

Supervising Technical Director . . . . . ETIENNE PÊCHEUX 

IT Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHEL ROY 

DAVID LEROUX 

DAVID GUEDJ 

FLAVIO PEREZ 

MOSTAFA YACOUBI 

Rendering Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS FONCELLE 

Render Wranglers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SYLVAIN BLEROL 

DAVID CANCELA 

ILYAS CHODKIEWIEZ 

Head of Research & Development . . PHILIPPE DELORME 

Research & Development Team . . . . . . THOMAS METAIS 

SÉBASTIEN MASINO 

JULIEN FRANTZ 

ALEXANDRE VERLHAC 

ERIC PLACOLY 

DAMIEN COUREAU 

LUDOVIC LEFEVE-GOURMELON 

– 5 –

Financial Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . GARY WOHLLEBEN 

Assistant Production Accountants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

HUMBERTO MEZA, JR. 

CARLOS ROCADAS 

JULIEN SABOURDIN 

LOETITIA VILLENEUVE 

JULIEN VIRGILE 

Editorial Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALEX DOWDING 

MIKE BAUM 

Additional Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE LIU 

PATRICK VOETBERG 

CLAIRE DODGSON 

1 st Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED FULLER 

Assistant Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GILAD CARMEL 

KAREN HATHAWAY 

MIKE ROSTKER 

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

Production Staff 

Art Coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATIE BALLENTINE 

AMELIE PEYRACHE 

Editorial Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOSH MORGAN 

Lighting & Compositing Coordinator . . MARION LOLOUM 

Marketing Coordinators . . . . . . . . . AMBER CHAMBERS 

CELINE LOCATELLI 

Story Production Assistant . . . . . . . . DANIEL DOTTERER 

Editorial Production Assistant . . . . . . . . TYLER WERRIN 

General Production Assistant . . . . . . . . . JEFF COWARD 

Assistants to Chris Meledandri . . . . . . . . . . LISA HOLME 

KRISTIN WONG-WARD 

LYNLEY BIRD 

KELLY MARTIN 

Assistants to Janet Healy . . . . . . . . . . . JESSICA STONE 

NAIRYE APELIAN 

Assistants to John Cohen . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW SHORT 

KRISTIN MACLAREN 

Assistants to Jacques Bled . . . . . . . . . SOLANGE LOBO 

VIRGINIE GROSS 

Casting Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARY HIDALGO 

Post-Production Supervisor . . . . . . JEANNINE BERGER 

Post-Production Sound Services by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

SKYWALKER SOUND, A LUCASFILM LTD. COMPANY 

MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 

Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . 

CHRISTOPHER SCARABOSIO 

Supervising Sound Editor . . . . . . . . . DENNIS LEONARD 

ADR Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANIEL LAURIE 

Sound Effects Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID C. HUGHES 

STEVE BISSINGER 

JEREMY PAUL BOWKER 

Re-recording Mixers . . . . CHRISTOPHER SCARABOSIO 

TOM JOHNSON 

Sound Design Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . RANDY THOM 

Foley Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . LUKE DUNN GIELMUDA 

Foley Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E. LARRY OATFIELD 

Assistant Supervising Sound Editor . . . . COYA ELLIOTT 

Assistant ADR Editor . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER BARNETT 

Assistant Sound Effects Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

JESSICA LEMES DA SILVA 

Assistant Sound Designer . . . . . . . . . . . LEFF LEFFERTS 

Foley Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL LYLE 

SEAN ENGLAND 

Foley Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER BARNETT 

Foley Recordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COREY TYLER 

Mix Technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NATHAN NANCE 

ZACH MARTIN 

Digital Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN COUNTRYMAN 

MARCO ALICEA 

Recordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLINT SMITH 

Digital Editorial Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID HUNTER 

TIM BURBY 

DANNY CACCAVO 

Engineering Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE MORRIS 

DOUG FORD 

HOWIE HAMMERMANN 

Supervising Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VICKI HIATT 

Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SLAMM ANDREWS 

Assistant Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANIEL SCOLARI 

Recording Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW COLEMAN 

Recording Engineer Assistants . . . . . . . . . MIKE LARSON 

SEBASTIAN ZULETA 

SATOSHI NOGUCHI 

RAMON RIVAS 

JOSH GUDWIN 

DUSTIN CAPULONG 

GHAZI HOURANI 

GUILLERMO LEFELD 

SAM ALLISON 

Recording Studios . . . . . . . . MIDNIGHT BLUE STUDIOS 

THE RECORD PLANT 

Mixing Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . FABIAN MARASCUILLO 

Mixing Engineer Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . . JASON DALE 

BRANDON JONES 

ELIZABETH GALLARDO 

Mixing Studios . . . . . . . . . . . . . HIT FACTORY CRITERIA 

GERMANO STUDIOS 

Additional Music by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN SPONSLER 

TOM GIRE 

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

WALT FOWLER 

– 6 –

RICK GIOVINAZZO 

KEVIN KASKA 

Music Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REPRISE MUSIC 

Orchestra Contractors . . . . . . . . DECRESCENT/ROTTER 

Music Production Services . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE KOFSKY 

Girl Vocalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

CENTRE FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS, LONDON 

Choirmaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LYNDA RICHARDSON 

Choral Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JENNY O’GRADY 

Music Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GAVIN GREENAWAY 

Choir Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GEOFF FOSTER 

Choir Recorded at . . . . . RAK RECORDING STUDIO LTD 

Score Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW ZACK 

Score Recorded at . . . . . . 20 TH CENTURY FOX STUDIO 

Scoring Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DENIS ST. AMAND 

TIM LAUBER 

TOM STEEL 

GREG DENNON 

Score Recorded and Mixed by . . . . . ALAN MEYERSON 

Music Mixed at . . . REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTIONS 

RCP Studio Manager . . . . . . . . . . . CZARINA RUSSELL 

Digital Intermediate by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EFILM 

Digital Intermediate Colorist . . . . . . . . . . . JASON HANEL 

Digital Intermediate Producer . . . . NICOLAS PETERSON 

Digital Intermediate Editor . . . . . . . . . . LISA TUTUNJIAN 

Color Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TERRY CLABORN 

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Written by Edward King, Gary Rossington, 

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“DESPICABLE ME” 

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– 7 –

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Credits as of April 23, 2010. 

