FILM · 2010 · USA
Despicable Me
- Directed by
- Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Studio
- Illumination, Universal Pictures
77 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Determined to prove he's the world's greatest supervillain, Gru hatches an audacious plan to steal the Moon. To pull it off, he adopts three orphaned girls—Margo, Edith, and Agnes—intending to use them as pawns in his scheme. But the unexpected bond they form forces him to question the criminal life he's always known.
77 Interesting Facts About Despicable Me
Interesting Facts (51)
- #001
As Gru floats through space and circles the Moon, the number on his "Swan Lake" ticket can be read: 072069. July 20, 1969 was the date of the first Moon landing, which Gru watches in the flashbacks.
- #002
During recording sessions, Elsie Fisher's father would sometimes creep up behind her and tickle her to make her laugh.
- #003
The bedtime story "Sleepy Kittens" was turned into a real tie-in board book you could buy, though it doesn't come with the pull-out brush seen in the film.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
Once the girls' bedroom has been made cozier, the camera angle reveals some of the famous paintings Gru has stolen: Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" hangs on the wall, and Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" leans against the wall on the floor.
- #005
Gru's application to adopt the girls gives his first name as Felonious.
- #006
Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud voiced the Minions, which is why their babble mixes French and English at the same time.
- #007
The Minions were first meant to look more like human henchmen, but the studio didn't have the money for that, so they were redesigned to be short.
- #008
As Gru walks into the "Bank of Evil," the words "Formerly Lehman Brothers" can be seen above the door. Lehman Brothers was one of the world's largest investment banks; its mismanagement, fraud and other practices brought about its own collapse and cost the global market billions, and the firm was widely seen as a villain.
- #009
Throughout the film, Dr. Seuss's Lorax can be seen printed on the shirt Margo wears under her jacket.
- #010
Steve Carell describes Gru's accent as a cross between Ricardo Montalban and Bela Lugosi.
- #011
According to the state adoption file on the computer, Gru was born on September 28, 1960, which means he was eight when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon (July 20, 1969).
- #012
Contains a major spoiler — show
May 26, the day the film revolves around, is the day of the girls' dance recital, the day the Moon is stolen and the day of the big chase that turns Gru and the girls into a family; it is also the birthday of Steve Carell's daughter Annie. Steve and his wife Nancy's first child, Elisabeth Anne Carell, was born on Saturday, May 26, 2001. In 2008 he said: "When Elisabeth Anne was born six years ago, something broke inside me and my perspective on what matters changed overnight."
- #013
Despicable Me was the very first feature from Illumination Entertainment.
- #014
In the dance scene, D. J. Minion uses a "Gru-ray disc" player with the same colors and lettering as a Blu-ray player.
- #015
When Gru walks into the bank, a sign reading "we are always alert to all your needs" can be seen at the reception desk while the receptionist sleeps.
- #016
Dame Julie Andrews was cast as Gru's mother precisely because her image was the polar opposite of the character. She turned it down at first, until she was talked into it.
- #017
Gru's look was modeled on Christopher Lloyd's Fester Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993).
- #018
Gru's profile resembles an Emperor Penguin's, which is fitting, since it's the male Emperor Penguin that looks after the chicks.
- #019
One of the pictures on the walls of Gru's house (on the left, by the front door, when the three girls first come in) is a "Wanted" poster for the notorious Wild West gunman and outlaw Jesse James.
- #020
Gru's name seems to come from the Russian military intelligence agency, the G. R. U., short for Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye (roughly, the Main Intelligence Directorate), the foreign military intelligence directorate of the Russian Armed Forces. It is Russia's largest intelligence agency, six times the size of the S. V. R. (formerly the K. G. B.), and the name may hint at Gru's own origins.
- #021
Gru's "jet" flies with Star Wars sound effects.
- #022
WILHELM SCREAM: Heard when Gru's mother (Dame Julie Andrews) kicks the punching bag and the karate instructor goes flying.
