By George & Josh Bate
Minions & Monsters isn’t just another Minions movie – it doubles as a celebration of movie history, packing its adventure with references that span more than a century of filmmaking. From pioneering silent shorts to modern Hollywood epics, nearly every stage of cinema’s evolution gets a playful nod.
Check out all of the movie references and homages in the new Illumination film below….
The opening sequence immediately establishes the film’s love of movie history by recreating landmarks from the birth of cinema. The Minions appear in several groundbreaking works that helped define filmmaking, including Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies, Georges Méliès’ imaginative fantasy films, and the Lumière brothers’ early documentaries.
Among the recreated moments are the horse galloping in The Horse in Motion, the running dog from Dog Running, the mischievous prank in L’Arroseur Arrosé, workers leaving the Lumière factory, the famous arriving train, and the unforgettable rocket striking the moon’s eye from A Trip to the Moon.
Much of the film’s opening takes place inside a museum dedicated to classic movies. As visitors tour the exhibits, they pass recognizable displays inspired by films from many different eras. Featured tributes include The Matrix (of which Alison Janney’s tour guide thirsts over a wax Keanu Reeves), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Casablanca, Metropolis, The Mummy, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. A giant inflatable globe also harkens back to Charlie Chaplin’s dance with the world in The Great Dictator.
The museum extends beyond fictional characters as well, honoring influential filmmakers and stars such as Orson Welles, Bruce Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, and George Lucas, the latter of whom makes a vocal cameo as himself and later appears at the end of the movie as well.
Continuing their search for a new villainous leader, the Minions travel across the sea to an island inhabited by a cyclops. The voyage echoes the grand scale of Ben-Hur, while the giant one-eyed creature resembles the monsters featured in Clash of the Titans.
During their travels, the heroes encounter a magical figure whose appearance, costume, beard, and surroundings closely resemble the sorcerer from Disney’s Fantasia, making it one of the film’s more direct visual callbacks.
Before reaching Hollywood, the Minions become tangled in a dramatic train robbery inspired by two early action films: The Great Train Robbery and The Story of the Kelly Gang.
Their arrival in Hollywood includes another famous visual reference as they dash beneath a dangling clock reminiscent of Harold Lloyd’s legendary stunt in Safety Last!. Later, an audition sequence involving Vikings tips its hat to the silent adventure The Viking.
Physical comedy plays a major role throughout the movie, particularly in scenes inspired by Buster Keaton. One sequence recreates the runaway locomotive excitement of The General, while another references Steamboat Bill, Jr., complete with the famous collapsing house gag that narrowly misses its target.
One of the film’s strongest influences is Singin’ in the Rain. Beyond sharing themes about Hollywood’s shift from silent films to talking pictures, the movie also recreates the atmosphere of classic studio lots filled with productions inspired by Cleopatra and Wings.
Casablanca receives another wink when a piano player named Sam is asked to “play it again,” while Orson Welles is honored through a recreation of the opening imagery from Citizen Kane (now featuring Minions).
During a chase inside a factory, a worker resembling Charlie Chaplin becomes trapped inside machinery in an obvious salute to Modern Times. The joke escalates when numerous Minions pile into the gears, turning the famous sequence into pure slapstick.
Trey Parker of South Park fame voices the villainous Goomi in the film. Goomi sounds almost identical to Saddam Hussein in South Park.
Although the movie largely celebrates classic cinema, it also acknowledges more recent filmmaking. A lavish Hollywood party featuring extravagant dancing and elephants clearly evokes Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, one of the newest films referenced anywhere in the story.
Classic detective films receive attention through a sequence styled after The Maltese Falcon. Character names, wardrobe, and dialogue all point toward Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and private investigator Sam Spade, recreating the mood of 1940s noir.
The Minions star in a variety of films that put a spin on classic titles, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and It Came from Outer Space.
A shark encounter unmistakably channels Jaws, complete with music reminiscent of its famous suspense theme.
The robot Dort (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) borrows both its name and inspiration from Gort, the robot in The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The climactic battle contains several final tributes packed into the action. The principal monster recalls The Blob, one memorable spaghetti moment mirrors Lady and the Tramp, and aerial combat sequences evoke the space battles of Star Wars.