From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment: Minions

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 6,  2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The breakout stars the world fell in love with in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me global film franchise headline their own movie for the first time in Minions, available on Digital HD November 24, 2015, and on Blu-ray^™ Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand on December 8, 2015 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. A much anticipated prequel to the unprecedented worldwide blockbusters Despicable Me and the beloved sequel Despicable Me 2, Minions is an immensely entertaining film for all audiences called "inventive and hilarious" by Julian Roman, Movieweb.com.  The Blu-ray^™ Combo Pack and Digital HD also come with three all-new mini-movies and even more Minions everyone will want to watch again and again especially during the busy holiday travel season.

The story of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment's Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. Continuously unsuccessful at keeping these masters—from T. rex to Napoleon—the Minions find themselves without someone to serve and fall into a deep depression. But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he—alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob—ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embark upon a thrilling journey that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award^®-winner Sandra Bullock), the world's first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in 'mod' London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind...from annihilation.

Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, Gravity) heads up an all-star voice cast including Golden Globe and recent Emmy Award^®-winner Jon Hamm ("Mad Men," Bridesmaids), Academy Award-nominee Michael Keaton (Birdman: (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Toy Story 3), six-time Emmy Award-winner Allison Janney ("The West Wing," "Masters of Sex," "Mom"), Academy Award-nominee Steve Coogan (Despicable Me 2, Philomena), BAFTA Award-winner Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous," Shrek 2), and Academy Award-winner Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech, Pirates of the Caribbean series). The inimitable voices of the Minions are again voiced by Academy Award-nominee Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2) who co-directs with Kyle Balda (Dr. Seuss' The Lorax). Minions is produced by Illumination Entertainment CEO and founder Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. Brian Lynch wrote the screenplay, and Chris Renaud serves as executive producer of the film. 

Minions will be available on Blu-ray^™ with DIGITAL HD and UltraViolet^™ and DVD

• Blu-ray^™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.   
• DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.
• DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet^™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download

BONUS FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAY^TM AND DIGITAL HD:

• THREE ALL-NEW MINI-MOVIES:
  • Cro Minion
  • Competition
  • Binky Nelson Unpacified
• DELETED SCENE – ME, MYSELF AND STUART
• AROUND THE WORLD INTERACTIVE MAP - Explore the world of the Minions with this interactive map featuring a collection of games, trivia, featurettes, storyboards, and more all themed to movie locations.
• BEHIND THE GOGGLES – THE ILLUMINATION STORY OF THE MINIONS – Get a "behind the goggles" look at the history and evolution of everyone's favorite yellow henchmen.
  • WRITER - See how the Minions evolve throughout the different time periods. Writer, Brian Lynch discusses creating distinctive personalities for the three main Minions, his VillainCon idea, and the Minion family.
  • BOSS' OFFICE – Illumination Entertainment CEO and founder and Minions producer, Chris Meledandri discusses the origins of Illumination Entertainment and the genesis of both Despicable Me and the Minions.
  • ART DEPARTMENT - See how the Minions came to life, from the original art concept of the henchmen to the final creation of the Minions and how to differentiate them between new time periods. Also, see how the idea of Herb and Scarlett Overkill's characters came to be.
  • GALLERY – CONCEPT ART (stills)
  • GALLERY – COLOR SCRIPT (stills)
  • COMPOSER - Listen to how composer Heitor Pereira creates the sound of the Minions and what it takes to create big music for small characters.
  • ACTORS STUDIO - Listen to the actors' experiences being part of the Minions movie, who their favorite Minions are, and why they love them so much.
  • NOTICE BOARD (stills)
  • SAFETY VIDEO
• ILLUMINATION MACGUFF ANIMATION
  • ANIMATION - Go behind the scenes and hear about the challenges and excitement behind the Minion characters and bringing them alive through animation in the movie
  • LIGHTING, LAYOUT AND EFFECTS - A look at the ways in which layout and lighting plays a big role in the emotion and motivation in the movie. Also see the ways in which they try to keep the 60's vintage look and the challenges they face with very technical shots, where one shot can take weeks.
  • 3D MODELS GALLERY (stills)
  • DIRECTORS - Directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda discuss the unique challenges of creating distinctive personalities for the Minions  
  • PRODUCERS - Producers Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Executive Producer Chris Renaud discuss the three main characters – Kevin, Stuart, and Bob – little family in the movie and the goal of creating a special bond between them and the audience when they leave the theater.
  • EDITORIAL - Editor Claire Dodgson discusses the distinctive editing style of the Despicable Me franchise and the three-year process it takes to make these movies from the original storyboards to cutting scenes with Minion dialogue.
  • STORYBOARD ARTIST - Learn how the actions of the words of the script turn into visual drawings and how much work is put in from the rough sketches to the final cut of the movie.
  • GALLERY – STUART HOT TUB STORYBOARD (stills)

