By Caitlin Walsh, News Staff
With three agonizing years of anticipation past, the long awaited sequel to the animated hit “Despicable Me” premiered July 3 to expectant crowds. As most predicted, it did not disappoint: In the two weeks since its premiere, the acclaimed sequel has topped the box office charts, and worldwide has grossed almost $500 million.
The sequel brings back Steve Carell as beloved Dr. Gru, now a doting father to his three adopted daughters, Miranda Cosgrove as protective oldest sister Margo, Dana Gaier as tomboy middle child Edith and Elsie Fisher as adorable youngest sister Agnes, as well as Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario. And, of course, the minions return, quirkier than ever and arguably the focus of the whole movie. Newcomers include Kristen Wiig as Agent Lucy Wilde, Gru’s Anti Villain League partner and love interest, as well as Ken Jeong as Floyd Eagle-san, a wig shop owner, and Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo Perez — or rather, the famed villain El Macho.
Aside from an all star cast, the creation of an animated blockbuster like the “Despicable Me” series takes incredible man power. Northeastern executive professor of animation and founder of the Creative Industries Program in the College of Arts, Media & Design Terrence Masson gave an idea of just how much time and crew it takes.
“Hundreds of people over many years, spread over a dozen different departments,” he said. ”From idea to premiere it’s usually five years, starting with story, screenplay, many revisions, production design and story reel (animatic), full green-light into pro-production (sic), production and post.”
Masson himself, aside from teaching all different levels of animation and visual effects courses, has worked on the visual effects of a number of animated games and films, notably working in pre-production roles for movies like Disney’s “The Wild” and Dreamworks’ “Flushed Away.”
However, what many of Generation Y may recognize most is actually some television work he did. “I did get Southpark started on Comedy Central by creating the CG animation technique for Matt and Trey.”
Films like “Despicable Me 2” are animated using a technique called CG animation — more commonly known as computer animation. The actual computerized work has become more advanced over the years, making it more of a CG process than physical drawing now – something Masson doesn’t necessarily label a good thing.
“Well, the more practical the better in my opinion, meaning models and miniature and in camera effects; you might find it off coming from a guy who came up with the birth and growth of CG animation to say this, but it’s just a tool and not always the best one; it’s too easily a “crutch” in many cases which can never take the place of good story or real gritty muck filmed on set in camera,” he said. “Now practically speaking, CG can of course do many amazing things for modest film-makers that I’m a huge proponent of, invisible effects like sets and crowds, etc. and that’s a fantastic thing.”
With the numbers and effort put into such a film, nevermind such a long awaited film, it’s no wonder that a three year wait was what it took for the second round of our favorite minions and company — but according to Masson’s five year average guess for a film, perhaps audiences were blessed with a shorter wait.
