The Villain Isn’t the Only Thing That’s French! ‘Despicable Me 4’ Director Chris Renaud on the Animated Franchise’s Roots in France
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent It’s not just Maxime Le Mal, the “Despicable Me 4” villain with the broad accent, that has a distinctly French flavor.
In fact, Universal and Illumination’s animated franchise boasts Gallic DNA throughout all of the hit movies. And even though Chris Renaud, the Oscar-nominated director of the latest “Despicable Me” and two of its predecessors, owes his French-sounding name to his Canadian origins, the helmer says “essentially everybody” working on the films is French.
The only exceptions to this geographic over-representation are the writers (Mike White and Ken Daurio) and some of the storyboarder artists who are U.S.-based. “Everything from what we call the layout, up through the animation, lighting and compositing — almost the entire team is French!
The picture that you see is all compiled and created here in France,” says Renaud, who moved to Paris in 2010 to work on the first “Despicable Me” production spearheaded by Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri.
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