my own perceptions

Svengeance skates miserably.

Belle was animated differently in this scene in this trailer (1:46). Here she shimmies. There are actually quite a few voicelines and animations that were changed in the final product, even some just from the trailers.

Jean-Clawed just being in love. That's a look😏meant for ship tease.

These vehicles are awesome. All the concept art I could find here.

Look at the detail on Belle's robe, that's some insane patterning.

JC's the only one to actually look at Belle here, before grinning at Nunchuck.

Svengeance does a spin before jumping into his motorcycle. It's shaped like a rollerskate with a drill on the front!

Crab mech. 'nuff said. The giant pincers are scuffed at the edges, suggesting some serious use for destruction. How those tiny points of metal are holding up the mech is beyond me.

The pipes on the back are shaped like Jean's bowler hat which is kind of hilarious.

SMASH! Stronghold's got a tank design, since he's the tank of the group. Get it?

It also has the V6 logo on the side, and an iron sight aimer.

Gorgeous (under-utilised) design. It's a flying organ with a massive gun mounted on the front.

The tune she plays is Toccata & Fugue D Minor, BWV 565 by Bach. What a mouthful for such a familiar tune.

All of these are giving off serious smoke by the way. What is pollution?

Missing shot from the trailer.

Crab mech snaps at the screen.

Freedonia from DM3 on the arrivals screen!

Some story going on with these two. She doesn't want him to leave. But he must go, his city needs him.

Fly Like An Eagle by Steve Miller Band plays here, released in May 1976. Blah blah blah release date blah blah.

This woman's face is the spitting image of Scarlet Overkill, probably a reused model.

Skin details.

Bello magazine: best of romance. Reference to how minions say hello.

Pilot guy boasting about how he nearly died. Losing thrust in both engines is no joke.

Sally gets a bit distracted and slips off the railing.

This whole plane scene is insane so I'll get through it as quickly as possible.

Nobody cares about only getting one peanut except that one guy, they just roll with it.

This guy's oxygen mask just falls on his face since he's sound asleep.

While the woman on the cover does look like Belle, I'm pretty certain it isn't.

This control tower guy forgot to take his headphones off, so gets pulled back as he runs away.

Bob's not in this shot even though he should be.

Mom is understandably exhausted.

Song that plays here is 'All the Young Dudes' by Mott the Hoople, released in 1970.

That chest hair is totally drawn on by the way.

'Worst villains in the world'? I get the meaning behind it, but if you remember, Bratt describes Gru as the 'world's worst villain' in DM3, so... it would make more sense to describe the V6 as the best since that's what he means.

Bob pets Kyle.

Pet Rocks were created in 1975, so an apt reference. The 'creator' of the gimmick, Gary Dahl, made a bloody fortune off of these things. They were a very short-lived fad, but they're actually coming back into popularity, if you can believe it.

It's possible the googly eyes on the rock are a reference to Everything Everywhere All At Once, especially considering the main actress, Michelle Yeoh, voices Master Chow in this movie.

Watch this minion, he's vibrating in the background. Because of his jackhammer, obviously.

Gru packs Sticky Fingers with him.

This scene is honestly kind of sad. I mean, we did just see a child get kidnapped.

Wild Knuckles' house is shaped like a WK of course. It's been theorised that Gru lives here in the future, in the rebuilt mansion we see in all the DM movies, which would place the events of the main movies in San Francisco.

WK's house being so obvious raises questions. Like, can the AVL not just arrest him? Did the V6 not think to loot his house or something after they 'killed' him? We see it's not filled with booby traps like Vector's, so what gives?

Gru saying Belle Bottom's name is the only time in the movie any of the V6's names are said, other than Wild Knuckles.

Is that a guitar-axe?? Hardcore.

Love how you can hear Steve Carrell laughing through his line here.

Wild Knuckles' had a few house & interior designs, here's a select few:

I believe he was originally intended to be Chinese, but this was changed when Alan Arkin was cast. The final design has more of a medieval angle, with all the weaponry and suits of armor around. [Click here for more].

Man just broke the balcony.

Gru's screams and begging actually sounds quite realistic here, it caught me off-guard the first time I heard it.

Gru shakes his head like 'what do you want me to do?'

