5 Best Illumination Entertainment Animated Movies to Watch After 'Despicable Me'

Watching Despicable Me is a true immersion into the vibrant, chaotic, and utterly charming world of Illumination Entertainment.

But where should you go next to continue exploring their filmography after meeting the most charismatic villain? Fortunately, Illumination's catalog is a treasure trove of unique and equally captivating movies.

1. 'The Secret Life of Pets', 2016

The Jack Russell terrier Max lives comfortably with his adoring owner, Katie, and befriends the other animals in the neighborhood. One day, however, Katie brings home a Newfoundland named Duke from a shelter and begins paying him too much attention.

Jealous, Max tricks Duke into going to a remote neighborhood where they are attacked by cats. The reluctant friends first end up in a shelter and then with a white rabbit named Snowball who hates people. Meanwhile, Max's neighbors set out to find him.

2. 'Migration', 2023

Mack Mallard is a duck who lives with his wife, Pam, and their children, Dax and Gwen, on a pond in a New England forest. He carefully protects his ducklings from the outside world and refuses to fly away, though Pam disagrees with his overprotective behavior.

One day, the family encounters some migrating ducklings, and they ultimately decide to migrate to Jamaica, joined by their uncle. Along the way, they get lost. First, they encounter some herons, and then, they run into trouble in New York City.

3. 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie', 2023

The plumber brothers, Mario and Luigi, left the aggressive Spike Company to open their own firm in Brooklyn. Despite their advertising efforts, orders were scarce, which angered their father.

One day, when a major water main breaks in the city, the brothers decide that this is their chance to make a name for themselves. They travel to a magical world through the sewers, where Luigi is captured by the evil Bowser, and Mario meets Toad and Princess Peach.

4. 'Sing', 2016

Buster Moon is a koala who loves performing and runs a theater, but his business is struggling. In hopes of attracting attention and improving his financial situation, he organizes a talent contest with a $1,000 prize.

His assistant accidentally prints the amount a hundred times over on the flyers, attracting a multitude of candidates.

However, all of the talented performers have their own problems: Meena the elephant suffers from stage fright, Johnny the gorilla has criminal connections, and Ash the porcupine is worried about her husband's infidelity.

5. 'Minions', 2015

Thousands of years before they met Gru, his future minions diligently fulfilled their destiny of serving the era's archvillain.

However, their masters constantly died: a Tyrannosaurus rex fell into a volcano, a pharaoh was crushed by a pyramid, and Count Dracula was burned to death by the sun. The minions needed a villain, though. The inseparable trio of Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set out to find a new one.

They met the female supervillain Scarlett Overkill, passed a test, and became her minions. Their new mission is to steal the crown of the Queen of England.