‘Despicable Me 4’ brings together heavy hitters like Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove and Joey King. Watch CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb sit down with this cast to discuss the special “comedy math” of Illumination’s success, the one Illumination animator who’s phoning it in, and some special “Superfan Trivia” about Will Ferrell and Steve Carell’s run together on ‘The Office.’
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00:00Nobody's phoning this in.
00:01Everybody is doing their very best work all the time,
00:05and that's inspiring.
00:06There is one.
00:07I mean, how many animators do they use on these?
00:09Probably three, hundreds.
00:10Hundreds.
00:11There's one guy.
00:12One guy.
00:13I know who's phoning it, who's phoning it.
00:14Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15But I'm not going to say his name.
00:16I know, though.
00:17I won't say it either because we're mic'd.
00:19But the rest.
00:20Yeah.
00:20$2.99 out of three is pretty good.
00:30It's kind of a pure sense of humor, right?
00:32That reminds me of, like, Airplane.
00:34Yes, I totally agree with you, actually.
00:37Like, it's punny.
00:38I didn't think about it like that, but I totally agree.
00:39There's also a rapid-fire joke aspect that also Airplane has,
00:43which is, like, every moment is filled with something funny.
00:46It never gets tiring, and it's also clever, unique,
00:49very different from the last joke, niche.
00:51I just think they've got the equation down.
00:55Of course he loves you.
00:56He just doesn't show it on his face.
00:59Or with his body language.
01:01I feel like the way the animation looks is really kind of unique and special, too.
01:04And the music adds so much with what Pharrell does.
01:07What do you like to ask the question?
01:11You know, it reminded me, there were segments, there were sequences of this
01:15that reminded me of Looney Tunes, of the old, the Warner Brothers cartoons.
01:20Slapstick.
01:21Slapstick, like Roadrunner, these Bugs Bunny, they, impeccable timing.
01:28And there are some chase scenes that the scene with the honey badger, to me, is just so funny.
01:36The scene where Kristen's character is being chased through the streets of this town.
01:40And in the supermarket.
01:41And in the supermarket, yeah.
01:42It just, and through the supermarket.
01:43Get back here!
01:45Again, like, the timing of, yeah, it made me laugh, too.
01:51And it's weird, you know, you read it, and you, you spend all this time working on it,
01:56and then you actually see it, and it's infinitely better.
01:58Yeah, the construction of those sequences, like, from a comedy math perspective, is, is,
02:03is kind of insane, because you watch it, you're enjoying it.
02:06But then I check out going, I couldn't have thought of all that.
02:10No.
02:11Yeah.
02:12No.
02:13One of the fun things about being a part of the movies is just that it's kind of a surprise,
02:14getting to go to the premiere or see it for the first time, because even though you go in,
02:18and you kind of know what your role is, like, seeing it all come together for the first time
02:22is really exciting.
02:23Yeah, there was, like, a moment that, like, like, my character did something funny,
02:27but, like, I wasn't, there was, I wasn't making any noises in that scene,
02:31so I didn't need to know about it or come in for it.
02:33And then I watched the movie, and I was like, that's hilarious.
02:35I, like, didn't even know about it.
02:37You're like, I'm hilarious.
02:38I know.
02:39I'm like, darn, I'm good.
02:41It's always better than you imagine it will be.
02:45And the, the, the, the animators are so talented.
02:49There's one shot of, like, a reflection in somebody's eyeball, and it's a close-up.
02:55And I think how, how do they, it's painstaking.
02:59They take the time.
03:00Nobody's phoning this in.
03:01Everybody is doing their very best work all the time.
03:05And that's inspiring.
03:06There, there is one.
03:08I mean, how many animators they use on these?
03:10Probably three.
03:10Hundreds.
03:11Hundreds.
03:12There's one guy.
03:13One guy.
03:13Who's funny.
03:14Who's funny.
03:15Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:16I'm not going to say his name.
03:17Oh, I know, though.
03:18I, I won't say it either, because we're mic'd.
03:20But the rest.
03:20Yeah.
03:21299 out of three is pretty good.
03:23Were you guys in the booth together?
03:24Did you get to, like...
03:24No, I don't think anyone really recorded, like, together.
03:27We just met a couple weeks ago.
03:28Yeah.
03:29For real?
03:29Yeah.
03:30What was that meet you like?
03:31I was already really excited to meet you.
03:33Yeah.
03:34What can we say?
03:36What about Will and Steve?
03:38Did you spend any time with them prior?
03:39I mean, she's been in all these moods before.
03:41Right, right, but...
03:42But I never met Will before.
03:44Like, I think we both met him yesterday at the premiere.
03:46Yeah.
03:46So that was really exciting.
03:47That was cool.
03:48That was cool.
03:48He's just so, he's so funny.
03:50He's so good at it.
03:51He's so funny.
03:52Did you pull it out rapidly?
03:54Yes, yes, very rapidly.
03:56He's like, I mean, obviously, I mean, that's like saying, like,
04:00butter's good on bread.
04:01Like, I don't know.
04:05Yeah, it's a...
04:06It's quiet.
04:10It's easy.
04:11No, we're just gonna end on the bread comment, though.
04:14Yes.
04:15That was perfect.
04:16Usually they stop after three.
04:18There's a whole trilogy thing.
04:20But I think this is one of the better ones.
04:22So where do you think we're going from here?
04:25There's not, like, 20 of these.
04:29I'm so in.
04:30Yeah.
04:30Illumination, personally.
04:32I think these movies just, like, they hit so good.
04:35Like, everyone who watches them loves them.
04:38They're iconic.
04:39It's like the biggest animation franchise ever.
04:42I just hope they keep going for years and years to come.
04:45They make me laugh so much.
04:46I hope I'm, like, 60 and I'm still playing Margo and she's still somehow 13.
04:50Yeah.
04:51Just never ages.
04:53Would you still be doing iCarly at 60 as well?
04:56Probably not.
04:57Probably not.
04:58But I feel like different circumstances.
05:01I don't know where I'm going with this.
05:03I just finished binging The Office superfan episodes.
05:13I just love the fact that you guys are working together still.
05:15It's just easy to work with Will.
05:17He's, I have complete faith and respect.
05:22Likewise.
05:23Yeah.
05:24But you know what's interesting about that little superfan trivia here?
05:28I knew it was Steve's last season and I just reached out to my agents going,
05:33I'd love to just do a cameo on The Office because I know Steve.
05:37And they were like, okay, they're excited.
05:39They loved it.
05:40What about a four show arc?
05:42I was like, oh.
05:44And then it became a thing.
05:45Yeah.
05:46Yeah.
05:47And I was like, of course, this will be so much fun.
05:49And it was, it's one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to do.
05:52Why did you have to be so damn good?
05:54I, I'm adequate.
05:58Even though I did feel like I shouldn't, I wasn't supposed to be there.
06:02It was so emotional.
06:03You're leaving.
06:04Oh, no, no, no.
06:05It was like, it was such a gift.
06:06It was a gift that you were there.
06:08It was just a gift.
06:21I'll let you do it.
06:22Thanks, Ron.
06:23Hey.
06:25Hey.
06:26Hey.
06:27Hey.
06:27Hey.
06:28Hey.
06:29Hey.
06:30Hey.
06:32Hey.
06:33Hey.
06:33Hey.
06:34Hey.
06:35Hey.
06:36Hey.
06:37Hey.