Gru uses his fingers to try and remember his home phone number.

Concept art.

Some things on the board include: UFO sightings, a bag of potato chips, a police report, a drawing of Gru on a boat, an insurance policy paper, a picture of the Orlando billboard from Minions, and my personal favorite:

WHY

Also this minion eating popcorn as everyone else panics.

And no, Frighton and Northgomery aren't real places, so that's not useful in telling us where Gru currently lives.

Big henchman is poking Gru in the background and Gru bats his hand away.

Green Street is an actual place in San Francisco. Not 6830 though.

Gene Simmons from KISS.

The lady picks up her dog and runs away.

Stronghold says 'Split up!' JC and Nunchuck appear to go the opposite way, but in the next shot they can be seen behind Svengeance along with Belle.

Animators were allowed to experiment with this part of the chase sequence. Here's a WIP (also includes a bit of a much later scene):

Very proud of himself here.

Man's head shattered the glass. Deep cuts, blood, bruising? No. These guys are indestructible.

Stuart slams against this car door due to the ricochet.

This guy is really tall. Also 'the demon child!'.

JC shoves a trashcan out the way.

For an old girl, Nunchuck moves fast.

This mystery machine-type van can be heard slowing down, but not in time. That driver is done for.

Nunchuck combines 2 of her nun-chucks. They have 3 ends each, but when we see it combined, it only has 4. It is possible though that the 3 ends were only added for animation purposes.

This kid is really impressed.

That's a broken nose.

Nunchuck is dead. Ain't no way. JC escaped to who-knows-where.

This kid is a villain in the making! Rooting for Belle.

Belle jumps inhumanly high.

Stronghold recovers quickly and chases after Gru.

Jean spawns back in inhumanly fast and takes hold of the chain belt. He's the only one other than Belle to hold/use it in the film. He smiles evilly as they go.

Gru glances between them here. Random note, these two look super tired throughout this entire scene; like, noticeably so. It's not prominent in other scenes. Didn't get much sleep the night before, it seems.

I really like the detail paid to Jean-Clawed's mechanical claw. It's not just hanging there; it's properly attached via the chestplate and two straps, and has a bunch of sliding buttons as well. That's a level of care I appreciate.

Diddums. Belle seems to be simultaneously talking to both Jean and Gru when she says 'what's wrong with you'.

Jean's startled a little when Belle gets up.

Gru stealing the stone is technically all of their faults. Jean mistaking Gru for a tiny man, Nefario letting him in, and Belle revealing the stone to prove a point and not hiding it away again. And technically all the V6 for betraying WK in the first place.

'Sucking his thumb'- play it off dude, play it off. JC stops and looks a little nervous before glancing at Svengeance and laughing along with the rest.

These two are fun. Nunchuck crosses her fingers through the air as she laughs.

Gru could have shown off a lot of villainy here. The queen's crown, hello? We know he still has it. If he never mentioned his age, they may not have noticed. Or at least, he could have lied about it. Also, did he just not put his age and birth year on his application? But he puts a photo? What are we doing bro.

Wingman knocks Gru to the side.

Gru looks back as Wingman loses control.

V6 are leaning over.

NUNCHUCK'S FACE; best shot, hands down.

JC gets knocked back, Belle remains unphased.

Nunchuck praying here; looks genuinely concerned.

Svengeance looks rogue.

Jean-Clawed thinks this whole thing is hilarious.

Belle looks back at the boys. Nunchuck is conducting them.

Accidentally found this shot, holy hell 😂 seconds before disaster.

Belle gets out of the way in time. The guys are all knocked back; Jean loses his hat in the process. Somewhat hard to hear, JC says 'everybody, pile on!', jumping right up there, while the others attempt to help.

We've got a lot in the record store; I'll probably miss something.

Some labels include: Top Hits, Exclusive, Greatest Hits, On Sale, Compilation, and Best Sellers.

Sara Rose is not a real artist as far as I can tell. Looks like animated versions of The Beatles on some covers. Other labels I can make out include The Arms, The Armpits (what a name), The Rims (a far worse name), She Rocks, Jamaica Joanna, Beatnik Poetry, and Cocktail. All for the low-low price of... $7.99, $9.99 and $11.99. That's expensive for 1976, but actually historically-accurate pricing. Forget villainy, that's criminal.

