Annecy 2026 Opens With Minions & Monsters Premiere & Marjane Satrapi Homage

Annecy International Animation Film Festival opened with the world premiere of Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, and the surprise appearance of Guillermo Del Toro in the audience.

Directed by series regular Pierre Coffin, Minions & Monsters flings the beloved characters in the Golden Age of Hollywood featuring two new Minions, the artistic James, who dreams of directing big movies, and his best friend and sidekick, Henry. This third movie in the Minions stand-alone series and the seventh in the big Despicable Me franchise also features a misunderstood monster (voiced by South Parker co-creator Trey Parker) and significant homages to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and other classic Hollywood stars of the silent era.

The movie also features the voices of Jessie Eisenberg, Christopher Waltz, Allison Janney, Bobby Moynihan, and George Lucas. Illumination founder and CEO Christopher Meledandri and director Pierre Coffin had brought the Minions to Annecy in 2014 with the world premiere of Despicable Me.

“Annecy not only provides this moment to celebrate animation but it also gives an opportunity to honor Illumination and its artistry… I’m particularly excited because I love this movie so much and tonight I get to share my appreciation for all of the care which has been poured into every one of the frames of this movie by hundreds of artists sitting in the center of Paris at Illumination Studios,” Meledandri asserted. Meledandri and Coffin were also awarded special plaques for Annecy’s Wall of Fame. Illumination has been at the forefront of French feature animation for years. Minions & Monsters opens in U.S. theaters on July 1.

Annecy mayor Antoine Armand also paid a special tribute to the late Iranian-French animator and Oscar-nominated director Marjane Satrapi. “I would like us to have thoughts for Marjane Satrapi who left us a few weeks ago, and I think she embodies that freedom,” he said. “Some of you remember her book, Woman, Life, Freedom. Some of you remember her film, Persepolis where she transformed her own story into a universal fable. She reminds us that freedom is not a given and never will be. So, we need you. We need animation. We need you in Annecy.”