How the Minions became a staple of our culture will someday be a thesis for a postgraduate study, and on that day, maybe we’ll actually understand. The Minions are a cultural and financial juggernaut.

After the debut of Despicable Me (2010), the little, yellow, seemingly gibberish-talking (not actually gibberish) blue jean overall and goggle-wearing ovals took over the cultural world. Since 2010, the Minions have appeared in four films and fifteen short films. There has been a holiday special, video and mobile games, theme park attractions, interstitial for other Illumination films; a digital series of 40 episodes, and a handful of books. Pharrell Williams’ music has become recognizable by itself (“Happy” for example, was a colossal hit) too. Let’s not forget, of course, the merchandise.

The films alone have grossed more than $3.7 billion dollars worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time - you read that right, even better than Toy Story (that’s ranked fourth). With Minions: Rise of Gru set to hit theaters (July 1, 2022), and Despicable Me 4 in 2024, it’s bound to pad that financial title. Here are the best Minion film appearances to date.

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5 Minion Short Films

     Universal Pictures

Short films, particularly those meant as comedic bite-size films, are quick hits. The Minions short films deliver slapstick humor, silliness, and in a few cases, obvious 3D gags. They began appearing as bonus features on the DVD and Blu-ray releases, as well as a few that accompanied other Illumination films in the theater. Of the fifteen shorts, a few of the highlights include Banana (2010), Puppy (2013), and Mower Minions (2016). And of course, we need to mention the incredible crossover Minions spoof on The Office.

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4 Despicable Me 3 (2017)

There are a handful of consistencies that keep Minions franchise films going, and one of them is that director Pierre Coffin, and writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, have been involved in part on all films. Coffin has co-directed all four movies, and credit to him and the writers for going in a different direction with Despicable Me 3. This film has a standout performance from Trey Parker as the TV child star-turned villain Balthazar Bratt, and continued great music from Pharrell Williams. It continues the story of Gru’s character evolution with equal levels of absurdity and ’80s callbacks. One big hit against the film is that Margo, Agnes, and Edith, were reduced to such smaller parts, that they barely affect the plot, compared to their roles in the first film.

3 Despicable Me 2 (2013)

The challenge to expand upon the success of the first film, not to mention evolve the characters now that Gru has become a good guy and a father, certainly played into the development of Despicable Me 2. This film also features even more Minions, which makes sense, as they were the surprise stars of the first film. Benjamin Bratt plays a fantastic over-the-top supervillain named El Macho, and Kristen Wiig as Lucy is delightful.

2 Minions (2015)

A standalone Minions movie makes so much sense from a studio perspective - money! But, the film actually works. It’s a surprising journey to watch the absurdity of the Minions as they jump ship to the next baddest leader, and eventually work with Sandra Bullock’s Scarlet Overkill. Jon Hamm and Michael Keaton both bring fun performances, and the film does a nice job of fitting an origin story into a franchise that didn’t really need it. Minions’ sight gags are fun; the locale in London is a great change of scenery, and who doesn’t love a soundtrack from the 1960s?

1 Despicable Me (2010)

Despicable Me really took audiences and critics by surprise. Steve Carell’s ridiculous accent for Gru works so well, and Jason Segel as Vector (“I’m committing crimes with both direction and magnitude”), are wonderful foils. Gru is a villain who relishes in being more of a bully, than an evil villain. It’s filled with silly mini-scenes of Gru and Vector outdoing one another in increasingly outlandish ways, but at its core is a story of Gru learning to care and love for someone other than himself. The girls, voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher, are wonderfully used to give the film heart and add sprinkles of chaos to Gru’s life. And last, but not least, are the Minions, who are so insane, that they really launched the entire franchise into something else entirely.