Poster advertising 'free piano lessons'.

The Booboos Band is looking for a guitarist.

NO REFUND (can't make out what's in the brackets).

This poster says: King Richard Concert, May 14 1970, Washington DC Convention Hall, Pepperland. Buy your tickets now.

Love how nobody questions why there's a whole chemistry lab in a record store.

'Sticky Fingers': a propensity to steal. A fitting name. Also the name of an album by the Rolling Stones. It copies Nefario's hand movements.

This whole bit kind of ignores the fact Gru met and bought a freeze ray from Dr. Nefario back in 1968 at Villain-Con. Simplest explanation is he forgot.

Nefario looks around briefly for any unwanted attention.

More album covers including Apricot's Child, Mike Limbda (not a real person), and The Schlings, I think? I hope that's an I.

The poster behind Nefario tell us that The Booboos Band is hosting a free concert at Wembley University on May 19th 1970 (I think we may have missed it).

More interestingly, Nefario seems to have written a note saying '10pm, 622 [something] St. (bring the snack). I imagine this has something to do with the V6, but what exactly? I find the idea they bring snacks on heists funny.

Real song, real artist, real album cover. You're No Good was a song cover released by Linda Ronstadt in November 1974; her's success far exceeded the original's.

This rocker guy is listening and conducting to a classical piece with a name that escapes me. The old lady is rocking it out to Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent.... which was released in 1977. Criminal Records must be so ahead of the game they have songs that haven't even been released yet.

Another Sara Rose poster and a concert by The Loobster.

Poster for Teen Tune Night 71' featuring Poco Loco. Also another band called Big Apples.

'Mum's the word': keep quiet, don't reveal a secret.

He's excited for him! I find it interesting also that he told Gru to let the V6 'have it'; in hindsight, he probably wanted them to get mad and screw up. After all, without him showing Gru the ropes and giving him Sticky Fingers, the movie wouldn't have happened. He orchestrated it! Nefario!

'Welcome to the Vicious 6': I think the voice on the record is Jean-Clawed, but don't quote me on that.

Very 70s waiting room. These guys' character models (aside from Wingman) are reused a lot.

That's a real edition of MAD magazine congratulating Richard Nixon on his presidency; a bit late considering he resigned in 1974.

Edit: On closer inspection, this edition has been altered a little; it congratulates Nixon on his impeachment.

Fun fact: he can be seen at Villain-Con in Minions.

Butcher guy glances at Gru here. He's being pretty patient all things considered.

Hologram technology? Hell yeah. A good-quality sound system? You must be dreaming. Butcher guy also glances over when it goes off.

This is gonna take me a stupidly long time to finish, isn't it? But I promise I'll finish it. I hope you guys are finding it interesting so far. You too, non-Tumblr general internet users.

Gru has what looks like a pin-up of sorts of Belle above his door. She's holding her ball and chain.

There's a diagram of Jean-Clawed by his bed and a smaller poster of Wild Knuckles below that.

He has figurines of Belle and Jean on the floor.

He has a sizeable boomerang/slingshot/saw collection. Also spaceships. Some of them are even labeled.

+ spider wallpaper.

A picture of Nun-Chuck on his wardrobe, as well as a newspaper clipping with the headline 'Nun-Chuck Tells It All'. A stylised V6 poster above that, and an article on Stronghold to the side.

The queen's crown he stole in Minions. I've done the maths, and it would seem he stole it when he was 4 years old. The timeline is a bit of a mess, but personally I see the present Despicable Me movies (1-4) taking place from 2009-2014. Maybe that's a bit generous.

They also 'sing' a version of Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel (released in 1970) during this scene. Available on the soundtrack.

This minion singing into a wrench.

Bob's pet rat from Minions is still alive, somehow. Wild rats typically live to be 1, sometimes 2 years old. The oldest rat ever lived to be 7 years old. It's been 8 years since the first Minions movie. Go figure. Or, we could just say this is a different rat.

This minion casually on fire. These guys are literally indestructible.

Otto passes out. So these guys do need to breathe. And have blood.

A few things:

Gru's clock is a bomb. There is also a stylised print of Jean-Clawed above it.

