Blu-ray review: ‘Minions’

The world’s cutest henchman returned to theater screens this summer in an animated blockbuster earning over $1 billion worldwide.

Minions (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, rated PG, $34.98) arrival on Blu-ray offers a celebration of the group’s historical journey from the beginning of time to align with the greatest supervillain.

The story follows three of the yellow, pill-shaped Minions — the focused leader Kevin, artistic Stuart and the naïve but lovable Bob — as they leave their brethren in the South Pole and embark on a journey to find the perfect evil master.

Their quest takes them to a villain convention in Orlando in 1968, and they subsequently form an alliance with Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) and her hubby Herb (Jon Hamm) and venture to England in a plot to steal Queen Elizabeth’s crown.

A screen-filling (1.85:1 aspect ratio) digital transfer highlights the group’s eye-popping and hilarious shenanigans over the ages. When viewing the three-dimensional version, the scenes often look live-action thanks to some panoramic locations and the mastery of the computer-animation artists.

A Dolby Atmos sound mix offers some great reasons to turn up the volume and appreciate an enveloping musical soundtrack featuring 1960s bands such as The Beatles, The Who, The Doors, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.

Since the disc offers a celebration to this offshoot from the “Despicable Me” franchise, that means a bountiful supply of interactive extras for both adults and children,

First, within the feature “Around the World Interactive Map,” youngsters can virtually spin a globe and stop by 15 locations and time periods visited by the Minions. Users can learn some real historical and geographical fun facts as well as information tied to the film’s mythology through character bios and dozens of video and narrated segments.

For example, stop by France to learn about Napoleon, or click on Arizona to learn about the Tyrannosaurus Rex during the Cretaceous period, or pick Africa to learn about ancient man.

For older fans, find the “Behind the Goggles” area and click on 20 hotspots spread out over two pages of maps highlighting Illumination Entertainment headquarters. While visiting, enjoy short featurettes and plenty of artwork covering all aspects of the production.

They include information on the story, music, art and voice talent, interviews with core production staff and even scene comparisons covering storyboards, layout, animatics and final animation, playing side by side.

My favorite part here was the collection of 60 full color and fully realized pieces of concept art from Eric Guillon, presented in a slideshow that reveals many of the key parts of the movie.

And, as a festive addition and just in time for the holidays, watch and sing along with the Minions as they perform “Jingle Bells” in their wonderfully silly and multilingual vernacular.

The bonus content concludes with three animated shorts (averaging 4 minutes each) extending the Minions’ universe — “CroMinion,” “Binky Nelson Unpacified” and “Competition” — with the slapstick silliness of the latter being the best of the bunch.