From there, the message became clear: the minions aren’t the sideshow anymore. They’re the main attraction, and that’s why they’ll get another movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, next year. This sequel bridges the gap between the Despicable Me trilogy and its spin-off prequel, which will likely prove to be another astronomical hit. Certainly, Hollywood took notice. While there have been Minion-like hits before, from Care Bears to Smurfs to Muppet Babies, this spin-off movie demonstrated the cultural dominance that these former supporting characters hold on pop culture when given the main stage.
We’ve already seen animated movies copying off its success. Most recently, Scoob! featured a bunch of tiny robot henchmen who were notably similar in size and design to the minions, with the villain, Wacky Races‘ Dick Dastardly, modeled more off Gru than his Hanna Barbara origins.