You know those little yellow Twinkies with appendages and fashionable goggles? If you don’t, then you’ve probably been living under a rock for the last five years or so. The Minions were first introduced to the public in the movie “Despicable Me” in 2010. The creatures live to serve Gru, an evil mastermind – or at least an evil person who has evil ideas – and dance around without a care, in pursuit of praise and bananas. The facts that they speak in gibberish laden with Romance languages and are constantly playing games of “bumper-Minions” serve as added bonuses to their brand of stupidity. They’re happy, silly, and crazy. They make us laugh and take slapstick humor to the next level. And they’re animated, which means that we can enjoy the falls and untimely explosions without remorse. Five years after they first graced the silver screen, they’re still a gaggle of goofballs, but they now have an origin – a history. After the public craved even more of the Minions once "Despicable Me 2" was released in 2013, “The Minions” was finally announced.
In preparation for their starring moment on the big-screen, the Minions appeared everywhere. They took over Gushers and Tic Tac commercials, monopolized clothing industries, and increased the traffic at the Universal Studios theme park significantly -- recently, the wait for The Minions Ride was consistently over an hour at any point during the day! Patrons waited the full 130 estimated minutes while playing Minion Rush on their phones, because who doesn’t want a piece of Minion magic, right?
In the first weekend of its release, "The Minions” accumulated about $115.7 million. In less than two weeks the movie managed to reserve a spot in the top 50 animated movies of all time in terms of box-office profit, according to Box Office Mojo. The other two “Despicable Me” movies are in the top 15. And those results don’t take any movie paraphernalia sales into account. That’s a large sum!
I asked a few peers to tell me what they thought of the Minions, and a lot of the responses weren’t surprising:
“I think the Minions are cute entertainment. They make strange sounds and do silly things for kids, and their slapstick humor and good spin on evil can be amusing for adults.”
“I like them because they were so cute, like when they sang the Barbara Ann song and sang the wrong words; it was adorable!”
“They’re cute, and they’re apparently everywhere, now.”
“I love them!”
But there were also some observations and concerns:
“It’s Minion-mania! I loved them until I started working at McDonald’s. People come in and demand a specific Minion toy and make me put a certain one in the Happy Meal. People are making millions at the expense of the Minions! They’re Minions of the system.”
“Some people get annoyed. I feel like a lot of people have made this as crazy as 'Frozen,' and I’m not a fan of movies taking things to the extreme.”
How much is too much? The Minions are obviously permeating reality, and it’s hard to ignore them, especially when they’re screaming “Bedo!” From hoodies to nail decals, hats to slippers, and duct tape to flash drives, the Minions have invaded. Should we let them take over the world, or only our hearts?
