How Minions Went From Facebook Slop to Hollywood’s Box Office Heroes

The newest addition to the Despicable Me cinematic universe, Minions and Monsters, is set to open a record-breaking Annecy Film Festival on Sunday. More than 18,000 festival attendees will have the opportunity to begin their week-long film screening spree with some of big-screen animation’s most recognizable characters: the Minions.

Minions, the bright yellow pill-shaped comedic relief sidekicks who made their on-screen debut in 2010’s Despicable Me, are now the heart of a seemingly never-ending multimillion dollar franchise. So how did Illumination’s poster children make it to the top spot? The answer is far more nuanced than the Minions’ crowd-pleasing antics and inoffensive art design; they are vessels for some of the studio’s best storytelling. 

For most of their early years, Minions were mostly recognizable from their abundance in trenches of Facebook meme culture. Images of a mischievous Minion smiling and posing innocently under phrases like “Exercise? I thought you said extra fries!” were the peak of Minion iconography following the release of the first Despicable Me. 

After 2013’s Despicable Me 2, a film where the Minions were much more central to the plot, the brightly colored creatures began to move toward the driver’s seat of the Despicable Me franchise. They got their own movie, simply titled Minions, just two years later, which explored the origins of the Minions (who are millions of years old, according to the film). 

Minions made over $1.1 billion at the global box office, and earned more than both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 in its opening weekend ($115 million compared to $56 million and $83 million, respectively). The Minions sequel, Minions: Rise of Gru, although not crossing the $1 billion mark at the global box office, made the most domestically of any film in the Despicable Me franchise at over $370 million. 

Despite neither Minions movie achieving the same positive critical reception of the first two Despicable Me films, they have scored higher than both Despicable Me 3 and 4 on IMDb, Metacritic, and Letterboxd. Additionally, their huge numbers at the box office hint at more than just success for a kids movie. 

Gen Z fans have rallied behind the Minions, joining ranks with parents who don’t know what to do with their kids over the summer. Both Despicable Me 1 and 2 are some of the first movies many Gen Z fans saw in theaters when they were young, and the Minions movies have capitalized on that nostalgia factor. The Rise of Gru is the best example of this; it took Gru, the central protagonist who kicked off Despicable Me’s success, and crossed his villain origin story with the globe-trotting journeys of the Minions. The central intersection, while providing an engaging narrative to unite Gru with his iconic sidekicks, also jumps on all the things Gen Z fans who remember the first film in the franchise fondly want to see on the big screen. Gru’s character arc, which focuses on his outsider status and frequent victim of both bullying and emotional neglect, are things many Gen Zers can empathize with. 

Some Gen Z support for the franchise is most certainly intended to be ironic or humorous. A quick scroll through the Minions Instagram account will showcase many users commenting internet slang familiar to younger fans and jokes attempting to feign eagerness to see the next Minions film. Even the Facebook memes that serve as the origin of Minion cultural hegemony have evolved into the strange online humor characteristic of Gen Z content creators; instead of “Exercise? I thought you said extra fries!”, Minion memes now are just a grainy photo where a less-than-happy looking Minion stares blankly at the camera, or even a Minion being crucified (“Grucified,” according to TikTok users). 

Even if it’s ironic, however, the support for the Minions ultimately maintains their position as a centerpiece in Hollywood’s collection of crown jewel animated franchises. A film with Minions in it guarantees success, and their proliferation both online and in theaters cements one truth: Minions won’t stop being summer blockbuster kingmakers any time soon.