History YMMV / DespicableMe

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Due to her short hair (at least compared to Margo and Agnes), deep voice and general tomboyish behavior, it can be pretty easy to mistake Edith for a boy.

YMMV pages for the ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' franchise
----

* ''YMMV/MinionsTheRiseOfGru''

* AcceptableEthnicTargets: Apparently the shrink ray was created in (and stolen from) North Korea.[[note]]The map depicts '''the wrong location''', which is really West [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaido Hokkaido]], Japan.[[/note]]
* {{Adorkable}}:
** Lucy is sweet, dorky, excitable, and appears to have the mind of a child at times.
** The Minions are 10,400 cuddly, accident-prone, small, and yellow humanoids that you want to hug all day, to the point they became {{Breakout Character}}s.
** Margo gains some tendencies in the sequel when she gets her first crush. Much of her behavior around him is so awkward it's impossible not to love.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Did Mr. Perkins [[spoiler: set Vector up to steal the moon instead of Gru to help his son remain the most successful villain, just to spite Gru, or to help cover the loss of money loaned to Gru, considering how he mentions how "lucrative" stealing the moon would be, not to mention him seeming legitimately unconvinced that Gru could pull off the heist]]?
** Is Gru's mom just a mean, apathetic AbusiveParent who likes to make her son miserable? Or is she a frosty and distant parent who's [[JerkassHasAPoint actually rightfully exasperated with him for choosing a villain career]], thinking he could do much better with his life?
* BaseBreakingCharacter: The minions are either the best or worst parts of the franchise, based on how much (or how little) you enjoy their brand of physical comedy. The fact that they have [[FollowTheLeader spawned many copies]] only adds fuel to the fire. Some of the many, ''many'' people who dislike the minions primarily do so due to their [[BreakoutCharacter insane and borderline omnipresent status in pop culture and advertising]], the increasing focus as the franchise goes on, and their bizarre status as a symbol of out-of-touch seniors on social media, but find them to be entertaining or at least tolerable within the first movie or earlier appearances in general.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: After Gru steals the moon, a werewolf turns back to normal. This is the only supernatural element in any of the three films, by the way, and doesn't really fit in other than being PlayedForLaughs.
* CrackPairing: An odd case with Margo and ''Vector'', with Margo of course being [[{{Squick}} a child whom Vector is at least 10 years older than]], not to mention the fact he kidnapped her and her sisters and planned to keep them for who knows what.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Gru's ImagineSpot when he gets the idea to leave the girls at Super Silly Fun Land (i.e. pulling a lever that sends them going up a roller coaster track with a large arrow reading "GOODBYE").
* FanNickname: ''[[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Doofenshmirtz]]: The Movie'', with all the similarities the character of Gru has. The critic's nickname ''Wile E. Coyote Vs. Wile E. Coyote'' also counts.
* FirstInstallmentWins:
** While the sequels have done better financially, many tend to view the first film as the only installment in the franchise that is truly good, due to the relationship and development between Gru and his daughters being well done, an entertaining villain in the form of Vector and Gru himself being entertaining. Even the Minions, who would become heavily contested in later films, are the most well-liked here, since they act as side comic relief characters who don't overstay their welcome and take the [[SpotlightStealingSquad spotlight away from the main characters]] like they have been accused of doing in later films.
** Those who dislike Illumination's later output will often refer to this film as being their only good film quality wise, with their reasoning being that it is the only one where they genuinely tried to make a good film first and foremost, as opposed to their later films, which have been accused of sacrificing quality in favor of trying to make a quick buck from kids and their parents.
* GeniusBonus:
** Vector's "magnitude and direction" line makes a lot more sense (and is funnier) [[http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/vectors/u3l1d.cfm for anyone that's taken physics.]]
** Even many of the ''adults'' in the first movie's audience didn't get the joke with "The Bank of Evil - [[TakeThat Formerly Lehman Brothers]]".
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
** Japan is obsessed with the Minions so much that they made their own Minion-themed area inside Universal Studios Japan, where the ''Ride/DespicableMeMinionMayhem'' ride often gets ''200 minute'' wait times. Japan also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IpP41RrN58 made them and Agnes]] appear in an episode of ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven''.
** The Minions are also massive in the Philippines, and there are even claims that some of the gibberish they mutter is ''actually'' Tagalog.
** The franchise is also big in South America. In the countries on that continent, whenever a new ''Despicable Me'' film comes out, it will usually top the box office for at least three weeks. The ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'' spin-off is also the highest-grossing film of all time in Chile.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
** The minion's cheering for Gru in their first appearance is a lot nicer after seeing their struggles to finding a boss [[spoiler:and meeting Gru as a child]]. Even better, they [[spoiler:break their long-infamous tradition of accidentally killing their chosen master and instead successfully save them!]]
** In the first film, Creator/KristenWiig voices the [[{{Jerkass}} cruel]] [[Theatre/{{Annie}} Miss Hannigan]] {{expy}} Miss Hattie, who despises the girls and does everything she can to make their lives with her miserable. As the character doesn't appear in any of the sequels, Wiig was recast as Lucy Wilde, who [[MamaBear loves the girls]] just as much [[PapaWolf as Gru does]].
* HilariousInHindsight:
** There have been some comparisons between this and ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''; showing a VillainProtagonist, his loyal minion named Minion, and then finding a love interest (which didn't happen to Gru until [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 the sequel]]). Then in 2016, Creator/{{Universal}}, owner of Illumination and ''Despicable Me'', acquired rights to Creator/DreamWorksAnimation--the studio that made ''Megamind''.
** Gru's on-the-spot excuse to the girls for having a high-tech ElaborateUndergroundBase? [[BlatantLies He's a spy]]. [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 In the sequel]], he ends up exactly that.
* HoYay:
** Pops up frequently between the Minions, [[OneGenderRace which are confirmed to be all males]].
** The way Vector introduces himself to Gru is...either very socially awkward, a bad attempt at flirting or both.
* ItsPopularNowItSucks: The Minions are a source of bile in various circles for all of the popularity and overuse they have gotten. In ''Minions'' and in ''Despicable Me 3'' they were accused of ruining the franchise and stealing the spotlight that should have gone to Gru and the girls.
* JerkassWoobie: Gru himself qualifies as this. Sure, he's a mean guy, but look at all his flashbacks to him as a kid with his mom dismissing his claims that he'll go to the moon (and not being encouraging overall to begin with) and the utterly crushed looks on his little face. Not to mention his reaction to [[spoiler:his adopted girls been taken away to keep it from being a distraction to him]].
** The sequel also revealed that Gru was a social outcast in school. [[KidsAreCruel The other kids completely avoided him]] and feared that if he touches them, they will get "Gruties." Seeing his heartbroken expression from this is just agonizing.
* LoveToHate: Vector manages to be one of the amusing factors of the film, thanks for his [[LaughablyEvil silliness]] and [[ButtMonkey clumsiness]].
* MagnificentBastard: [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Dr. Joseph Albert Nefario]] is the brilliant MadScientist who works alongside [[Characters/DespicableMeFeloniousGru Felonious Gru]] in his villainous escapades. Assisting Gru in most of his greatest schemes through use of Nefario's strategic and technically sound mind, Nefario constructs cookie robots, a massive rocket ship out of scrap metal, and other ingenious inventions while [[TheCorruptor steering Gru into staying on the path of evil]]. Eventually growing to care for Gru's adopted children, Nefario helps Gru save them repeatedly from harm, and even when Nefario betrays Gru and joins with El Macho to help him dominate the planet, Nefario returns to Gru's side when El Macho [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes threatens Gru and the girls]], Nefario taking down El Macho personally and reuniting with Gru as allies once more.
* MemeticBadass: Gru quickly became one, mostly due to his [[spoiler:most impressive PapaBear moment in the first film where he almost effortlessly breaks into Vector's fortress (which he previously couldn't infiltrate for the life of him) to rescue the girls, during which he threatens Vector, cleanly dodges homing missiles and ''punches a shark in the face''.]] That in turn spawned [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/450/900/f3d.jpg this]] copypasta that only helped things along.
* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/DespicableMe Has its own page.]]
* {{Moe}}: The three girls are adorable {{Heartwarming Orphan}}s, especially Agnes, because she's the youngest and the most innocent.
* MoralEventHorizon: Surprisingly for a kids' movie, two.
** [[spoiler:Miss Hattie crosses it when she introduces the [[PunishmentBox "box of shame"]].]]
** [[spoiler:Just so we don't feel too sorry for nerdy and seemingly wimpy villain Vector when he gets trapped on the Moon, he tries to keep Gru from rescuing Margo from the about-to-explode spaceship.]]
* OneSceneWonder:
