It was with the 2010 movie Despicable Me when we met these peculiar yellow characters, named ‘Minions;’ the success these funny creatures had was such that five years later had their own movie.
Since the first appearance of the ‘Minions’ on the big screen, they attracted attention for their cute appearance: their yellow color, their big goggles with one or two lenses, as well as their very curious denim clothes. Another thing that captivated us about these peculiar beings was the fact that they did not speak; they only emitted sounds among which we could hear laughter.
Incidentally, since their first appearance, several theories began to circulate as to the creation of these striking characters that even related them to WWII, with satanic acts due to their appearance, among other things.
The real story of the Minions
Thanks to their popularity and influence in society, mainly in the lives of the little ones, speculations about their history began. This interest has resurfaced with the recent release of their new movie Minions: The Rise of Gru.
According to the YouTube channel UniversOscuro, one of the main theories about the origin of the ‘Minions’ was the ‘medical’ experimentations made during WWII. Some of these horrid procedures included injections on children to change their color. Prisoners of all ages at the camps were used as “guinea pigs” in the terrible experiments in search of the “pure race.”
Then, during the heyday of the ‘Minions’ a photograph began to circulate in which some people could be seen wearing uniforms that looked very similar to the yellow characters: immediately began the rumor that they were Jewish children who had been kidnapped by the German to perform forced labor.
Added to that was the fact that Gru, the villain the ‘Minions’ worked for, could be a reference to the German leader, plus the fact that he had a slight accent when speaking that had some German hues. That theory is nothing but FALSE.
The photograph mentioned at the beginning of this article dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, and it shows the first divers, who are not children but adults, ready to perform their rescue practices.
About the true origin of the ‘Minions,’ a few years ago, Sergio Pablos, creator and writer of Despicable Me, was questioned about the little yellow characters.
“On one occasion I was watching a documentary about the new underwater costumes in the UK and that gave me a brilliant idea; however, something that didn’t quite convince me as it had to look like something more pleasant than terrifying, so I thought of pills with glasses.”
After all, the creation of the ‘Minions’ would not be so far removed from that early 20th-century image that went viral a few years ago.
Story originally published in Cultura Colectiva