More giant V6 posters + a giant poster of Wild Knuckles.

A small poster of Stronghold on the right.

A drawing of Belle Bottom beating up some police officers + a drawing of Nun-Chuck + drawing of Svengeance.

Newspaper clipping that reads 'Jean Clawed Snaps Again'.

There are more but they appear again in a bit.

Other than the giant V6 banner, there is a news clipping from 'Despicable News' I deciphered as saying 'Veni Vedi Vicious 6', a play on 'Veni Vedi Vici': I came, I saw, I conquered. Not sure what WK is doing but he's on the cover.

This is just here for the sake of it. Stronghold has the disappointed-dad look going on. Svengeance looks like someone told him to show his mean face.

Bob and Tim from Minions. Reminder these guys are millions of years old.

The VNC guy from Minions is back with a new 70s style.

Sucky 70s graphics, I love it.

Wild Knuckles has a black eye and a bandage where his bandana used to be. Let's not question how he survived or made it back in one piece. Humans seem to be nigh-indestructible in this universe.

Skinny henchman nudges bigger guy to ask about payment while WK makes some questionable hand gestures (pulling limbs? breaking bones? who knows.)

WK suddenly grows 3 extra arms. He actually has a few blemishes and freckles on his arms which is just cool attention to detail.

Gru's future crocodile couches; he clearly inherited them.

Gru sings to the tune of 'Bad Moon Rising' by John Fogerty and CCR (released in 1969) throughout the 'getting ready' scene.

These guys really merched up. Wild Knuckles comes with glasses. Just look at those posable joints.

There's also a drawing of Nun-Chuck holding something (probably stolen)

Drawing of Jean-Clawed beating up an old lady with an umbrella.

Gru's self-ship of himself with Belle.

TBC. Wow, 2 posts in 1 day? Amazing. I'm totally not procrastinating on something.

There's a lot of detail in the movie theater:

This lady is terrified.

This guy is sleeping.

Animators snuck in a gay couple here.

This lady is trying to ignore the couple making out next to her.

These two are unimpressed.

The stink bomb is a prototype.

This guy passed out.

This guy might be dead.

This kid laughs at Bob's antics.

We all know the freezeray-cheeseray parallel here. Guy at the end does not care that he just got cheesed.

"Don't tase cheese me bro" reference.

We're not going to talk about Kevin here.

Gru mentions S&H green stamps. They were basically coupons you got in the mail. Read more here. If you're really that interested.

These movies will do anything except call Gru by his first name. Fun Fact: only time his first name has ever been spoken on-screen was by himself in a deleted scene of Despicable Me 4.

Obvious, but Wild Knuckles is scratched off. Caption below says 'For your ears only'.

Reference to Princess Leia's hologram. Blink and you miss it, Belle looks annoyed as she taps rapidly on whatever starts the tape, before realising it started and quickly going into character. Stuff like that make the characters' feel alive. It's also pretty funny.

Stuart nudges Bob like 'dude, shut up'.

"Get up on the down stroke"= let's get funky. Another 70s thing. Probably also a reference to the song of the same name by Parliament-Funkadelic, released in 1974.

This face says 'of course, it explodes'.

-----------

Disco billboard & 'Bicentennial 1976' billboard showing Uncle Sam wearing platform shoes. Bicentennial refers to the 200th year anniversary of the creation of the US (1776). Platform shoes were also very popular during the 70s, and pretty much every major character in the movie wears some form of them.

From when we start following young Gru, the movie takes place over a few days, probably from Wednesday 28th January 1976 to Saturday 31st January 1976 (a definite; when the clock struck midnight and the Chinese New Year began. This was also the Year of the Fire Dragon). The Zodiac stone theft probably took place in early January.

Animators closed Belle's eyes during her intro so they couldn't be seen through her glasses. Motive=up the coolness factor.

One of the AVL guys knocks another out of frame trying to grab her.

One of the AVL guys in the car gives no f#cks and eats a donut while chasing her.

Belle's golden chain belt is a literal 'ball-and-chain', like the prisoner's restraint.

This guy falls backwards.

There's an unbothered gray cat sitting on the trashcan on the left.

The V6's subterranean headquarters is on the bottom 9th floor of the complex.