** [[GreaterScopeVillain Mr. Perkins]] has less than ten minutes of screen time in the whole movie, but he makes a hell of an impression. Some fans were even [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter disappointed he never appeared in any of the sequels.]]
** The obnoxious carnival barker whose game [[KickTheSonOfABitch Gru obliterates.]]
* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The ''Despicable Me'' games for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} are fun puzzle games starring Gru's minions.
* RetroactiveRecognition: The carnival barker is voiced by Creator/JackMcBrayer, who would later go on to voice [[WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph Fix-It Felix]].
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The Minions were lauded as the movie's funniest characters and became the series' EnsembleDarkhorse group. This, of course, wound up leading to other companies [[FollowTheLeader wanting a piece of the pie]] and coming up with their own Minion-like characters themselves. (i.e. [=McDonald's=] Happy Meal creatures, the elves in Dreamworks' ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'', and the lemmings in ''WesternAnimation/NormOfTheNorth'', etc.) The verbally-impaired-friends/helpers-of-the-protagonist trope has seen so much use that anyone who went back to watch the movie that broke it into the mainstream will likely fail to see the appeal of the quirky Minions.
* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: Justin, the rambunctious kid from the movie's opening, is a decent match for Edith, given their love for destruction and mischief. However, they don't interact at all, Justin is never seen again after the opening, and they presumably live in different countries.
* SignatureScene: Gru destroying the {{jerkass}} carnival barker's stand with his plasma gun to get Agnes the stuffed unicorn. "Knocked ooooooooo-ver!!"
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The karaoke song about "Lola Banana" sung by one of the minions in the toy store sounds [[Music/BarryManilow awfully familiar]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Miss Hattie never appears again after Nefario calls her to take the girls away. [[KarmaHoudini She suffers no consequences]] for how she treats the children in her care, and doesn't even serve as an obstacle to Gru getting the girls back in the ending.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The revelation that [[spoiler: Vector is Mr. Perkins' son]] doesn't really amount to anything aside from [[spoiler: Vector finding out that Gru stole back the shrink ray]]. This is made even more jarring by the fact that [[spoiler: Perkins]] does not appear any later in the movie. Or even in any of the sequels, either, where it would have made [[AvengingTheVillain perfect sense]] for him to return with a larger role.
** Most "villain becomes a hero" stories have a hero to rise up against them. ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' had Fix-it Felix, and ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' had Metro Man. This movie doesn't appear to have any hero to rise up against Gru. Law enforcement is [[PoliceAreUseless mostly lacking]] in this universe, and the Anti-Villain League wasn't introduced until [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 the sequel]] after Gru has already given up villainy entirely.
** After Gru rescues the girls from Vector, they're immediately shown living with him again. Barring the possibility that Miss Hattie was simply too pissed off at Gru to bother with any formalities, the legal proceedings that would have realistically had to happen for Gru to regain custody of the girls is completely skipped over.
%%* TrailerJokeDecay: Unfortunately a lot of it here.
%%* UglyCute: The Minions.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Due to her short hair (at least compared to Margo and Agnes), deep voice and general tomboyish behavior, it can be pretty easy to mistake Edith for a boy.
* WTHCastingAgency: While the Minions are generally voiced by the film's directors, you'll be surprised to learn that some of them are also voiced by Creator/JemaineClement of all people! (Clement notably voices Jerry, the Minion who says "WHAAAAT?!")
* TheWoobie:
** Gru has his moments of this, especially with his mommy issues.
** The girls, when they're in the orphanage.
** The nameless boy whose ice cream is on the ground ''and'' whose balloon is popped.
** Agnes's unicorn toy.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The minions are either the best or worst parts of the franchise, based on how much (or how little) you enjoy their brand of physical comedy. The fact that they have [[FollowTheLeader spawned many copies]] only adds fuel to the fire. Some of the many, ''many'' people who dislike the minions primarily do so due to their [[BreakoutCharacter insane and borderline omnipresent status in pop culture and advertisementing]], the increasing focus as the franchise goes on, and their bizarre status as a symbol of out-of-touch seniors on social media, but find them to be entertaining or at least tolerable within the first movie or earlier appearances in general.

** Those who dislike Illumination's later output will often refer to this film as being their only good film quality wise, with their reasoning being that it is the only one where they genuinely tried to make a good film first and foremost, as opposed to their later films, which have been accused of sacrificing quality in favor of trying to make a quick buck from their target demographic and their parents.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: The minions. The studio saw this coming, and gave them featured roles in all the promotion. Kevin and Dave in particular.

* UncannyValley: Due to being Illumination's first full-length film, the textures and rendering are notably less advanced and detailed than other, more prolific animated films at the time, causing many of the characters to look plastic and overly rubbery. This was remedied in the franchise's [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 subsequent]] [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3 instalments]], which had higher budgets to allow for improved animation technology.

* FirstInstallmentWins: While the sequels aren't seen as being ''bad'' per-se and have done better financially, many tend to view the first film as the only film in the franchise that is truly good, due to the relationship and development between Gru and his daughters being well done, an entertaining villain in the form of Vector and Gru himself being entertaining. Even the Minions, who would become heavily contested in later films, are the most well-liked here, since they act as side comic relief characters who don't overstay their welcome and take the [[SpotlightStealingSquad spotlight away from the main characters]] like they have been accused of doing in later films.

* FirstInstallmentWins:
** While the sequels aren't seen as ''bad'' per-se, the first film remains the only film in the franchise that is regarded to be pretty good by most, as the other films have a more mixed, SoOkayItsAverage reception by comparison.
** The first film also counts as one for Illumination as a whole reception wise, as it is still largely considered by many to be their best film when compared to their later work, which, while doing better financially, have received more mixed-to-negative scores from critics and audiences by comparison.

* CrackPairing: An odd case with Margo and ''Vector'', with Margo of course being [[Squick a child whom Vector is at least 10 years older than]], not to mention the fact he kidnapped her and her sisters and planned to keep them for who knows what.

** Is Gru's mom a mean AbusiveParent who likes to make her son miserable? Or is she rightfully exasperated with him for choosing a villain career, thinking he could do much better with his life?
* BaseBreakingCharacter: The minions are either the best or worst parts of the franchise, based on how much (or how little) you enjoy their brand of physical comedy. The fact that they have [[FollowTheLeader spawned many copies]] only adds fuel to the fire.

* CrackPairing: An odd case with Margo and ''Vector''. At most, Vector is 10+ years older than her in terms of age. Not to mention that he kidnapped her and her sisters and planned to keep them for who knows what.

** Japan is obsessed with the Minions so much that they made their own Minion-themed area inside Universal Studios Japan, where the ''Ride/DespicableMeMinionMayhem'' ride often gets ''200 minute'' wait times. Japan also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IpP41RrN58 made them and Agnes]] appear in an episode of ''Anime/InazumaEleven''.

* AcceptableTargets
** Apparently the shrink ray was created in (and stolen from) North Korea.[[note]]The map depicts '''the wrong location''', which is really West [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaido Hokkaido]], Japan.[[/note]]
** "Bank of Evil, formerly Lehman Bros."

** Apparently the shrink ray was created in (and stolen from) North Korea.[[note]][[CriticalResearchFailure The map depicts]] '''the wrong location''', which is really West [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaido Hokkaido]], Japan.[[/note]]

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: The creators wrote a language for the gibberish the minions speak. They called it "minion-ese". Each word the minions speak translates into an actual word.

* MemeticMutation:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhqi6ysY_HQ "HE'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!"]] and "IT'S SO FLUFFY!"
** The ''minions''. Somehow, they've mutated from a MascotMook to the symbol of "Website/{{Facebook}} wine moms" everywhere.
** Gru's presentation[[labelnote:Explanation]] Gru presents a slideshow to Mr. Perkins in an attempt to get funding for his scheme, with the girls messing with the third part. "I fly to the moon... I shrink the moon... I sit on the toilet... [[DoubleTake with-- what?]])". This has been snowcloned to hell and back, most commonly having someone do a double-take at a blatantly idiotic third step of their plan.[[/labelnote]]
** Hella Gay [[labelnote:Explanation]]Commonly on Reddit and Discord, images of Gru have been used to call other users "hella gay" depending on their positions in posts. Many variations have spawned, examples including "Ultra Gru", "Infinite Gay", and {{VideoGame/Cuphead}}'s "Triple Gay" meme.[[/labelnote]]
** [[https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/gru-girl-meme-gorls-despicable-me Gru saying "gorls".]]
** [[https://www.clipartkey.com/mpngs/m/309-3095483_vector-in-wing-suit-vector-memes.png [=VectorFlightSuit=].jpg]] / "You just got Vectored." [[labelnote:Explanation]]The image is used to describe acts of DisproportionateRetribution.[[/labelnote]]
** OH YEAH![[labelnote:Explanation]]Vector's catchphrase. Vector himself is such a FountainOfMemes that this phrase can be expected to follow in the wake of any mention of him.[[/labelnote]]
** "Oh Poop"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Vector's defeat in the first movie, In March 2019 edits of him have been used for a green screen effect.[[/labelnote]]
** [++'''''No'''''++][[labelnote:Explanation]]A very exploitable [[https://i.imgflip.com/34yx3j.png image of a distorted close-up of Gru's face.]][[/labelnote]]
** [[https://en.meming.world/images/en/thumb/0/0d/In_Terms_Of_Money%2C_We_Have_No_Money.jpg/300px-In_Terms_Of_Money%2C_We_Have_No_Money.jpg "In terms of money, we have no money."]][[labelnote:Explanation]]An exploitable image of Gru describing his financial troubles to the Minions. While it's often used to describe financial woes, people have taken to replacing "money" with just about anything else.[[/labelnote]]
%%** “I will stuff you all in the crust!”

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The film has a bank that invests in supervillany. Two years after the movie's release, it was revealed that HSBC had been knowingly laundering money for terrorists, drug smugglers, and tinpot dictators the world over.

** While the sequels aren't seen as ''bad'' per-se, the first film remains the only film in the franchise that is regarded to be pretty good by most, as the other films have a more mixed bag, SoOkayItsAverage reception by comparison.
** The first film also counts as one for Illumination as a whole reception wise, as it is still largely considered by many to be their best film when compared to their later work, which, while doing better financially, have received more mixed scores from critics and audiences by comparison.

** While the sequels aren't seen as ''bad'' per-se, the first film remains the only film in the franchise that is regarded to be pretty good by most, as the other films have a more mixed bag, SoOkayItsAverage reception.

** While the sequels aren't seen as ''bad'' per-se, the first film remains the only film in the franchise that is regarded to be actually pretty good by most, whereas the other films have a more SoOkayItsAverage reputation.

* CrackShip: An odd case with Margo and ''Vector''. At most, Vector is 10+ years older than her in terms of age. Not to mention that he kidnapped her and her sisters and planned to keep them for who knows what.