Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

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.
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