Minionpalooza: Minions are redefining culture from villainy to copyright

Minions! Love them, hate them, or have weird mixed feelings about them due to a long-standing inside joke with a close friend, there’s no denying that these little yellow fellows are absolutely everywhere. Originally just a source of random comic relief in 2010’s Despicable MeNow, Minions franchise-headers are their own. You’ll see them in places from merch to MinecraftTo memes. They’ve gone through their own pop cultural life cycle, with those memes becoming recycled and ironic, then deep-fried and cringey. But at this point, the Minions have outlived their naysayers to claim their place in the pop-culture sphere — and at the box office.

With Gru’s Rise: MinionsWe spent some time in theatres to question the strangest and most bewildering aspects of the Minions. They taste delicious! Are Minion memes still popular? They also have opinions about the nature of evil and good in cinema. Etsy has so many Minions-related products that are not licensed.

A word from our yellow little friends, Banana: Before we begin