Despicable Me (2010): Gru's MotherImage: Wikimedia Commons · Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #023
Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) has a portrait in his office modeled on Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres's "Napoléon Bonaparte on his Imperial Throne".
- #024
Vector (Jason Segel) underpays the girls when they deliver his cookies. According to the clipboard Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) holds on their first visit, each box costs: Coconut, six dollars; Choco Swirlies, six dollars; Minty Mints, six dollars. Vector ordered four Minty Mints, fifteen Coconuts, two Candy Boxes and two Caramel Clumps. The Minty Mints and Coconuts alone would have come to one hundred and fourteen dollars, before the Candy Boxes and Caramel Clumps, so the fifty-two dollars the girls got was far short of what they were owed.
- #025
According to Mike Reiss's book "Springfield Confidential", Reiss named some of the Minions after writers on The Simpsons (1989): Stuart after J. Stewart Burns, Kevin after Kevin Curran and Bob after Bob Bendetson.
- #026
No fully animated Universal theatrical film had been rated PG by the M. P. A. A. before this one.
- #027
The scene of Nefario flying after Vector's ship to rescue Gru and the girls, saying "there he is," seems to nod to Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), where Lando Calrisian flies the Millenium Falcon beneath Cloud City to rescue Luke and also says "there he is." In both, someone is dangling precariously amid clouds in low, sunset-like light.
- #028
Behind Vector's house sits the Great Pyramid of Giza, which he has stolen, painted blue with white clouds to blend in with the sky.
- #029
Gru looks and moves a lot like Grimly Feendish, the British comic book character, who himself looks a lot like Uncle Fester from Charles Addams's cartoons.
- #030
Margo is named after Margo Chester from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Edith after Edith Bunker from All in the Family (1971), and Agnes after Agnes Gibson from The Honeymooners (1955).
- #031
Mr. Perkins, boss of the Bank of Evil, has two pointy tufts of hair, probably modeled on Dilbert's famous "Pointy-Haired Boss."
- #032
At the end, as the Minions cheer, two Minions in the corner of the screen shake hands and then kiss.
- #033
The roller coaster Gru and the girls ride at the amusement park looks like the Sandworm from Beetlejuice (1988).
- #034
The government adoption file on the computer gives Gru's date of birth as September 28, 1960, yet the details the Minions enter into the computer say Gru won a Nobel Prize in 1952.
- #035
The NBC logo sits atop the Jumbotron in Gru's lair, and the news program at the start is identified as MSNBC; Universal, NBC's parent company, released the film.
- #036
When Gru lays down the rules to the girls and holds up three, he uses the correct sign language gesture for that number, where most people use different fingers, suggesting Gru knows some sign language.
- #037
Over the Hedge (2006) and Horton Hears a Who! (2008) came first; this was Steve Carell's third animated film.
- #038
The man running the carnival game with the unicorn also appears as his younger self in the prequel Minions: The Rise of Gru, as the red-haired boy who trades his birthstone for a pet rock. Both times he walks away with the top of his head shaved after his run-in with Gru.
- #039
The nameplate on the DJ's turntable mixer reads MINIONMIX.
- #040
The Minions were first designed as large, hulking henchmen.
- #041
"When we got adopted by a bald guy, I thought it would be more like Annie," says Edith (Dana Gaier) when Gru (Steve Carell) first adopts her and her sisters. Gaier herself had played Annie in her school's eighth-grade production of "Annie."
- #042
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Gru first meets Miss Hattner to adopt the three girls, he claims to know Spanish and tells her, "Tiene un cara como un burro." She takes it as a compliment, until later, when the girls are taken back, Gru tells her he has bought an English-Spanish dictionary, and in the end he doesn't like it at all. The phrase means "You have a face like a donkey."
