{"id":777182,"date":"2026-07-03T20:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T20:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/777182\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T20:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T20:47:16","slug":"minions-and-monsters-easter-eggs-from-citizen-kane-to-the-blob","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/777182\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Minions and Monsters’ Easter Eggs, From ‘Citizen Kane’ to ‘The Blob’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This story contains major spoilers for \u201cMinions and Monsters<\/a>\u201d out now in movie theaters.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMinions and Monsters<\/a>\u201d writer, director and voice actor Pierre Coffin<\/a> is a huge fan of classic cinema, so it\u2019s fitting that the latest installment of the franchise pays tribute to old Hollywood. This time around, two new characters, Henry and James, lead the story.<\/p>\n

\n\tSet against a 1920s backdrop, the film shows how the Minions accidentally stumble upon a movie set and conquer Hollywood. Along the way, they discover sound, and in the process of filmmaking, they unleash monsters into the world. And, in true Minions style, it\u2019s utter comedic chaos.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film gave Coffin, who makes his solo directing debut, a chance to pay the ultimate homage to the classics and to litter the film with references that range from \u201cCitizen Kane\u201d to \u201cBabylon,\u201d the iconic Universal monster movies, \u201cThe Blob\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere, Coffin breaks down his favorite Easter eggs and how he pulled them off.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe evolution of the Universal logo and Illumination Entertainment\u2019s logo<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIllumination and Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore co-writer Brian Lynch joined the project, Coffin had started jotting down ideas, and one of the first things he wrote down was the Universal Pictures logo. Coffin explains, \u201cOn the second draft, I thought, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going back in time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs he envisioned the opening credits, Coffin thought about incorporating the studio\u2019s old logos and finding an elegant way to do it. \u201cI typed in Universal logos across time, and I got the site where all the logos were,\u201d he explains. With that, he created a version that starts with the modern-day Universal logo and goes back to the very first one. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn keeping with that style, Coffin also incorporated an Illumination logo that harkens back to the Merrie Melodies animated logo. \u201cI had my elegant way into the movie, where it was going to be about the past. It also permitted composer John Powell to install all the themes that he was going to be putting into the movies,\u201d Coffin adds.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Hollywood Museum<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the film set largely in the past, Coffin wanted to break expectations and hold off on exposing the Minions to audiences too early. The movie opens with a modern-day museum tour guide, Olivia (voiced by Allison Janney), who walks guests through exhibits celebrating cinema history.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe museum moment was to find all the things audiences loved about movies,\u201d Coffin says.<\/p>\n

\n\tEagle-eyed viewers will spot nods and references to \u201cThe Matrix,\u201d \u201cE.T: The Extra Terrestrial,\u201d and even a gag featuring \u201cStar Wars\u201d creator George Lucas. But there was one nod Coffin was particularly eager to include.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe most important thing I wanted in there is the plane from \u2018Airplane.\u2019\u201d He says, \u201cWhen you think of a movie classic, you think of \u201912 Angry Men\u2019 or \u2018Citizen Kane.\u2019 You think of old black-and-white movies, but you don\u2019t think about comedy, and for me, \u2018Airplane\u2019 was a good example of a movie that also pays tribute to everything that those slapstick guys did in the 1920s.\u201d He goes on to say, \u201cThat movie is just a masterpiece in actually doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOther nods include \u201cThe Blues Brothers\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto credit: Illumination & Uni<\/p>\n

\n\tGeorge Lucas\u2019 Cameo<\/p>\n

\n\tCoffin credits co-writer Brian Lynch with coming up with the idea of including a statue behind glass in the museum. Coffin recalls, \u201cWe knew that this guy needed to be of a certain importance and still alive. We had a meeting where names were thrown out, and then Chris Meledandri<\/a> (Illumination\u2019s CEO) said \u2018How about George Lucas?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe question was how they would convince Lucas to say yes, especially since he had retired. But Meledandri offered to send a text message. Coffin says, \u201cThe reply didn\u2019t come right away, but Chris said, \u2018George says yes, and he\u2019s coming to Paris in two weeks. You should record him.\u201d Two weeks later, Lucas arrived at a small recording studio in Paris, where he stayed for half an hour to record his cameo.<\/p>\n

