10 Iconic Movie Characters With Less Screen Time Than You Think

Similar to Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King, the Minions stole the show in Despicable Me, even earning themselves a solo spin-off all to themselves. Their merch can be found everywhere, and they’ve become the plague of Facebook due to their meme popularity amongst older women.

Back in the first Despicable Me though, they were just background noise.

They’re not particularly involved in the plot at all, just forming a visual gag on the idea of ‘minions’ in general. Typically movie bad guys have evil, sinister, despicable creatures as their minions, but with Despicable Me turning the villain tropes all on their head, the Minions got the same treatment.

They became cute, cuddly and comedic, making them the perfect mascot for the movie, even if they’re not in it all that much. The sequel cast them in the spotlight, and with this, plus the spin-off and the huge variety of kids products plastered with Minions, public opinion has turned on them in recent years.

When they first burst onto the screen though, they stole the show from Gru and the rest of them.