- #043
In January 2007, in the twelfth episode of the third season of The Office, Michael (Steve Carell) comes back from a vacation in Jamaica. As he shows his photos on a monitor, everyone spots his boss Jan in the corner of a picture at a beach bar. Michael denies it and invents a name as cover: "Grue." Dialogue: Pam: Oh my God. Is that Jan? [points at the same monitor] Everyone: What? Where? Pam: On the left. Everyone: Oh yeah, oh my God. Michael: No, no, no. No, that's a German woman named Urkel Grue.
- #044
It is the only Despicable Me film that originally opened with the 1997-2012 Universal Pictures logo.
- #045
Vector (Jason Segel) comes across as a cartoon version of Bill Gates.
- #046
Only The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) and The Tale of Despereaux (2008) came before it among Universal's computer-animated films, making it the studio's third.
- #047
When the Minions go to the store for the backup toy, one "baby" shakes a bottle of soda, sticks it in his mouth, and laughter breaks out. On the shelf behind him the bottle labels read "POP (then in much smaller letters) soda," with "POP" placed to make the cheeky word "POOP." Since the word "pop" needed for the joke is used specifically in a small part of the Upper Midwest or across most of Europe, it's safe to assume this was deliberate.
- #048
It is the only film in the series up to Minions: The Rise of Gru (2021) without John Cygan among the additional voices.
- #049
Universal Pictures had released only one animated film in July before this one: Jetsons: The Movie (1990).
- #050
It is the only Despicable Me/Minions film that uses the 1997-2012 Universal Pictures logo.
- #051
Steve Carell recorded a final line for Gru: "So, I'll be building my summer home on a more villainy house. Thank you." Gru was to say it after dancing to "You Should Be Dancing" with the girls, the Minions, his mother and Dr. Nefario, but it was cut from the final film.
Production Story (19)
- #052
Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud wrote a language for the gibberish the Minions speak throughout the film. They called it "minion-ese." Every word the Minions say in the film translates into a real word.
- #053
As Gru floats in space and orbits the Moon, we see that the number on Gru's "Swan Lake" ticket is 072069. July 20, 1969, is the date of the first Moon landing, which Gru watches in flashbacks.
- #054
The bedtime story "Sleepy Kittens" was turned into a tie-in board book that could be purchased, but it does not include the pull-out brush featured in the film.
- #055
After the girls' bedroom is transformed into a more comforting place, the camera angle allows viewers to see some of the famous paintings Gru has stolen. Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" hangs on the wall, and Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" can be seen leaning against the wall on the floor.
- #056
In his application to adopt the girls, Gru's first name is given as Felonious.
- #057
When Gru is seen entering the "Bank of Evil," the subtitle "Formerly Lehman Brothers" can be seen above the door. Lehman Brothers was one of the world's largest investment banking firms, engaging in mismanagement, fraud and other activities that led to its own demise and caused billions of dollars of impact on the global market. The firm was perceived as a villain.
- #058
The soda cup the Carnival Barker drinks from (red with a purple stripe at the top) is based on those used at Walt Disney World.
- #059
As noted in Mike Reiss's book "Springfield Confidential", Reiss named some of the Minions after The Simpsons (1989) writers. Stuart was named after J. Stewart Burns, Kevin after Kevin Curran, and Bob after Bob Bendetson.
- #060
The scene where Nefario flies after Vector's ship to rescue Gru and the girls, saying "there he is", appears to be a reference to Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), where Lando Calrisian flies the Millenium Falcon beneath Cloud City to rescue Luke and also says "there he is". In both scenes, someone is hanging dangerously and is surrounded by clouds with low sunset-type lighting.
- #061
Behind Vector's house you can see the Great Pyramid of Giza that he plays with. It is painted blue with white clouds on it to blend in with the sky.
- #062
After Vector steals the shrink ray from Gru, Gru uses Star Wars blaster bolts when he fires at Vector.
- #063
One possible reason for the origin of Gru's name is that the French word "la grue" means crane. Gru's legs are long and thin and resemble the legs of a giant crane.
- #064
Dr. Nefario's appearance bears a striking resemblance to the work of cartoonist Don Martin, who worked at Mad Magazine.
- #065
Will Arnett's fifth animated film after Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).
- #066
In January 2007, in the 12th episode of the 3rd season of The Office, Michael (Steve Carrel) returns from a vacation in Jamaica. While showing them pictures on a monitor, they notice his boss Jan standing in the corner of a photo at a beach bar. Michael denies it and makes up a name as a cover. The name is "Grue" Dialogue: Pam: Oh my God. Is that Jan? [points to the same monitor] Everyone: What? Where? Pam: On the left. Everyone: Oh yeah, oh my God. Michael: No, no, no. No, that's a German woman named Urkel Grue.
- #067
Argentine filmmaker Axel Kuschevatzky voiced Mr. Perkins in the Latin American Spanish-speaking version of the film.
- #068
Vector's crime of stealing the Great Pyramid of Giza and replacing it with an inflatable copy actually saved the life of the child who falls from a very high place in the opening scene. If Vector had not committed the crime, a tragedy could have occurred.
- #069
This was the only time Jemaine Clement and Chris Renaud voiced Jerry and Dave in this film.
- #070
Steve Carell recorded Gru's last line in the film: "So, I'll be building my summer home on a more villainy house. Thank you." This line was to be said by Gru after dancing the girls, the minions, Gru's Mother and Dr. Nefario to the song "You Should Be Dancing". However, this line was cut from the final film.
Easter Eggs & References (4)
- #071
Contains a major spoiler — show
There's a nod to The Godfather (1972): the morning after Gru receives his "given," the girls go back to Miss Hattie, the play doll reveals the hairdresser's head, and when a bloody horse head turns up among the sheets she starts screaming and gesturing in just the same way.
- #072
Super Silly Fun Land is a nod to Pacific Park in Santa Monica, California; both are built on a pier and have roller coasters.
- #073
When Vector plays video games on a Wii, he holds the remote in his left hand, showing he's left-handed, perhaps a subtle hint at his evil nature, since another word for left-handed is "sinister."
- #074
Mr. Perkins's design, from his pointy black hair to his blue suit, references the Pointy-Haired Boss in Scott Adams's Dilbert comic strip.
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #075
Vector is left-handed, as you can see when he plays the Nintendo Wii at home: he uses his left hand, so it's his dominant one.
- #076
Vector's theft of the Great Pyramid of Giza, swapped for an inflatable copy, actually saves the life of the child who falls from a great height in the opening scene; without his crime, it could have ended in tragedy.
Life & Family (1)
- #077
For those who really love details: Gru's first name is "Felonius". His parents were Marlena and Robert. His paternal grandparents were Joesph and Helen; through them he has an uncle, Jeffrey, from his grandmother's earlier marriage, and a step-uncle, Steven (a forest ranger). He also has a great-uncle named John. His maternal grandparents were Henry and Madeline; Henry had a brother, Helmut, married to Jane, and they had a son known only as "convict 3619". His paternal great-grandparents were Able and Antoinette. His great-uncle Henry's parents were a Gypsy named Yolanda and a werewolf named Marcel, and Yolanda's parents were Art and Lucy. His great-great-grandmother's parents were Elixabeth and a soldier named Oliver; Oliver has a daughter named Little Pony and a son named Charles. Oliver's parents had a cousin named Willian (a mad scientist) married to Mareva (a Pacific Islander), and a one-eyed sea captain named Ron (Captain Ron (1992)). Gru's great-grandfathers were Mathid and Francoi; Francois's parents were Charlotte and Leopolde, and Mathid's parents were Sara and a mountain man named Jack. There you have it: all six generations. (Taken from the family tree on the wall in the hallway next to the girls' bedroom.) Gru's future wife and brother are still to be added to the tree.
Related pages
- Puss in Boots — Despicable Me comes up in the facts on that page
- Minions & Monsters — Despicable Me comes up in the facts on that page
- Christopher Lloyd — Despicable Me comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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