Thanks to this summer’s Despicable Me 3, the entire Despicable Me franchise just overtook Shrek as the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time.
Whether you love the minions or think the little yellow blobs are super annoying, they’re here to stay. Well, they already solidified their pop culture presence back when Despicable Me 2 earned them a solo film. But now that the entire franchise calls itself the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time, they’re never going to go away.
The previously-crowned champion was the Shrek franchise. If you think about it, Shrek carries a lot of similar themes to Despicable Me. Both films originated with a lonely, misunderstood guy with a semi-crude sense of humor in desperate need of a family. Then, over time, the franchise spun out into spin-offs that focused on their sidekicks (Puss in Boots versus Minions). Further, both have rides at Universal Studios.
Thanks to Despicable Me 3‘s haul, Despicable Me now has $3.52 billion worldwide across all four films. Though the Shrek franchise boasts $3.51 billion across five films. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before Despicable Me became the top grossing franchise. Just consider the prevalence of those borderline annoying minions.
Minions broke a billion at the box office pretty easily and Despicable Me 3 isn’t that far away from the same feat. Meanwhile, Shrek‘s highest-grossing film in its franchise happens to be Shrek 2, which pulled in about $919.8 million at the box office worldwide.
More than just box office numbers
But it’s not just about box office numbers when it comes to the Despicable Me franchise. In fact, it’s the toys that make it seem like minions are literally everywhere. Considered the “Mickey Mouse of Universal,” the minions help the studio generate upwards of $70 million dollars each year in toy sales. While the toy industry remains a divisive and horribly sexist front, minions pretty much appeal to all kids. The marketing for Minions in 2015 helped the franchise break some serious records for toys, especially with the release of the mobile game that exceeded all expectations.
Its only toy rival? Star Wars.
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Despicable Me 3 is now playing in theaters; Minions 2 hits theaters in 2020.