Watch: A Minion-centric Clip from 'Despicable Me 3'

The Minions didn't play a big part in the Despicable Me 3 promotion so far, but that's about to change; Illumination Entertainment has released a one-minute clip featuring the popular (ahem) characters. Watch it below.

Watch: The New 'Despicable Me 3' Trailer Reveals Gru's Brother

As it turns out, the first two Despicable Me films have kept one big secret from us: Gru has a twin brother called Dru. Only he doesn't know about it, and he'll only meet him in Despicable Me 3 when it hits theaters this summer. Watch the trailer introducing Dru below.

Watch: The First 'Despicable Me 3' Trailer

Gru is back: Despicable Me 3 (or Despicable M3) just got its first trailer. In it, a new villain going by the name of Balthazar Bratt and  (voiced by South Park's co-creator Trey Parker) is introduced. Watch the trailer after the break.

Watch: The New 'Minions' Trailer Reveals Scarlet Overkill's Master Plan

Minions, the spin-off to Illumination Entertainment's star franchise Despicable Me will be released this summer, but you can watch a brand new trailer for it right now. And yes, it's pretty hilarious. Check it out below.

Despicable Me 2 Review - Illuminatingly Hilarious, Minion-Packed Fun

*This review is largely spoiler free, and most plot-details mentioned are evident in the trailers, but read cautiously if you haven’t seen the film yet*

2010 was a very strong year for animation, providing two of the best animated films of the last few decades with Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon; other great films were also released that year, including Tangled, Megamind and the debut feature from Illumination Entertainment, Despicable Me. The film won itself a lot of praise, with audiences loving the tender dynamic at the centre of the film, the adorable orphaned girls who Gru adopts and, most crucially, the hilarious little yellow swarms known as the minions. I loved the first film, but have been sorely disappointed by Illumination's two subsequent films, Hop and The Lorax. As such, I, sadly, didn't have high hopes for Despicable Me 2. And I've never been quite so spectacularly wrong: Despicable Me 2 is hilarious, well told and even manages to be better than the first film.

Jon Hamm Joins Minions Voice Cast

I've dreamt of the day I'd be able to somehow fit Jon Hamm into an A113Animation post, and now Illumination have answered my prayers. The Universal-owned studio have announced that the Mad Men actor will be lending his voice to the Despicable Me spin-off, alongside Sandra Bullock.

Sandra Bullock Turning Evil for Despicable Me Spin-Off, Minions

Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me spin-off based around the series' yellow henchmen, now seemingly titled Minions, just got its first voice cast member, America's Sweetheart, Sandra Bullock. The irony being that Bullock is following in Steve Carell's footsteps and playing an evil-doer in the film.

New Despicable Me 2 Trailer

Universal and Illumination Entertainment have debuted a new trailer for Despicable Me 2 on iTunes Movie Trailers. It shows more of what we can expect story-wise from the follow-up to the 2010 hit: alien abductions, more minion focus (seguing into that planned spin-off maybe) - the return of Vector maybe? He was stranded in space at the end of the first film, and space is, after all, where most aliens would tend to be found.

Being a big fan of the original, this is quite exciting stuff! Let's just hope it turns out more like Despicable Me 1, and less like The Lorax. Be sure to watch in 720p, Illumination's animation is always fantastic.

This trailer will apparently play in front of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph, starting Friday. Despicable Me 2 is directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, and is released on 28th June, 2013 (UK) and 3rd July, 2013 (US).

Minion-Centric Despicable Me Spin-Off On the Way

This was kind of an inevitability. Illumination Entertainment, who most recently released Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, broke onto the scene back in 2010 with Despicable Me. The film was a big commercial hit, making $543 million worldwide, and well received by critics also - averaging 81% on Rotten Tomatoes - but arguably the biggest hit in the film were the minions.

The gibberish speaking yellow army were huge merchandise hits, received their own short films on the Despicable Me DVD and Blu Ray, and even their own theme-park ride! The minions are sure to feature prominently in 2013's Despicable Me 2 (which adds Kristen Wiig and Al Pacino to the voice cast)but they're going to get even more focus the year after, as the Minions are getting their very own spin-off movie!

Being produced in parallel with Despicable Me 2 with a view for a 2014 release, Deadline reports that Despicable Me co-director Pierre Coffin will direct and The Lorax co-director Kyle Balda will co-direct, from a script written by Brian Lynch (who has experience writing spin-offs, writing the script for DreamWorks' Puss in Boots, and working with Illumination, having worked on Hop). How great a Minions spin-off would be is questionable, but it's sure to rake in a lot of money, and this is sound business for Illumination's parent-company, Universal.

BAFTA Nominations

The nominations for the 2011 BAFTA Awards were announced yesterday and the nominations for Best Animated Film are as follows:

• Despicable Me - Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
• How to Train Your Dragon - Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
• Toy Story 3 - Lee Unkrich

In addition, Toy Story 3 has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Special Visual Effects.

The awards are due to take place on February 13th at the Royal Opera House. You can view all nominees here.