The Minions have survived supervillains, secret missions and more disasters of their own making than we could possibly count.
But 1920s Hollywood?
That might be one of their greatest challenges yet.
After bringing some old-fashioned monster mayhem to theaters this summer, “Minions & Monsters” is officially heading home, with the latest “Despicable Me” adventure set to begin streaming October 28 on Peacock.
Released theatrically July 1, the seventh installment in the “Despicable Me” franchise takes the Minions back to Hollywood during one of the movie industry’s biggest transformations: the arrival of sound.
There is just one rather substantial problem.
Nobody can understand Minionese.
As Hollywood begins embracing talking pictures, the Minions are forced to confront the unfortunate reality that their unique way of communicating may not translate particularly well to this exciting new era of moviemaking. And because these are the Minions we’re talking about, their solution doesn’t exactly result in a quiet career change.
Instead, they accidentally unleash monsters into the world.
“Minions & Monsters” uses its 1920s Hollywood setting to have plenty of fun with movie history along the way. The film includes references to classics ranging from “Citizen Kane” to “The Blob,” while even the Minions themselves get caught up in the cinematic homage. During one sequence, Max calls out Minion names inspired by famous filmmakers, including Federico for Federico Fellini and Erich for Erich von Stroheim.
Pierre Coffin, co-creator of the franchise and longtime voice behind the Minions, directed the film alongside Patrick Delage. Coffin’s Minionese becomes particularly important this time around, considering the movie places the characters in an industry suddenly very interested in hearing its stars speak.
The voice cast is led by Allison Janney, Jeff Bridges and Jesse Eisenberg, with Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan and “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker also lending their voices to the animated adventure. Christoph Waltz voices Max, while movie pioneer George Lucas also makes an appearance.
The film follows 2022’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and 2024’s “Despicable Me 4,” continuing a franchise that first introduced Gru and his unmistakable yellow helpers with “Despicable Me” in 2010. The series has since become the first animated franchise to surpass $5 billion at the worldwide box office.
Now, after taking their particular brand of chaos into one of Hollywood’s most transformative eras, the Minions are bringing the monsters home just in time for the end of October.
“Minions & Monsters” begins streaming October 28 on Peacock.
Maybe someone should warn the monsters that understanding Minionese is probably the least of their problems.