Side note: The Vicious 6 were a highlight of the film for me, despite their screentime only amounting to about 10-15 minutes (sans Wild Knuckles). I definitely think they were under-utilised. Still, I take what I can, and they do have interesting background details. I will be delving deeper into them in another post using their official music playlists.

There are only 5 seats around their table, even though they haven't betrayed Wild Knuckles yet; Svengeance is just standing by Jean-Clawed. Why are there only 5 seats.

Big 70s energy with the character designs. The jumpsuit, faux furs, leisure suits, biker jackets, bell bottoms, platform shoes, afros, sideburns, shag haircuts, the staches, the whole shebang. I recommend this wikipedia page if you're interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_in_fashion

I probably don't need to point out the punny names, but I will anyway. Belle Bottom= Bell-bottoms/'Flares'= popular flared 70s jeans. Glitter and a stylish font for her name.

Stronghold never once opens his hands onscreen- the metal gauntlets are probably a permanent fist. His name shatters the figurative glass around him. A stronghold is defined as a fortified place protected from attack. He is pretty much confirmed to be Mexican.

Jean-Clawed vibes with Nun-Chuck.

Nun-Chuck= nunchucks= East Asian weapon good for blunt force attacks, traditionally made out of wood. Her name here is also in an identical font to 'The Nun' horror movies.

Svengeance has got spikes everywhere (the wheels of his skates also have spikes on them), but even he doesn't skimp on safety pads. Sven + Vengeance. Sven= he is Swedish.

According to concept art, his name was originally Magnus.

His character is a homage to Moonpie from the film Rollerball, also with a rollerskating theme.

His name font resembles one of those Varsity flags, so he's a bit of a jock.

Jean-Claude + giant lobster claw= Jean-Clawed; also doubles as a cool reference to his voice actor JCVD, but this was actually just an awesome coincidence.

He stands on his chair and the table to catch the map.

Name is colored according to the flag of France; he is French.

The buttons on his arm prosthetic are glowing, probably indicate when it is being controlled by him. Arm is most likely missing, even though this seemed to be forgotten a few times (namely the rat form).

Missed opportunity to foreshadow what would come next with WK in this shot; a few sneaky looks behind his back could have been added.

Belle's choker has a similar design to Wild Knuckles' arm bracers; perhaps she was inspired by him?

Svengeance puts his hand on Nun-Chuck's shoulder (aww). JC also nudges her in excitement.

Svengeance jumping up and down like a giddy child (watch it back; it's kind of hilarious).

Nun-Chuck thanking the heavens.

The dragons on the map have tiny lil arms and legs.

An UNgoof; the jetpack and hat WK threw on the ground DON'T disappear.

Spikes through the eye, the head, the heart. Ouch.

Starting from the top, clockwise: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig (I know, the horse doesn't look like a horse). The Zodiac stone itself is likely made of jade, very spiritual. Chinese jade symbolises purity and morality. Very ironic.

You can see heads other than the dragon, most clearly the snake and monkey (?).

WK calls the gold guardians 'tchotchkes'- a decorative trinket.

Belle looks at Jean-Clawed and smiles. He holds onto his hat so it doesn't blow away in the wind (doesn't seem to be much of a problem 30 seconds later though; bowler hats were actually well-known for being fairly stable in windy conditions ).

Nun-Chuck also turns the wheel and smiles menacingly.

The rope tied into the shape of a noose.

I think Belle and Jean jumped into the back row behind Nun-Chuck to be in these positions, while Svengeance went onto the trunk. I mention this because I had no idea how they were standing like this for the longest time based on what we saw of the car.

You can also hear the hover car's motor as WK gets pulled up.

He's missing a shoe.

They lean right over the edge here (see previous image for reference). Jean laughs and looks at Belle smiling, and at Nun-Chuck to his side.

Watch Stronghold during this part. He makes the creepiest face in the film.

Belle signals to Svengeance to drop the rope.

----------------------------------------------

I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short due to Tumblr's image restriction.

...This may take longer than I anticipated. I may skip a few scenes in the next parts and focus on the ones I care about (i.e. involving the V6). I'm sure I missed some things anyway.

You can probably tell what my ship is from this post.