\n\tA nod to Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce the Minions stumble into Hollywood, the film pays homage to early slapstick cinema, recreating scenes made famous by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. For Coffin, the idea was that the Minions would flow through the scenes. \u201cIt was to give a nod to those guys, but also to suggest that those guys weren\u2019t necessarily the inventors of these moments \u2014 that it was actually happy accidents provoked by the Minions that made those moments iconic,\u201d Coffin explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tCoffin adds, \u201cIt\u2019s a retelling of history. There are moments where we\u2019re not true to history. The idea was not to make a historical movie. The invention of sound did not come at that period; it came a couple of years later.\u201d Coffin declares, \u201cIt\u2019s not my movie; it\u2019s a Minions movie, literally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPlay it again, Sam<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Bright Brothers voiced by Jeff Bridges<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto credit: Illumination & Uni<\/p>\n

\n\tJeff Bridges voices Frank and Elwood, the Bright Brothers, who run the studio. Christoph Waltz voices Max, the film director who hires the Minions to act in his films during the 1920s. Coffin points out that Max knows every Minion by name and has a soft spot for them. \u201cMax is doing his job, the best he can, and he\u2019s really affectionate when it comes to the Minions. It shows the humanity of a character,\u201d Coffin explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn one scene, while watching dailies, the Bright Brothers ask Sam, the piano player, to \u201cplay it again,\u201d a nod to the famous \u201cCasablanca\u201d quote. \u201cThe music is excellent,\u201d Coffin says. \u201cIt throws me back to that scene where Sam plays that music to Ingrid Bergman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMinions Names<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the Minions are fired from the studio and leave Bright Brothers, Max calls out their names. But they\u2019re not just any names \u2014 they\u2019re the names of famous directors.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat was an ad-lib from Christoph Waltz,\u201d Coffin reveals. \u201cI had written regular Minion names, like Tim and John, and he said, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be great if they were directors?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Coffin, Waltz recorded a long list of names, including Federico (Fellini) and Erich (von Stroheim). \u201cSome of them are obscure. I\u2019m not sure if anyone knows Fellini anymore, but it was a nice nod, and I kept the ones I really liked.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tCoffin adds, \u201cI often get asked if kids won\u2019t get the reference, and I say, \u2018Well, that\u2019s okay. The idea isn\u2019t about kids recognizing directors. The idea is that Max knows all the Minions by name.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe invention of sound<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tCoffin knew that mixing the idea of the invention of sound with the Minions would inevitably lead to chaos. \u201cSomething was going to go wrong, but I didn\u2019t know exactly what it would be,\u201d Coffin admits.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever it was, they would fail.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the sequence, Coffin pays homage to film noir movie with nods to \u201cThe Big Sleep\u201d and \u201cThe Maltese Falcon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe war movie references are a little less specific \u2014 they\u2019re based on all the war films I saw as a kid. They were often badly done, with everything staged, and you\u2019d see someone die in a way that felt false,\u201d Coffin explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the third part of the sequence, Coffin says he always knew he wanted to reference \u201cCitizen Kane.\u201d \u201cWe boiled it down to three genres. We needed some sort of escalation that led us to \u2018Citizen Kane.\u2019 The idea was to establish that there were cue cards the Minions weren\u2019t reading, and that\u2019s how they screw up sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe says, \u201cThe \u2018Citizen Kane\u2019 one was just stupid at this moment. It speaks to the children because they see a guy dying, and the guy drops his thing and says, \u2018Oh, poop.\u2019 It\u2019s always funny. For the adults, the go, \u2018What the hell, it\u2019s Rosebud.\u2019 We go from rosebud to poop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Blob\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCoffin\u2019s tribute to \u201cThe Blob\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto credit: Illumination & Uni<\/p>\n

\n\tCoffin says his love of movies started as a kid, watching special effects unfold onscreen. \u201cEven if they were badly done, I was still in awe of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne film that stayed with him was the 1958 film, \u201cThe Blob.\u201d \u201cI remember watching that movie, and I was terrified,\u201d he says. Coffin revisited the film before making \u201cMinions and Monsters.\u201d \u201cThat little lump doesn\u2019t even move, and I could see someone poking it outside of frame. It\u2019s supposed to be scary, but then it becomes really ridiculous, and so I just wanted to pay a nod to it.\u201d He adds, \u201cI wanted to see a good blob being done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto credit: Illumination & Uni<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This story contains major spoilers for \u201cMinions and Monsters\u201d out now in movie theaters. \u201cMinions and Monsters\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,366825,344,239340],"class_list":["post-777182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-minions-and-monsters","tag-movies","tag-pierre-coffin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}