Pierre Coffin, the French animator and director who has helmed five films in the Minions franchise and voices the yellow assistants, addressed fan questions in a recent interview, providing insights into the characters' immortality, reproduction, and language.
Minions' immortality and aging
When asked about a gritty 'old man Minion' story, Coffin stated: 'Minions don't age. I sometimes draw them like that for fun, but it just looks weird.' He confirmed that Minions live forever, answering a fan's question with a simple 'Yes.'
Female Minions and reproduction
Coffin expressed reluctance about introducing a female Minion, calling it 'the beginning of the end.' He explained: 'Universal would want to do it because they'd think it would please all the women out there. But I'm not convinced. If I were a woman, I'd think it was tokenistic.' He revealed that the team played with the idea of an island of female Minions but it didn't progress. 'In my head, female Minions would look exactly the same as male ones. And in terms of how they breed: they don't. They just are.'
Minionese language
Addressing the linguistic structure of Minionese, Coffin said: 'It doesn't have a linguistic structure. It has melody. If a Minion asks a question, it has a melody of a question. If it's a joke, it has the rhythm of the joke.' He added that the secret is to find the proper melody and add words to enhance understanding, sometimes incorporating Indian dishes or famous singers for fun. Coffin admitted feeling 'a little bit of a fraud, because it's not a proper language.' He spends three weeks recording audio for each film, adjusting for local references like 'gran jefe' in South America.
New film setting and influences
Coffin discussed the setting of the latest instalment, 'Minions & Monsters,' which goes back a few decades to the era when cinema became an industry. He noted nods to Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin, and suggested that certain iconic scenes were influenced by the Minions. When asked about remaking a French New Wave film with Minions, he chose Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless,' explaining that the new movie shows Minions screwing up classic films, including crashing the editing room of 'Breathless.'
Character individuality
Coffin emphasized that Minions have distinct personalities, especially Kevin, Stuart, and Bob, representing authority, aloofness, and naivety. He said: 'I do feel protective and defensive towards them because they're not critters. They're not soulless. They are individuals.' He noted that later movies include characters with arcs, such as Otto, who would inevitably talk about Trump if left uninterrupted.
Personal connections and memes
Coffin identified most closely with Stuart, because they both play the ukulele. He finds fan memes 'cool' but sometimes 'very creepy,' appreciating that people make the Minions their own. Regarding merchandise, Coffin said his house is 'swimming in Minions merch' but he asked them to stop sending it, though he kept a fart gun that emits banana-scented vapor.
Background and career
Coffin worked for Steven Spielberg's Amblimation in Acton, west London, on traditional animated movies before moving to DreamWorks. He recalled enjoying Chinese and Indian restaurants in the area but found the place 'a little bit strange to us French people.'