– 8 –

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

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment 

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 challenge 

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 mischievous 

little minions, we discover Gru (STEVE 

CARELL of Get Smart, Horton Hears a Who!, television’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 –

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

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-thescenes 

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), 

– 10 – 

as well as production designer 

YARROW CHENEY and art 

director ERIC GUILLON. 

Creating the original songs 

and themes for the film is 

Grammy Award-winning artist 

and blockbuster music producer 

PHARRELL WILLIAMS, who 

composes the score with 

HEITOR PEREIRA (It’s Complicated, 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua). 

The music is produced by 

Academy Award ® winner HANS 

ZIMMER (The Lion King, The 

Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes). 

The 3-D CGI film 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. 

BEFORETHE 

PRODUCTION 

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 20 th Century Fox, where 

he founded the studio’s animation division and 

oversaw the launch of its blockbuster Ice Age franchise. 

With the creation of Meledandri’s new 

production company, Illumination Entertainment, 

Universal would finance and distribute a slate of

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 20 th 

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 CGanimation 

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 extraordinary 

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.” 

ABOUTTHE 

PRODUCTION 

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 character 

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 solidified 

the two as comedy scribes. For their newest 

project, they elaborated upon Pablos’ idea of one of 

His minions are in awe of Gru’s plan. 

– 11 –

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

Cohen liked exploring 

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 world’s greatest super-villains, a man who finds the perfect time to use a freeze ray. There’s a great deal 

more to life than reveling in wicked deeds. 

of comedy that springs from a character who gets to act 

From the beginning, it was important to Illumination 

to construct a tale that would put a trademark When it was time to select the project’s directors, 

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

stamp on the types of films the production house would Meledandri turned to Academy Award ® -nominated 

be creating. That would not involve two-dimensional filmmaker Chris Renaud and acclaimed Sorbonnetrained 

animator Pierre Coffin to helm the project. 

heroes or antagonists. Reflects Meledandri: “The idea 

of making an animated film in which the villain is your Renaud’s years of collaboration with Marvel and DC 

protagonist is unusual and very challenging. By the end Comics allowed him to illustrate some of the most 

of the film, Gru has undergone a transformation, and iconic characters of the modern era. For his part, 

it’s that transformation that’s made possible by starting Coffin has created several of the most viewed 

him in a place where there are aspects of him that are animated shorts on YouTube, including “The Lion 

downright unlikable. You would not have a sense of Sleeps Tonight.” 

appreciation for the journey he’s gone on as a character “Chris Renaud is somebody who I’ve worked 

had we not started him at that point.” 

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

Fellow producer John Cohen knew that Studios,” Meledandri comments. “He came up 

Despicable Me would stand out by showing the side through our story department and started out as a 

of our humanity of which we’re not always so proud. storyboard artist, but his experience prior to joining 

“For a while, we’ve wanted to make a movie about a us involved a much deeper level of animation experience. 

His roots come from the comic book world, 

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

“Chris heard this idea that came from Sergio Pablos, where early on in his career he illustrated comic 

who is a terrific animator. Sergio and Nina Rowan, books. Chris has a wonderful sense of story and how 

who are executive producers, brought this original to translate that into imagery. We had a particularly 

idea to Chris, and he immediately fell in love with it. successful experience with him directing a short at 

It’s a great, clear concept for a movie with comedy Blue Sky called No Time for Nuts, which was nominated 

for an Oscar ® built in and a very unique character at the core.” 

.” 

– 12 –

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 movements. 

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. Evil 

Who’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 pleasure 

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 warmup 

suit, playing video games while plotting his next 

move. His favorite weapon is a gun that fires live piranhas. 

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 challenge 

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

met his match. 

The kid who tests all limits, Edith (newcomer 

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 –

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

Small, mischievous 

yellow creatures, 

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 

An innocent little girl who loves unconditionally 

and wants desperately to be 

Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) runs the local 

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

loved, the youngest of the three orphans 

orphanage where Margo, Edith and Agnes 

lives to hug. Agnes (scene-stealing newcomer ELSIE 

live before they are sent to live with Gru. A 

FISHER) is obsessed with unicorns and says random, seemingly kind and concerned caretaker, Miss Hattie 

sweet things. She longs for nothing more than parents is actually a stern Southern belle who believes in 

to make her family complete…and that unicorn tough love and big business. If you’re not making 

wouldn’t hurt. 

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

Gru’s Mom (Julie Andrews): Behind Hattie’s “Box of Shame.” 

every great villain is a disapproving 

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

mom. Nothing Gru has done has been 

McDade (Danny McBride) is, naturally, the 

good enough for his judgmental grump of a 

president of the homeowner’s association. 

mother. While she believes she’s quite smart in Quick to point out any minor infractions of the neighborhood 

code, McDade is a constant thorn in Gru’s 

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

Gru like he’s eight years old. Her overly critical side. He just needs to keep an eye on his dog unless he 

attitude has inspired him toward ever-increasing wants to incur the wrath of Gru. 

feats of villainy in order to impress his 

An unforgiving loan manager who runs the 

harrumphing mom. 

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

Gru’s resident mad scientist, Dr. Nefario 

long funded Gru’s wicked plans. A monster 

(Russell Brand) looks to be approximately of a man who has grown unsatisfied with Gru’s imperfect 

track record, Perkins has reached the end of his 

150 years old and vacillates between 

flashes of brilliance and black holes of spaciness. financing rope and refuses to give Gru a loan to fund his 

Always hard at work building his boss the latest in intricate plot to steal the moon. 

incredible vehicles and weaponry, Nefario is (sometimes) 

sharp as a tack. His hearing, however That 

McBrayer and The Office’s MINDY 

The tackiest tourists you’ll encounter (Jack 

began to fade at least 50 years ago. 

KALING), this family is on vacation with 

– 14 –

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 unwelcome 

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 improvisational 

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 –

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

gets under Gru’s skin. When 

you’re competing for stealing 

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 anything 

like this,” says Segel. 

“The closest I’d come to it 

accents, and he came up with one that lands somewhere was puppetry, but this was pretty spectacular. I didn’t 

between Ricardo Montalban and Bela Lugosi. As soon realize that I wouldn’t be working with other actors. You 

as he started playing with that voice, it began to inform read all the lines on your own, so it’s a real exercise in 

our visual conception of the character.” 

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

It wasn’t only the opportunity to play a villain that find my dorky self from when I was really young. I’d left 

attracted Carell to the project. “The story is really it behind, but I re-channeled.” 

sweet,” he offers. “That’s what drew me to it. As crazy as Just as Gru is struggling to impress his considerably 

Gru sounds and as diabolical and mean and awful as he dour mother, Vector will do anything to get attention 

is, there is humanity to him. It comes out in little bits, from his aloof and evil father. Segel explains: “My character’s 

relationship with his father is a bit strained in the 

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

change, and how aspects of a person can come to the film. He doesn’t have faith in me and that’s actually one 

surface, given a different circumstance. People aren’t of the driving forces, as it is with most villains. It comes 

either good or evil…there’s always some good to evil down to a weird relationship with your parents.” 

and there’s always some evil within good. When you see Teen superstar Miranda Cosgrove of television’s 

someone who on the surface just seems despicable, and juggernaut hit iCarly joined the Despicable Me production 

as Margo, the eldest of the three sisters whom Gru 

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

Carell also appreciated how Gru was in competition adopts. A veteran of Nickelodeon since her time on 

with Vector to win the title of World’s Best Villain. “It’s Drake & Josh, Cosgrove has helped to build her show 

very frustrating for Gru to be the second-best villain in about an entrepreneurial teen who produces webcasts 

the world, because he’s a perfectionist,” the actor adds. with her best friends into the highest rated live-action 

“He’s somebody who takes pride in his work, and he show on the network and the No. 1 series on all of television 

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

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.” holds the record as Nickelodeon’s highest-rated and 

To play Gru’s archnemesis, Vector, the team chose most-watched live-action telecast in the history of the 

comedy actor/writer Jason Segel. A formidable opponent 

to Gru, Vector is described by Carell as “younger inherent knack for physical comedy on iCarly that 

network. It was Cosgrove’s deadpan vocal timing and 

and with a lot of technology at his disposal. He really snagged her the part of Margo. 

– 16 –

As the most suspicious of the orphans whom Gru As well, the filmmakers discovered young Elsie 

attempts to dupe into doing his malevolent deeds, Fisher to play Margo and Edith’s littlest sister, Agnes. 

Margo remains vigilant in protecting her little sisters. Whenever the directors needed Agnes to dissolve 

The directors and producers knew they wanted into a fit of giggles, Fisher was always game to 

Cosgrove to be their Margo the moment they met her. provide the laughs. In fact, some of the biggest laughs 

Renaud explains their choice: “The role is a tough of the production came from off-the-cuff deliveries 

role, and Miranda landed something important for us. that Fisher gave. Whether it was when she was asked 

The girls are the soul of the movie, and Margo—more to vocalize what Agnes would say when she gets the 

than even the other two—is the conscience for Gru unicorn of her dreams (“It’s so fluffy!!!”) or how she 

and she’s the big sister to everybody…including Gru. would deliver one of Paul and Daurio’s lines when 

It was an important choice to get Miranda, who has Gru demands the girls not bother him (“Does this 

fantastic acting capability and gave Margo exactly the count as annoying”—before she playfully taps her 

voice we needed, one with weight to it.” 

cheeks), Fisher never failed to amaze the filmmakers 

What sealed the deal for Cosgrove was the chance with her natural comic timing. 

to work with a fellow comic performer she admired. For Fisher, she loved knowing that her character 

“Steve Carell is one of my favorite actors,” she says. would be getting a father of her own. She says, “I 

“So when I found out he was a part of the film, it was have a really great dad, so I know it’s important for 

icing on the cake. The whole story’s fun. I love that Agnes to have one too.” 

he’s the villain, and that the villain is the lead for once. One of the greatest finds of the production was 

Gru ends up having this amazing heart and being a when beloved actress Julie Andrews signed on to voice 

really nice guy in the end. I love stories like that. I also Gru’s demanding, never-pleased mother. At every 

liked being the oldest orphan, the one who is keeping opportunity, she’s poo-pooed Gru’s many successful 

it all together. I get to say a lot of witty, fun things.” diabolical ventures and let him know he’s never good 

Cast as the middle sister, Edith, was newcomer enough. Meledandri remembers his first meeting with 

Dana Gaier. Describing Edith, the young actress says: the legend: “When we asked Julie to become involved 

“She’s mischievous and sarcastic. She’s really a in the movie, her reaction was an initial excitement, and 

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 explore. 

It’s all in fun for 

me and for Edith. We 

really love our sisters.” 

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

– 17 –

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

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 

then a resistance when she learned about the character. to play a nasty, terrible mom, it would be Julie 

She plays a character in this film that is almost the anti- Andrews. But she’s fantastic.” He deadpans: “Maybe 

Mary Poppins, someone who is a mean and nasty and there’s a side of her that’s really awful, and it comes 

demanding mother.” 

out in this movie.” 

Writers Paul and Daurio had imagined a mother Helping to bring Gru’s plans to fruition and protect 

who wants her son to be the best that he can be, but who his fortress from interlopers (be they girls selling 

is also a woman with a quite awful parenting methodology. 

“Julie’s response was that not only had she never scientist-in-residence, Dr. Nefario. Brought onto the 

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

played anybody like this, but that she had never met production to voice the dotty and hearing-impaired 

anybody remotely like this,” Meledandri continues. inventor was British comic performer Russell Brand. 

