‘Minions’ Movie Trailer Released Online; 8 Things We Learned From The 2015 ‘Despicable Me’ Spinoff

The first trailer for Illumination’s new film “Minions” was released Tuesday and it’s packed full of history regarding everyone’s favorite pint-sized yellow villain helpers. The “Despicable Me” spinoff shows the long journey that the age-old species underwent before finally finding their evil master, Gru (voiced by Steve Carell).

The Minions were first introduced in 2010's "Despicable Me," where they quickly stole the show and the hearts of audiences. Fun for adults and children alike, the short, gibberish-speaking klutzes helped the first film earn $543,113,985 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. This spawned the 2013 sequel "Despicable Me 2," which shattered that record, earning $970,761,885 worldwide.

Now, the Minions are the stars of their very own prequel, featuring voice acting by Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Steve Carell. The trailer is full of hints about the species' past, what their culture is like, and the use of the word “banana.” Below are the eight things we learned about the Minions:

1) Minions are old

Minions have been around forever, since the dawn of the dinosaurs. For as long as the adorable little creatures have existed, they’ve had but one purpose: They seek to find and serve the most despicable master in the world. As the trailer notes, finding a master is the easy part. Keeping one is what proves to be difficult.

2) The search in Egypt

In their hunt for a villian to follow, the Minions served some of the greatest masters throughout history, including the ancient Egyptians. As the trailer shows, they even had a hand in building the pyramids, though they weren’t the best architects. In all fairness, blueprints can be pretty hard to read.

3) Making war

The minions were also present to help world conquerors, although “help” in this case might be a very generous term. Still the minions were clearly present for a conflict, so that's something.

4) Good kill, bad Minion

The minions also managed to kill Dracula, or at least a vampire that looks an awful lot like him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the benevolent deed for humankind that it sounds like. They simply forgot about that pesky sunlight rule when waking him up for some surprise birthday cake. Woops. Having said that, 357 years is a good run.

5) Minion depression

Having burned through several masters over the years (both literally and figuratively), the Minions found themselves aimless and depressed, and they retired to some kind of glacial environment and waited for something to come along.

6) Brave heroes

Enter our film's three protagonists, the epically named Bob, Kevin and Stuart. They decide that enough is enough and go on a journey to find a new master. The adventure takes them very far away from the rest of their kind.

7) Before Gru

The spinoff's adventure begins in New York City. The year is 1968, 42 years before the events of the first “Despicable Me" movie. The spinoff film, set for release in the summer of 2015, will star the three heroes as they take to the streets of Manhattan in search of an evil master to follow.

8) Banana

Last but not least, Minions really like bananas... Seriously.

Watch the trailer below: