Despicable Me

Despicable Me is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment that was released on July 9, 2010 in the United States. It is Illumination Entertainment's first film. The film was animated by the French animation studio Mac Guff, which was later acquired by Illumination Entertainment. It was directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, with story by Sergio Pablos. The film stars the voice of Steve Carell as Felonious Gru, a supervillain who adopts three girls (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher) from an orphanage; and the voice of Jason Segel as Vector, a rival of Gru who steals the Great Pyramid of Giza. When Gru learns of Vector's heist, he plans an even greater heist: to shrink and steal the Earth's moon.

The film earned positive reviews from critics, and grossed over $543 million worldwide, against a budget of $69 million. It launched the Despicable Me franchise with a series of films, including the sequel Despicable Me 2 in 2013, and the prequel Minions released in 2015 and featuring Gru's Minions as the main characters. Another sequel, Despicable Me 3, is scheduled for release in 2017.

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated comedy film and the sequel to the 2010 animated film Despicable Me. Produced by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures, and animated by Illumination Mac Guff, the film is directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, and written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

Steve Carell, Russell Brand and Miranda Cosgrove reprise their roles as Gru, Dr. Nefario and Margo, respectively. Kristen Wiig, who played Miss Hattie in the first film, voices agent Lucy Wilde, while Ken Jeong, who played the Talk Show Host, voices Floyd Eagle-san. New cast members include Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo "El Macho" Pérez and Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, head of the Anti-Villain League (AVL).

The film premiered on June 5, 2013 in Australia, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 3, 2013. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and for Academy Award for Best Original Song (for "Happy"), losing both to Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen. Grossing over $970 million worldwide against its budget of $76 million, the film became the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2013 and the third-highest-grossing film of 2013. It is also the most profitable film in the 101-year history of Universal Studios.

Steve Carell

Steven John "Steve" Carell (/kəˈrɛl/; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. After a five–year stint on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Carell found greater fame for playing Michael Scott on the American version of The Office, on which he also worked as an occasional writer and director. He has also starred in lead roles in the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Get Smart (2008), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and The Way, Way Back (both 2013). Carell has also voiced characters in the animated films Over the Hedge (2006), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013). Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in Life magazine, and received a Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Television Series for his work on The Office.

His dramatic role as wrestling coach and convicted murderer John Eleuthère du Pont in the 2014 film Foxcatcher earned him several awards and nominations including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Carell also received acclaim for his roles in the comedy–dramas Little Miss Sunshine in 2006, and The Big Short in 2015, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Illumination Entertainment

Illumination Entertainment is an American animation film production company, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. It has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Studios, it is based in Santa Monica, California. The company is best known for its first animated feature film Despicable Me (released in 2010), its sequel, Despicable Me 2 (2013) and its first $1 billion highest-grossing film and prequel/spin-off to the Despicable Me films, Minions (2015).

History

Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007 where he supervised or executive produced movies including Ice Age, its sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Horton Hears a Who!. After leaving, he founded Illumination Entertainment. By 2008, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as NBCUniversal’s family entertainment arm that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. It is owned by Universal who exclusively distributes the films, but Illumination retains creative control as an independent production company. During the summer 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me and The Lorax, and formed Illumination Mac Guff.

Film

A film, also called a movie, motion picture or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to the industry of films and filmmaking or to the art of filmmaking itself. The contemporary definition of cinema is the art of simulating experiences to communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere by the means of recorded or programmed moving images along with other sensory stimulations.

The process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry.