Minions Are “Too Dumb” To Be Girls, Says Their Creator

Love them or hate them, minions are everywhere these days. Although, if you're a member of the latter camp, the creator of these animated creatures just said something that might give you a giggle anyway. When asked whether or not the little yellow blobs are boys or girls, French director and animator Pierre Coffin came back with a pretty clear answer. “Seeing how dumb and stupid they often are, I just couldn’t imagine Minions being girls," he told TheWrap. Hilarious, absolutely — although, that also means that all minions are voiced by male actors. Thankfully, the gender balance is corrected by the fact that there are plenty of other female voices present within the film, with Sandra Bullock among them. Coffin also wants the world to know that minions are unable to reproduce (there are competing theories on how they come into existence) and that they — at least for now — lack an origin story. In short: They just are. No further explanation warranted or provided. Lastly, Coffin dropped some background information about the three most famous minions among the masses, and how they got their names. “Kevin comes from an ancient Greek word (‘Kevinos’) which means leader,” Coffin explained. “Stuart comes from the Latin word ‘Stuartalumni’ which means (loosely translated) ‘the one who slacks.’ As for Bob, it means short. For Robert.”