• JINGLE BELLS MINION STYLE - This holiday favorite is brought to life in a merry-Minion way. Now you get to sing along to the beloved video that was the most shared piece of content on Facebook in 2014.  
  
   
• THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS THEATRICAL TRAILER

DVD BONUS FEATURES

•  DELETED SCENE – ME, MYSELF AND STUART
  
  
• JINGLE BELLS MINION STYLE - This holiday favorite is brought to life in a merry-Minion way. Now you get to sing along to the beloved video that was the most shared piece of content on Facebook in 2014.   

• THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS THEATRICAL TRAILER

Official Website: http://www.minionsmovie.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minions

Twitter: https://twitter.com/minions

Instagram: https://instagram.com/minionnation/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/illumination

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/minionnation/

Tumblr: http://minionnation.tumblr.com

Hashtag: #Minions

For artwork, please log onto our website at www.ushepublicity.com

SYNOPSIS

Since the dawn of time, Minions have served (and accidentally eliminated) history's most despicable villains. After their latest explosive mistake leaves them without an evil leader, the Minions fall into a deep depression. With the tribe on the brink of collapse, three unlikely heroes--Kevin, Stuart, and Bob—embark on a journey to find a new big boss. When their quest leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award® winner Sandra Bullock), our three heroes must face their biggest challenge yet: saving all of Minionkind...from annihilation! 

FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Pierre Coffin

Directed By: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda

Written By: Brian Lynch

Produced By: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Executive Produced By: Chris Renaud

Edited By: Claire Dodgson

Music By: Heitor Pereira

TECHNICAL INFORMATION –BLU-RAY 3D™:
Street Date: December 8, 2015

Copyright: 2015 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Selection Number: 61168386 (U.S.), 61168352 (CDN)

Layers: BD-50

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1

Rating: PG

Languages/Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French

Sound: Atmos Dolby True HD/DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 DVS (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish and French)

Run Time: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY^™:
Street Date: December 8, 2015

Copyright: 2015 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Selection Number: 61126654 (U.S.), 61168350 (CDN)

Layers: BD-50

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1

Rating: PG

Languages/Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French

Sound: Atmos Dolby True HD/DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 DVS (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish and French)

Run Time: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

To experience Dolby Atmos at home, Dolby Atmos enabled AV receivers and additional speakers are required; however, Dolby Atmos soundtracks are fully backward compatible with traditional audio configurations and legacy home entertainment equipment.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD
Street Date: December 8, 2015

Copyright: 2015 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Selection Number: 61126664 (U.S.), 61168351 (CDN)

Layers: Dual

Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85:1

Rating: PG

Languages/Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1/DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish and French)

Run Time: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

About Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

About Illumination Entertainment
Illumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of all-audience event films. In July 2010, Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, released its first film, Despicable Me, starring Steve Carell, which earned more than $540 million worldwide and launched a beloved global franchise. With the success of 2011's Hop (more than $183 million worldwide), 2012's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, 2013's juggernaut Despicable Me 2 and the 2015 billion dollar global sensation Minions starring Academy Award^®-winner Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm, written by Brian Lynch, and directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, Illumination's films have made more than $3 billion worldwide. Fans may also experience Minion Mayhem in 3D with the Ultra-HD movie motion simulator adventure at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.

CONTACT:
Evan Fong
Publicity
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
[email protected]
818-777-5540

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151005/274178

SOURCE Universal Pictures Home Entertainment