“That initial resistance very quickly turned into her Brand explains that he tried different vocal tones 

excitement about taking on a challenge and performing with the filmmakers until they found one that fit the 

a role that was unlike anything she had done before.” character they’d imagined. “I looked at how Nefario 

When describing our super-villain’s often scowling, walks and how he thinks and tried to have a reaction to 

nagging kickboxer of a mother, Andrews laughs: “Gru’s it. He sounds sort of like a Ray Winstone-y gangster, but 

mother is a terrible lady. I was sometimes appalled at what with a mellowness underneath. I also had to add some 

my character was trying to do, and sometimes it cracked age to the voice. I made a vocal cake out of vibrations 

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

to trust Renaud and Coffin’s vision. “The film has such The role of the raging, blustering Mr. Perkins was 

heart,” the actress notes. “Ultimately, it’s about the power given to Carell’s fellow Horton Hears a Who! comic 

of love and about the wonder that children have. These voice talent, Will Arnett. The actor, who has a number 

three little children have no idea that there’s such a thing of animated films—from Ratatouille to Monsters vs. 

as evil or anything else. They just want to be loved.” Aliens—to his credit, had to delve into his wicked side 

Just as Carell adopted a curious accent for his character, 

so did Andrews find a signature voice. Of Gru’s manager. Perkins wants nothing more than to see the 

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

mother’s vocals, she explains: “Her voice ends up being loan-seeking Gru grovel at his feet while his own son, 

a little European and a little bit Jewish, German, Middle Vector, beats Gru in their race to steal the moon. 

– 18 –

“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 afternoon 

of finding 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 performers 

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 production 

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 –

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

provides a dynamic movement 

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 

tures of human characters. They’ve been designed by to one of its first drawings. Offers Renaud: “One of 

one of the great CG character designers, CARTER the first things Eric designed was Gru’s car, which 

GOODRICH, who among many other films designed remains identical to the way he originally drew it. We 

the characters for Ratatouille. There is sophistication looked at that car and said, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a 

to the design language of this film that at first glance car like that before!’ The world grew out of that in a 

might skew a little bit older. The environments are weird way. That was the image we first started referring 

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

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

Producer Healy, who has worked with designer When they imagined how Gru would move, directors 

Renaud and Coffin were inspired by physical 

Goodrich before, admits: “I love how complex, 

humorous and interesting Carter’s character designs comedians from Peter Sellers to Rowan Atkinson. 

are. He captures so much about humanity in each of The super-villain is a towering presence with hunched 

his drawings; he is just prolific. What I love about shoulders and a hooked nose. But when he needs to 

the characters he designed is that there is a huge do so, Gru can move with the grace of a cat. Tonally, 

range of types, but the people all inhabit the same the filmmakers created a “Spy vs. Spy” world in 

world. Carter’s work demonstrates the diversity in which Gru would be subject to all sorts of explosions 

our world, and he always gives us a unique twist of and attacks—from rocket launchers to domestic 

personality. His people have appeal, and I want to sharks—and live to fight again. 

know more about them. That’s always a good start for It was clear to all involved that they had no 

building a character performance.” 

interest in creating a universe for Gru and his 

Reflecting upon the art director, she adds: “Eric has extended family and foes that had a photorealistic 

a sense of fun and humor in all of his designs. His color quality to it. They wanted the film to have a unique 

palette is sophisticated and not overly flashy, allowing color palette and a distinct stylization. But the details 

the shapes and whimsy to be at the forefront. He can within the world would need to be quite striking in 

draw in many styles, and all of them have a freshness their hyperrealism—an incredulous fantasyland for a 

and a unique appeal. Eric strongly contrasts shapes in super-villain that was populated with very true-tolife 

his compositions, and the variety of the linework details. 

– 20 –

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 progressively 

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 confidence 

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 spoiledrotten 

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 neighborhood 

where the only blight on the neighborhood is his 

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

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.” 

Gru and his minions are on an ambitious mission. 

– 21 –

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

Adorable Gibberish: 

Amassing a Minion Army 

Born out of the animation process were the scenestealers 

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 technically 

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 

Conversely, Meledandri explains of Gru’s rival’s funny brains and imaginations of Chris and Pierre. 

lair: “His nemesis, Vector, is a rich-kid brat who has Once they gave them names and special funny hairstyles—and 

decided who was a monoc or a binoc— 

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

state-of-the-art massive video game console, which the personalities of the minions started to emerge. I 

has been paid for by his rich banker father. The had trouble remembering who was Jerry or Dave or 

dueling styles are reflective of the character conflict Tim, but the directors always knew. The scenes just 

that’s going on between these two guys.” 

kept getting more special, and the fact that all minions 

are similar is what makes them funny.” 

– 22 – 

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.

“Pierre works very quickly to present his ideas visually, 

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 characters, 

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. 

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 directors 

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 consciously 

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 sequences 

in the film where we simply take advantage of the 

Space for 

Comedy: 

Shooting 

in 3-D 

Gru sits miserably through the girls’ ballet class. 

– 23 –

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

seeing the importance 

of 3-D and 

how the audiences 

embraced it. Having 

an element that is 

completely built 

creates a cool experience. 

The thing 

with designing in this 

media is that you 

can’t trick the camera, 

so everything 

has got to be there 

for it to feel like a 

true experience.” 

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 audience 

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 

– 24 – 

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.”

As Illumination was building its production 

process, it set out to create a very efficient, streamlined 

approach to make the first of its films. 

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 secondto-none. 

What’s interesting 

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 recognized 

that Mac Guff 

had a uniquely talented crew and a very stable, fullfeatured 

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 –

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

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 

work at every stage was the key difference between some sessions were recorded in Paris while actors 

how we were used to working and how European were in Los Angeles. Explains Renaud: “We did 

studios have usually worked in the past.” 

our first few sessions with each actor in person, so 

When it came to the process discussions—such that we could work out who the character is.” Once 

as translating artwork to modeling in CG, how Renaud and Coffin were in Paris, the filmmakers 

rough layouts would get in stereo, or how animation 

would be approved—the team had similar one another and try different takes of the dialogue 

and actors iChatted or Skyped so they could see 

expectations and a mutual understanding of the reads. “It was very important to us to read the 

workflow. There were about 14 departments that actors’ body language,” Renaud notes. 

worked in CG, and the artists had unique specialties. The production crew connected Renaud and 

As well, the many dependencies between departments 

made management of the duties complex. they could hear each of the actor’s performances. 

