NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (UPI) — Saturday Night Live and The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins icon Bobby Moynihan’s latest animated film, Minions & Monsters, is a tribute to Hollywood’s early creature features.
Now playing in theaters and streaming on digital platforms, the blockbuster follows the excitable, yellow Minions of Despicable Me fame as they try to revive their cinematic careers in the late 1920s by conjuring up real monsters, using a warlock’s spell-book.
Pierre Coffin, who co-wrote the movie with Brian Lynch, directed the picture and voices all of the Minion characters.
Moynihan, Phil LaMarr and Trey Parker voice the monsters Phillips, Howard and Goomi respectively.
Minions attend the “Despicable Me 4” premiere in Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2024. File Photo by John Nacion/UPI
Bobby Moynihan attends the premiere of “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” at Regal Cinemas LA Live in Los Angeles in 2017. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
“Phillips is a giant fish-man in a clam bra and I found his voice by looking at that adorable face,” Moynihan, 49, told UPI in a Zoom interview this week.
“I kind of just went in and met with Pierre and Brian Lynch and they’re like, ‘Here’s what we were thinking and he’s kind of Howard’s buddy.’ So, they showed me some stuff that Phil LaMarr did as Howard and it kind of came from there. It was a blast. I love him with all my heart.”
Pierre Coffin attends the world premiere of “Minions” at Odeon Leicester Square in London in 2015. File Photo by Paul Treadway/UPI
The actor admitted he initially was a little nervous about jumping into such a successful franchise.
“Once I realized the people that are there know exactly what they want and they guide you in the right direction, I just got to do a fun, weird character,” he said.
So, did Coffin use his Minions voice when he was directing Moynihan in the recording studio?
“I wish! No, if he did the Minions voice in the studio, I think I would have exploded,” Moynihan quipped.
“He’s one of those creative people that you just go, ‘Wow, I’m really lucky to be working with this person who loves what they do so much and is so good at it.’ He’s just fantastic. It’s like that feeling you get when you’re like, ‘I think we would have been close friends in high school and making movies together.’
“We’re a James and a Henry,” Moynihan said, referring to two of the Minion besties.
As is fitting for a movie that celebrates the birth of Hollywood and the ingenuity that has kept it running for more than a century, Minions boasts a stellar vocal cast that also includes Allison Janney, Christoph Walz, Jeff Bridges and Jesse Eisenberg.
“Seeing the movie was such a treat, especially seeing all the little Easter eggs they threw in,” Moynihan recalled.
“I got to meet Jeff Bridges doing this movie and, after meeting him, within the first five minutes of the movie, you see they’re walking through the [modern-day] studio and an airplane is tied in a knot like on the poster of the movie [Airplane!] and I was like: ‘My God, that was Jeff Bridges’ dad in Airplane! Now, we’re in a movie together,'” he noted.
“It’s just very nuts. I felt very Hollywood romantic while watching it.”
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