Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

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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 –
Page 1 and 2: UNIVERSAL PICTURES Presents A CHRIS
Page 3 and 4: Story Artists . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: EPHRAÏM DROUET PIERRE GOBILLARD S
Page 7 and 8: RICK GIOVINAZZO KEVIN KASKA Music P
Page 9 and 10: (L to R) Edith (DANA GAIER), Gru (S
Page 11 and 12: live-action and animated films that
Page 13 and 14: Coffin comes to this side of the in
Page 15 and 16: their young son. Armed with wild cl
Page 17: As the most suspicious of the orpha
Page 21 and 22: Gru is deliciously wicked, and his
Page 23 and 24: “Pierre works very quickly to pre
Page 25 and 26: As Illumination was building its pr
Page 27 and 28: Having a Bad, Bad Day: Music of Des
Page 29 and 30: ABOUT THE CAST STEVE CARELL (Gru) h
Page 31 and 32: Stand-Up.” The autobiography, alr
Page 33 and 34: to the hugely successful, animated
Page 35 and 36: DANA GAIER (Edith) is a 12-year-old
Page 37 and 38: ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS Having worked
Page 39 and 40: Before joining Fox, Cohen worked at
Page 41 and 42: generated animation and visual effe
Page 43 and 44: of the producer of the band Simply
Page 45 and 46: NOTES - 45 -
Page 47: NOTES - 47 -

Production Notes & Screen Credits - SYE Publicity

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