Coffin to a high-quality ISDN audio line so that 

Initially, workflow conversations took some time, The actors recorded the audio in Los Angeles, 

but the crew members approached the CG manufacturing 

work similarly and found that their ways With the nine-hour time difference, production 

which was then delivered to the studio in Paris. 

of problem solving and past experiences shared ran on a 24-hour cycle, as teams worked 

much in common. 

constantly on two sides of the ocean. 

With the American team taking French lessons Working with a director via Skype was a new 

and French crew members taking English lessons, it experience for some of the talent. “It was pretty 

was an education for crew on both sides of the crazy having the director all the way in 

Atlantic. Whenever Meledandri addressed the team Paris…strange to work with somebody but not be 

as a whole, an interpreter was used. Of the global in the same room with them physically,” recalls 

company, the producer adds: “We’ve got an McBrayer. He laughs: “I think they were nine hours 

American director and a French director. We’ve had ahead, so they could tell the future.” 

crew working in Canada, New Jersey, Los Angeles 

and the Midwest. We had numerous nationalities 

– 26 –

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 blockbuster 

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 bestselling 

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 animation 

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 embellished 

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 

this track that 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 unforgettable 

scores for live-action blockbusters 

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 –

ABOUT THE 

CAST 

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 correspondent 

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 Outstanding 

Motion Pictures of the Year and it took 

home Best Comedy Movie at the 11 th annual Critics’ 

Choice Awards. The film also earned Carell and 

Apatow a co-nomination for Best Original Screenplay 

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 20 th 

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

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

– 29 – 

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 ® nomination 

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.

JASON SEGEL (Vector) most recently starred On the television front, Segel is in his fifth year starring 

as Marshall, opposite Alyson Hannigan, Josh 

opposite Paul Rudd as a quirky, 

alpha-male stockbroker named Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris, in the CBS hit comedy 

Sydney Fife in the box-office series How I Met Your Mother. TV Guide recently 

hit I Love You, Man, for pegged it as a “returning favorite” and it was touted by 

Paramount Pictures. With John Time magazine as one of the “Ten Best Shows of 2005.” 

Hamburg (Meet the Parents) as However, it was his recurring role as Eric on Undeclared, 

writer/ director/producer and the FOX series about college freshmen that was 

Donald De Line (The Italian named one of Time magazine’s “Ten Best Shows of 

Job) also producing, the team 2001,” that first put him in the minds and hearts of television 

viewers. 

produced a film full of laughout-loud 

awkwardness, managing to turn Segel and In 1999, Segel portrayed Nick on Freaks and Geeks, 

Rudd into a memorable comedic duo. The film grossed Judd Apatow’s Emmy Award-nominated television series 

more than $71 million at the domestic box office. for NBC. Segel played a lanky, fun-loving freak dreaming 

Segel landed his first major motion picture starring 

role as Peter in Universal Pictures’ Forgetting Bonham of Led Zeppelin, and won the eye of Apatow. 

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

Sarah Marshall, which he also wrote. Released in Segel just wrapped the highly anticipated remake of 

April 2008, produced by Judd Apatow and Shauna Gulliver’s Travels, starring alongside Jack Black and 

Robertson, and directed by Nicholas Stoller, the film opposite Emily Blunt. The film is scheduled to be 

went on to make more than $100 million worldwide released in December 2010. 

and led Segel’s writing skills to be desired by many Segel was born and raised in Los Angeles and 

studios. Segel, along with Stoller, signed with Disney continues to reside there. 

to write and direct the next Muppets film. Segel wrote 

a Dracula musical performed by puppets, which was RUSSELL BRAND (Dr. Nefario) recently brought 

a personal idea and passion he incorporated into 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall that emboldened him to 

character Aldous Snow back to 

pitch his concept for a Muppets movie. 

life in Universal Pictures’ 

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

comedy Get Him to the Greek. 

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

Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 

Greek, in which Jonah Hill and Russell Brand 

which was written by and 

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

starred Jason Segel, grossed 

Nicholas Stoller, was released in June 2010. 

more than $100 million at the 

In June 2007, Segel was summoned by Apatow to 

worldwide box office. The 

share the great success of the comedy Knocked Up, 

year 2008 also saw Brand star 

with stars Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd and in the Disney film Bedtime Stories, which also featured 

Leslie Mann. The film grossed more than $140 million Adam Sandler and Keri Russell. It was in September 

domestically and won the People’s Choice Award for 2008 that Brand cemented his fame in the U.S., when he 

Favorite Movie Comedy. Segel’s feature film credits hosted the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA). 

also include Slackers, New Jersey Turnpikes, SLC The year 2009 saw the U.S. release of Brand’s writing 

Punk!, Can’t Hardly Wait and Dead Man on Campus. debut “My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and 

– 30 –

Stand-Up.” The autobiography, already a huge success and Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things, opposite Ryan 

in the United Kingdom, went on to stay on The New York Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella. She also 

Times best-seller list for five weeks in a row. Continuing contributed her voice to the recently released animated 

his stand-up tour in the U.S., Brand’s third live DVD was feature film How to Train Your Dragon, starring Gerard 

released after originally airing on Comedy Central. The Butler and Jay Baruchel, for DreamWorks Animation. 

year 2009 ended on an even brighter note for Brand Wiig made her big-screen debut to universal high 

when he assumed the role as host of the MTV Video praise as Katherine Heigl’s passive-aggressive boss in 

Music Awards for the second year in a row and garnered Judd Apatow’s smash-hit comedy Knocked Up. Her 

the biggest VMA audience since 2004, with nearly nine additional film credits include Mike Judge’s Extract, 

million viewers. 

with Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck and Mila Kunis; Drew 

Brand recently started production on the remake Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It, starring Ellen 

of Arthur, in which he takes on the role of the title Page; Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, with Ryan 

character for Warner Bros. In addition, he is due to Reynolds, Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg; David 

take on the voice of the Easter Bunny in the Koepp’s Ghost Town, with Ricky Gervais; and Jake 

Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment liveaction/CGI-animated 

hybrid comedy Hop, opposite Apatow-produced film in which she starred opposite 

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

James Marsden. 

