Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/884568
s e p t e m b e r . o c t o b e r 2 0 1 7 c g w 1 7 ru is a conflicted character. A supervillain who once tried to steal the moon with assis- tance from his mischievous Minions, he lost his hard edge for a soer one when he fell hard for three bright- eyed orphans. But retaining his status of a bad guy gone good is not easy for Gru, especially when his long-lost twin steps into the picture. In Despicable Me 3, Gru is fired from the Anti-Villain League for failing to take down the latest bad guy: the former child TV star Balthazar Bratt, who lives and breathes all things '80s and is bent on destroying Hollywood, which rejected him aer he lost his "child appeal." The Minions want their master to return to his old dastardly ways, but Gru is determined to continue his reformed ways. Then he meets his brother, Dru, who is in many ways a contrast to Gru. But is Dru the yang to Gru's yin, or vice versa? Gru is short and squat; Dru is tall and lean. Gru wears black; Dru, white. Gru is introverted and contained; Dru is emotional and en- ergetic. Gru is bald; Dru has long, luxurious locks. Gru is newly unemployed; Dru has inherited their father's fortune. The boys were separated at birth, with each parent taking one of the boys – Gru's mom insists she had last pick. Dru seems to have it all, with the exception of one thing: He wants to follow in their father's footsteps and become a world-class villain, and looks to Gru to teach him to become despicable. Gru agrees: He can help his brother and use their dad's sophisticated, villainous gad- gets to finally take down Balthazar. It doesn't take long before sibling rivalry surfaces. "We thought it would be a great idea to give Gru another person to drive him nuts and make him wonder about his purpose," says Co-writer Ken Daurio. "Dru gets Gru excited about the possibility of being in villainy again. It's very, 'Come on … just one more heist. It's in our blood. We're sup- posed to do this.' " The film is directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, and co-directed by Eric Guillion. It is produced by Illumination Mac Guff founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime fellow producer, Janet Healy, who have shepherded every Illumination film since the company's inception a decade ago, including Minions and Despicable Me 2 – two of the top seven animated films of all time. (As of this writing, Despi- cable Me 3 was sitting at number six.) All told, 570 people were involved in the production of this latest film. Writing, some artwork, and boarding were done in Santa Monica, California, while the majori- ty of the work occurred in Paris. Past Present Audiences were first introduced to Gru and company in 2010, with Despicable Me, followed by Despicable Me 2 in 2013. The crew began building assets for Despicable Me 3 in mid-2015, with production starting in November of that year and wrapping in April 2017. Aer three successful sequels in the series and one prequel (2015's Minions), it's clear that the animators at Illumination know these characters well, inside and out. The challenge, however, was to update the characters in order to streamline the animation and production processes, while retaining the look and feel that audiences have come to recognize and love. "With the time between the films, we have been able to advance the character models," explains Coffin. "For his part, Gru has soened just a touch since he became a dad. He's not the hardened supervillain we first met, but he still has that despica- ble edge to him. Lucy (his new wife and agent partner introduced in Despicable Me 2) is extremely stylish, and even though it makes her harder to animate, her ever- present scarf just defines her. [As for the children] Margo is even more expressive and relatable in this chapter; Edith's mischievousness is even more subtle, and Agnes – if it is possible – is more adorable than we could imagine." This is where having three directing partners is particularly advantageous. "The acting is done at the same time as the cinematography and the story develop- ment. Multiple directors allow us to divide the tasks in the creative process," explains Balda. Coffin is heavily involved in the animation process and story; Guillion more so in the visual concepts and character designs. And Balda focuses more on story- boarding and editing. Each film has many recurring characters and introduces some new ones as well – all with their own challenges. There's even some new Minions, including Mel, who heads a revolt that results in all but two Minions deserting Gru for his desire to stay on the straight and narrow aer he is fired. According to Bruno Chauffard, who was CG supervisor on the film along with Frank Baradat, the most challenging new character was Dru. "Technically, besides the hair, he wasn't very difficult since he's based on Gru," he says. "But we had to define who he was as Gru's twin brother. We did some animation exploration to make sure Dru was on the same level of Gru, who is such a great character. They had to be totally comple- mentary and credible as twin brothers. "Animating two main characters with nearly identical physical attributes was a real challenge," Chauffard adds. And then there was Balthazar. Animators wanted to give him an '80s style of move- ment – to complement the era's fashion and music he immerses himself in – and does so through dance moves. In terms of the environments, Fred- donia village, Dru's home, was far from easy to construct, mainly because there are no straight lines. "Nothing is straight or square," says Chauffard. "Every single house is unique and must fit in perfectly with the house next door." g REFORMED VILLAIN GRU (RIGHT) AND WANNA-BE VILLAIN DRU (LEFT).