Minions & Monsters Packs 40-Plus Film References From 1878 Silent Shorts to 2022's Babylon
Updated
Updated · TIME · Jul 2
Minions & Monsters Packs 40-Plus Film References From 1878 Silent Shorts to 2022's Babylon
3 articles · Updated · TIME · Jul 2
Summary
Illumination’s new Minions film is framed as a 1927 Hollywood love letter, with references spanning early cinema through modern blockbusters rather than just franchise gags.
The densest nods come from silent-era and Golden Age films: opening images echo Muybridge, Méliès and the Lumière brothers, while later scenes mirror Safety Last!, The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Singin’ in the Rain.
Hollywood-set sequences widen the range with museum displays and plot beats invoking The Matrix, E.T., Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Metropolis, The Maltese Falcon and Chaplin’s Modern Times.
The film also reaches into later decades with tributes to Jaws, Star Wars, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Babylon, making its references stretch from 1878 to 2022.