John C. Reilly. 

In addition to acting, Brand continues to work on his Wiig’s past television credits include guest-starring 

second book. 

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

series Bored to Death, with Jason Schwartzman, and 

A comedic star born from the Saturday Night Live HBO’s The Flight of the Conchords. 

stage, KRISTEN WIIG (Miss A native of Rochester, New York, Wiig worked as a 

Hattie) has become one of the main company member of the Los Angeles-based 

most sought-after talents in improv/sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings. As a 

film and television today. Wiig Groundlings alumna, she joins the ranks of such SNL 

recently earned her first Emmy castmates as Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, 

nomination for Outstanding Will Forte and Jon Lovitz. 

Supporting Actress in a Comedy 

Series for her incredible 

Wiig lives in New York City. 

work playing such memorable MIRANDA COSGROVE (Margo) is one of Hollywood’s 

hottest young stars. 

characters as the excitable 

Target Lady, Lawrence Welk singer Doonese, the hilarious 

one-upper Penelope, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 

on the Emmy Award-nomi- 

She can currently be seen 

and Suze Orman, among others. 

nated iCarly, Nickelodeon’s 

Wiig will soon start production as the lead in an 

highest-rated live-action show. 

untitled comedy that she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo. 

A January 2010 episode titled 

She was recently seen in MacGruber, in which she 

“iSaved Your Life” attracted 12 

starred opposite fellow SNL cast member Will Forte and 

million viewers, beating out its 

Ryan Phillippe. Her upcoming films include Greg 

time slot competition on both 

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

broadcast and cable television. 

– 31 –

The episode also has the distinction of being the most Cosgrove’s voice-over credits include Here Comes 

watched telecast on cable that entire week. On the show, Peter Cottontail: The Movie (as Munch the mouse) and 

Cosgrove stars in the title role (Carly Shay) as a teenager What’s New, Scooby-Doo (as Miranda Wright). 

who lives with her twenty-something brother/guardian She is also one of the faces of Neutrogena, alongside 

Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere, Susie Castillo, 

and produces webcasts from a makeshift loft studio 

with her two best friends. Not only is the show a success Vanessa Hudgens, Jennifer Garner, Diane Lane and 

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

iCarly has won the Kids’ Choice Award (KCA) for In her spare time, Cosgrove enjoys horseback 

Favorite TV Show, the Australia KCA for Favorite riding, fencing, bike riding, tennis, shopping, traveling 

and writing. Born and raised in Los Angeles, 

Comedy and the Germany KCA for Favorite TV Show. 

Cosgrove received Kids Choice Award nominations she currently lives there with her family. 

for Favorite Television Actress in 2009 and 2010 and a 

Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice TV Actress: WILL ARNETT (Mr. Perkins) has been an 

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

extremely busy man of late. He 

Year Award in 2010; received a nomination for Favorite 

can currently be seen in the 

International TV Star from the 2008 Australia Kids’ 

Warner Bros. and Legendary 

Choice Awards; and received a nomination for Favorite 

Pictures Western action film 

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

Jonah Hex, based on the DC 

Awards. iCarly was nominated for a Creative Arts 

comic of the same name. In the 

Emmy Award in 2009 and a Teen Choice Award in 

film, Arnett stars opposite 

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

Megan Fox, Josh Brolin and 

Cosgrove recently signed with Columbia Records 

John Malkovich. This fall, he 

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

will return to television on 

four original songs that she sings. Her debut solo FOX’s much anticipated new comedy series Running 

album, “Sparks Fly,” hit stores on April 27, 2010. She Wilde, opposite of Keri Russell. Arnett will play an 

co-wrote the first single, “Kissin’ U,” with influential extremely wealthy Beverly Hills man who falls for an 

producer Dr. Luke. 

environmental activist. He will star and write for the 

She received rave reviews for her work in Richard series alongside writer/director Mitchell Hurwitz. 

Linklater’s School of Rock as Summer Hathaway, the Arnett was most recently seen starring in the Walt 

overachieving preppy manager of Jack Black’s rock Disney Pictures’ romantic comedy When in Rome, 

band. Her other film credits include Yours, Mine and opposite Kristen Bell, and in the live-action/CGI film 

Ours and Keeping Up With the Steins. Her theater G-Force, opposite Penélope Cruz, Nicolas Cage, 

credits include Back Again, with the Orison group. Steve Buscemi and Zach Galifianakis, for Disney and 

Cosgrove got her big break when she landed the Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Last year, he voiced a character 

in DreamWorks’ hugely successful, 3-D ani- 

highly sought-after role of Megan Parker on 

Nickelodeon’s megahit Drake & Josh. She played the mated adventure film Monsters vs. Aliens, alongside 

deceptively sweet, mischievous little sister whose Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen, 

scene-stealing role led to her own show, iCarly. She which opened at No. 1 at the box office. He also 

recently appeared in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh starred in the basketball comedy Semi-Pro, opposite 

on Nickelodeon. 

Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson, and lent his voice 

– 32 –

to the hugely successful, animated comedy Horton DANNY MCBRIDE (Fred McDade) first gained 

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

industry awareness with his 

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

starring role in David Gordon 

skating comedy Blades of Glory, and co-starred 

Green’s All the Real Girls, 

opposite Will Forte in The Brothers Solomon. 

winner of the 2003 Special 

In 2006, Arnett earned his first Emmy nomination 

Jury Prize at the Sundance 

for his work on the critically acclaimed FOX sitcom 

Film Festival. However, it 

Arrested Development, in which he portrayed Gob Bluth 

was when he returned in 2006 

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

with the Sundance Film 

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

Festival’s smash-hit comedy 

year, he earned his second Emmy nomination for Outstanding 

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the role. became a known name in Hollywood and desired by 

The Foot Fist Way that he 

Arnett also lent his voice to FOX’s animated sitcom Sit its top producers and directors. McBride, who starred 

Down, Shut Up, from creator Mitchell Hurwitz in and co-wrote the film with longtime friends and 

Before Arrested Development, Arnett was a regular college classmates Jody Hill (Observe and Report) 

on the NBC comedy series The Mike O’Malley Show. and Ben Best (Superbad), caught the attention of Will 

His additional television credits include guest-starring Ferrell and Adam McKay after it debuted at 

roles on Parks and Recreation, Sex and the City, The Sundance. The film was supported by Ferrell and 

Sopranos, Boston Public, Third Watch and Law & McKay’s banner, Gary Sanchez Productions, and was 

Order: Special Victims Unit. Arnett also appeared on released by Paramount Vantage in May 2008. The Los 

NBC’s Will & Grace, in which he played Jack’s dance Angeles Times proclaimed the film “the sort of nimble 

nemesis while auditioning to become a backup dancer oddball discovery that one wishes would come along 

for Janet Jackson. 

more often,” while USA Today remarked that “Foot 

Arnett’s other feature credits include Ice Age: The Fist is more original and comical than such lowbudget 

sleeper hits as Napoleon Dynamite and Hot 

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

Law; The Waiting Game; The Broken Giant; Southie; Fuzz.” The Austin Film Critics Association bestowed 

and Ed’s Next Move. Additionally, he can be heard in McBride with its 2008 Breakthrough Artist Award for 

a variety of commercials, most notably as the voice of his role in the film. 

GMC trucks. 

McBride continued his success in 2008, starring 

Arnett currently resides in Los Angeles, where he opposite Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) and James Franco 

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

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 Comedy 

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 Apatowproduced 

comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 

directed by Nicholas Stoller. He was also seen opposite 

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 nominations 

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 performing 

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 “entertaining” 

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 

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. 

“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 

JULIE ANDREWS (Gru’s Mom) has been a 

beloved and much honored 

star of stage, screen and television 

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 

Tony Awards). In September 2009, Gaier performed at 

nanny brought her an 

the Perry Awards ceremony, reprising her role as JoJo. 

She also enjoyed making two national television 

appearances on Nickelodeon’s ME:TV. 

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 unforgettable 

portrayal of Maria von Trapp in The Sound of 

Music. She received her third Academy Award ® nomination 

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 Andrews, already an accomplished best-selling 

of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits Shrek 2 and author (1971’s “Mandy,” 1974’s “The Last of the Really 

Shrek the Third. More recently, she voiced the narration Great Whangdoodles”), has joined talents with her 

of the hugely successful Disney film Enchanted, The daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton to pursue the 

Tooth Fairy and Shrek the Final Chapter. 

publishing of books committed to stimulating a sense of 

Her earlier motion picture credits also include The wonder in children and young readers. “The Julie 

Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Thoroughly Modern Andrews’ Collection” was launched in October 2003 

Millie, Star!, Darling Lili and 10, to name only a few. and has released more than 25 books to date, including 

Andrews was born and raised in England, where she the “Little Bo” series, the “Dumpy the Dumptruck” 

first came to fame as a young musical performer on franchise, “The Great American Mousical,” “Thanks to 

stage and on radio. She was still in her teens when she You: Wisdom From Mother & Child” and “Simeon’s 

made her way across the Atlantic and to Broadway in Gift” (the musical adaptation of which toured parts of 

her 1953 debut in the musical The Boy Friend. She went the U.S. in 2008 and will go out on a world tour in 2010). 

on to create the role of Eliza Doolittle in Lerner and Andrews’ autobiography “Home: A Memoir of My 

Loewe’s Broadway musical My Fair Lady, which Early Years” was released in April 2008 to rave reviews 

became an instant classic and the longest-running and immediately climbed to No. 1 on The New York 

musical of its day. Andrews also won a New York Times best-seller list as well as several other prestigious 

Drama Critics’ Circle Award and garnered a Tony lists in the U.S. and abroad. 

Award nomination for her performance. She received In addition to her stage and screen work, Andrews 

another Tony Award nomination in 1961 when she originated 

the role of Queen Guenevere in the Lerner and important causes including Operation USA, an inter- 

has dedicated her life to her family and to serving 

Loewe musical Camelot. Thirty-five years later, national relief organization with which she has traveled 

to such places as Vietnam and Cambodia. From 

Andrews returned to Broadway to star in the 1995 stage 

adaptation of Victor Victoria. Her career came full circle 1992 to 2006, Andrews was honored as the Goodwill 

in 2005 when she directed a revival of The Boy Friend, Ambassador for the United Nations Development 

which toured throughout North America. 

Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which provides financial 

and technical support for low-income women in 

Andrews has also been honored for her work on 

television, beginning in 1957 with her Emmy-nominated 

performance in the title role of Rodgers and Andrews received her honors as a Dame of the 

developing countries. 

Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella. She later won an British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 

Emmy Award for her own musical variety series, The New Year’s Eve 1999. She was also a 2001 Kennedy 

Julie Andrews Hour, and also earned Emmy nominations 

for Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center (with her lection, please go to www.julieandrewscollection.com. 

Center Honoree. For more about Andrews and her col- 

“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. 

– 36 –

ABOUT THE 

FILMMAKERS 

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 Productions, 

where he oversaw all 

aspects of the animation 

process, including character 

development, creating concept storyboards and managing 

teams of digital modellers and artists. 

He progressed to Blue Sky Studios/20 th 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 storyboarded 

the animated short No Time for Nuts, overseeing 

every creative aspect of production, including 

design, layout, lighting, rendering, music composition 

and sound design. No Time for Nuts was nominated 

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 Amblimation, 

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 prizewinning 

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 –

CHRIS MELEDANDRI (Produced by) is the 

founder (2008) and CEO of 

Illumination Entertainment, 

which makes broad audience 

films. The independent company 

has an exclusive financing 

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 20 th 

Century Fox for 13 years. While there, he became 

founding president of 20 th Century Fox Animation, 

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 production 

for several years and, while there, produced 

Shark Tale. 

In 2008, Healy joined Chris Meledandri as he was 

beginning his new venture, Illumination Entertainment, 

for Universal Pictures. 

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 

JOHN COHEN (Produced by) previously worked 

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

player in the world of animated feature films and in 

of 20 th Century Fox Animation, he worked 

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. 

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, upcoming 

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. 

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 

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 environmental-themed 

children’s book, which is scheduled 

for release in March 2012. 

Paul and his writing partner, Ken Daurio, are the 

hot Hollywood screenwriting team who penned the 

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 graduated 

summa cum laude with a degree in English. 

Upon moving to Los Angeles, he attended the screenwriting 

program at the University of Southern 

California, winning a fellowship grant to pay for his 

second year. 

Horton Hears a Who! screenplay for executive Chris 

Meledandri during his tenure at 20 th Century Fox. As 3-D productions are on the way to becoming 

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 entertainment 

industry for their unique pitching style, 

often singing their pitches to high-level studio executives. 

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 

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 environmentalthemed 

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 20 th 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 entertainment 

industry for their unique pitching style, 

often singing their pitches to high-level studio executives. 

For the Disney film College Road Trip, they 

– 39 –

elted out the ’80s tune “Double Dutch Bus,” complete 

with harmony and melody. An estimated 90 visor on Asterix and the Vikings and Nocturna; was the 

He was a supervising animator and team super- 

percent of their pitches in the last nine years have art supervisor on Simon and Schuster’s “Trucktown”; 

involved a musical performance. 

was the character designer and team supervisor for 

Daurio met Paul while working on a church Blue Sky Studios’ Rio; and is currently the supervision 

animator and team supervisor on Moon- 

musical and they bonded immediately. In 1999, they 

sold their first screenplay, Special, which they later scoop’s Titeuf. 

turned into a short film that played the festival 

circuit due to the dark comedic storyline. Next came NINA ROWAN (Executive Producer) is a leader 

the 2001 cult classic Bubble Boy, which starred Jake in the field of CGI. As the producer of the 1998 

Gyllenhaal as Jimmy Livingston (a boy without an Academy Award ® -winning Best Animated Short 

immune system), a twisted take on the John Travolta Film, Bunny, Rowan is known for her expert knowledge 

of computer animation and her skill in devel- 

television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Paul 

and Daurio also had the distinct honor of being oping teams that can tackle innovative and complex 

handpicked by Audrey Geisel (the widow of animated projects. 

Theodor Seuss Geisel) to pen Horton Hears a Who! Rowan is the founder and CEO of Plushy Feely 

and The Lorax film projects on behalf of the estate Corp (PFC). PFC is a children’s toy and multimedia 

of Dr. Seuss. 

company that focuses on building self-esteem and 

Upon graduating from high school, Daurio began confidence in kids through creative educational products 

and animated entertainment. She invented and 

directing music videos for up-and-coming bands like 

Blink 182, AFI and Jimmy Eat World. More than 100 launched a line of award-winning educational plush 

music videos later, he teamed up with Cinco Paul to toys called Kimochis—Toys With Feelings Inside that 

write his first feature script. Daurio and Paul are are being sold by specialty retailers across the 

now one of Hollywood’s most sought-after screenwriting 

teams. 

purpose that focus on promoting social and emotional 

country. PFC is dedicated to creating products with a 

learning for parents and children. 

SERGIO PABLOS (Based on a Story by/ Rowan is currently the president of TOT Industries, 

located in Marin County, California. For the 

Executive Producer) was born in Barcelona, Spain, 

and studied character animation at the California past four years, she has helped develop and expand 

Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He is the TOT Industries into becoming a leader in the family 

creative director and CEO of Animagic SL, based in entertainment industry, focusing on the creative and 

Madrid. Some of his early animation work includes technical aspects of original content development for 

Batman: The Animated Series, Winnie the Pooh and books, animated feature films and animation television 

productions. She is currently producing a series 

Christmas Too!, A Goof Troop Christmas and A 

Goofy Movie. 

of children’s books for Simon & Schuster titled 

Pablos also worked on the Disney films The “Trucktown,” created by renowned children’s book 

Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan and author Jon Scieszka. “Trucktown” has appeared on 

Treasure Planet. For his work on Treasure Planet, The New York Times’ Children’s Best-Sellers list. 

Pablos was nominated for an Annie Award for Prior to TOT, Rowan joined Wild Brain in May of 

Outstanding Character Animation. 

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 maintaining 

high production value, Rowan has cultivated 

relationships with some of the world’s top overseas 

animation studios and has delivered high-quality animation 

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 

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. 

and live-action productions. During her tenure at Wild 

Brain, she sold an original television series idea to the YARROW CHENEY (Production Designer) 

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 animation. 

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 

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 Entertainment 

as production designer for Despicable Me. 

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. 

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 commercials, 

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 animation 

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. 

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 oneman 

conglomerate with business ventures including his 

clothing lines Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream; an 

eco-fabric company called Bionic Yarn; artistic collaborations 

with Murakami and the Emmanuel Perrotin 

GREGORY PERLER (Edited by) is a film Gallery; and a jewelry line with Louis Vuitton. 

editor who has lived and worked in Los Angeles for 

20 years. A New York University film school graduate, 

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 

HEITOR PEREIRA (Score by) is establishing a 

reputation for bringing international flavors to mainstream 

American scores. From a Santa Monica studio 

jammed with hundreds of instruments from around the 

nominated for an Academy Award ® for Best world, Pereira has composed scores for It’s Complicated, 

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. 

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-turnedfilm-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 

Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/ producer 

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 

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 entertained 

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 –

NOTES 

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NOTES 

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NOTES 

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NOTES 

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Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

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