Summary
People have been pointing out a continuity problem inDespicable Me 4, but this small detail is part of why Illumination has been performing so much better than Disney at the box office. The film sees Gru grow his family, introducing a new baby boy with his wife, Lucy Wilde. This comes some years after the events ofDespicable Mewhen Gru adopted his three daughters, Margot, Edith, and Agnes. However, the timeline of this Illumination film franchise doesn’t quite add up, andwhile this might bother some viewers, it’s actually a sign thatDespicable Meis doing things right.
TheDespicable Mefranchisehas been massively popular, withDespicable Me(2010),Despicable Me 2(2013),Despicable Me 3(2017),Minions(2015), andMinions: The Rise of Gru(2022) bringing in a combined $4.6 billion at the global box office. The movies have also done phenomenally well on streaming, where each installment found itself in Netflix’s Top 10 movies for a time.Despicable Me 4is projected to do just as well and will likely join the billion-dollar club during its stint in theaters. This all comes despite the continuity problem regarding the characters' ages.
Where To Watch Despicable Me 4: Showtimes & Streaming Status
Gru and the Minions are back for another adventure, and there are options for where to watch Despicable Me 4 in theaters or at home on streaming.
Despicable Me 4’s Age Discrepancy Shows Illumination Isn’t Taking Itself Too Seriously
The Characters Haven’t Aged Or Changed In Despicable Me, But That’s Okay
The timeline inDespicable Me 4is a touch confusing since the characters don’t seem to have aged since the first move. This is especially evident in the kids, with Margot remaining a preteen after all these years while little Agnes is still just older than a toddler. The lack of change is all the more evident since it seems that Gru and Lucy have welcomed a baby boy since the end ofDespicable Me 3, which means more than a year must have gone by. Obviously, when looking at a realistic continuity, this doesn’t make sense.
Kids don’t care whether characters grow up like real people.
However, when asked about this,director Chris Renaud was unbothered. He said thatthey are taking aSimpsonsapproach withDespicable Me, where the characters are frozen in time and don’t age even after five, ten, or twenty years have gone by. Renaud noted that he doesn’t “think the audience cares,” and since the target audience forDespicable Meis children, he’s entirely right. Kids don’t care whether characters grow up like real people. If anything, this simply shows that Illumination isn’t taking itself too seriously, and it’s obviously working.
Disney Has Lost Sight Of Its Target Audience (While Illumination Isn’t Afraid To Be Silly)
Disney’s Recent Problems Aren’t Caused By Any One Thing, But Its Target Audience Change Could Be A Problem
People caring about the realistic continuity of an animated movie or TV show seems like a fairly recent change. In the ’80s and ’90s, it was pretty typical that cartoon characters wouldn’t change at all over time, remaining the same age and even wearing the same clothes again and again. This creates a consistent familiarity, which tends to be good for child audiences. However, it seems that, recently,animation studios have begun to target adult audiences, working tirelessly to avoid criticismabout plotholes and continuity issues. However, this seems to have sapped the fun out of children’s media.
Disney is especially guilty of prioritizing adult audiences' expectations over that of children. The studio has produced some wonderfully realistic animated movies, demonstrating phenomenal attention to detail that adult audiences love. However, most kids couldn’t care less about such things. Though it’s difficult to say if this is whyDisney has struggled at the box officein recent years,there’s something to be said about children’s movies being aimed too solidly at adults. Illumination isn’t afraid to be silly and contradict sense, and its films are doing stupendously.
Realistic Details In Animated Movies Can Be Great (But It Can’t Go Too Far)
Disney Can Take A Hint From Illumination’s Success
Of course, Disney shouldn’t just stop paying attention to the finer details. It’s fun to see sequels likeMoana 2age up the characters or to watch Tadashi breathe inBig Hero 6. It’s important that adults enjoy children’s animation as well since any kid at the theater must be brought there by a grownup who is hoping to have a good experience as well. However,this is taken too far when there is so much focus on realism in animation that the wacky fun that children love is lost.
Despicable Me 4 hits theaters on June 10, 2025.
Despicable Meis all chaos and outrageous events. None of it makes much sense, so the lack of aging children is the least of the problems. This has been true since the first movie was released in 2010, and it appears to be the same inDespicable Me 4. However, as a multibillion-dollar franchise, it’s clear that Illumination is doing something right.
Despicable Me 4
Cast
The infamous (and kind-hearted) not-super villain Gru returns in Despicable Me 4, the fourth entry in the long-running movie series from Illumination Entertainment. The fourth film also sees the return of Gru’s wife, Lucy, portrayed again by Kristin Wiig, and introduces their son.
