Pierre Coffin on Voicing Minions and Directing 'Minions & Monsters'

Pierre Coffin, the French animator who co-directed four 'Despicable Me' films and voices all Minions, nearly quit the franchise after 'Despicable Me 3' due to exhaustion. He told Illumination founder Chris Meledandri he wanted out and worked on other projects including the Olympics and short films. Three years ago, Meledandri pitched an idea about a Minion making a monster movie, which sparked Coffin's interest in the word 'movie.' He developed 'Minions & Monsters,' set in 1920s Hollywood at the dawn of cinema, as his solo directorial debut and first film he co-wrote with Brian Lynch. The story follows James, a Minion who dreams of filmmaking, with friends Henry and Ed, under the eye of director Max inspired by European filmmakers Fritz Lang and Ernst Lubitsch. Coffin drew from his childhood: Sunday-morning silent comedies with Chaplin and Buster Keaton, seeing 'Star Wars' in Detroit at age 10, and classic horror films. The film premiered at the Annecy animation festival. Coffin discusses the Minions' language—a scripted gibberish mixing languages—and his approach to comedy that balances children's and adults' humor. He remains uncertain about AI in animation, noting he hasn't made anything funny with it yet, but acknowledges tools like performance capture shown by Trey Parker. Coffin is unsure if he will make another Minions film, waiting to see the reception of this one.