Minions, Muppets, and Movie Magic
Mon July 28, 2025
This issue was written and edited by Ben Gillbanks. Ben is a Web Developer with over 20 years experience of building things online.
Hello - welcome to issue 15 of the Sparked newsletter!
It’s been some wild weather here in the UK, rapidly switching between hot and humid, and wet and windy. So a classic British summer then! I hope you’re all doing well, and managing to stay cool and dry.
I’ve been working on the Beep8 game engine quite a lot recently - specifically the game-making tool. I have a whole map editor now that lets you create almost an entire game! I don’t currently have a way to signify the end of the game, but you can create a map with a start point, locked doors (and keys to open them), pushable crates, and collectible coins. Next I want to add switches that trigger events, or characters you can talk to. Maybe even enemies to fight, but that will also involve adding combat which is not something I have thought about so far.
As I mentioned in the last issue, I am now using an Entity Component System (ECS) to manage the game objects and I want to add more components to the system to make the games interesting to build and play. The joy of using an ECS is that the games can have a lot of different objects that can interact in different ways sometimes creating unpredictable behaviour.
For example I can set items as flammable, and then when something catches fire it can set other flammable items on fire, or even cause explosions. I want to find lots of ways to make the objects interact with each other in interesting ways so you can approach games in your own way.
But that’s all a long way off yet, I’m just really excited about the possibilities!
The Art of Eric Guillon
When I was about 18 or 19 I discovered art books for movies. The first one I bought was the art of Judge Dredd, for the Sylvester Stallone film. It’s falling apart now, but I still treasure it. Since then, I’ve collected dozens more.
What draws me in isn’t just the finished art - it’s the process, the rough sketches, the experiments that didn’t make the cut. Sometimes I spot an idea in one book that turns up years later in another film or series. This happens a lot in Star Wars books.
Recently, I picked up The Art of Eric Guillon - a treasure trove of concept art from Illumination films.
Eric Guillon is a French artist who has worked on many animated films, and his style is instantly recognisable. The book showcases his work on the Despicable Me series, The Lorax, and Sing, among others. It’s fascinating to see how his designs take shape; there’s a real sense of play and possibility. Every page reveals the freedom to fail, explore, and try again.
It’s packed with beautiful, imaginative sketches, many of which never made it to screen. I love watching ideas take shape, and how they evolve from initial sketches to the final designs.
I’ve included below a few photos of pages from the book. I am not a photographer so these aren’t the best quality, but I hope you can see what I see. If this sort of thing excites you too I have loads more I would love to share.
The Art of Eric Guillon - front cover depicting a giant Minion charging across a city.
Initial ideas for Despicable Me. I particularly like the stupidly tall walking chair vehicle in the bottom right. Also note that early designs for Gru were very different to the finished thing.
Gru’s car/ vehicle concepts for Despicable Me.
The Despicable Lab ideas, with many minions waiting to be told what to do
The town from the Lorax. I really enjoy the town design because of the way things are connected and the buildings are made to look different but related.
Character designs from the Lorax. This shows the Once-ler who was initially considered to be green and furry and eventually was changed to a more human-like appearance. The green appearance is not dissimilar to the design of the Grinch used in Illumination’s Grinch movie.
How Muppets Break Free from Their Puppeteers
A fun, short, video showcasing some of the secrets behind the Muppets and how they are puppeteered. This is a great video for anyone who enjoys the Muppets and seeing how films come together.
You might have noticed I enjoy this sort of thing (and also how magic tricks are done). So seeing how the Muppets are animated, rowing a boat or cycling, without a puppeteer in sight. I had seen behind the scenes footage of Kermit playing the banjo on a log in the swamp before, but the rest is new to me. Maybe it is for you too?
Sparked Discoveries
Here’s a handful of links I found intriguing recently:
Frame of Reference
This is a really clever article about the history of the Mac Operating system. This on its own isn’t that special (although it’s quite interesting), but actually, if you visit on a desktop computer or laptop, then the screenshots of the old Mac OS versions are interactive, working versions of the operating system. You can click around and use the apps, change the settings, and even play games!
Draw a Fish
This is a simple website where you can draw a fish and then add it to an aquarium with lots of other fish. It reminds me of a project I was involved in around 2001. I worked for a company building a virtual fish tank for a shopping centre in Hong Kong. The idea was that shoppers could create their own fish and then see them swimming around, and when they next visit the shopping centre they could feed their fish. I designed the 3d body parts that made up the fish. This app is simpler but even more accessible since anyone can draw their own fish.
GifCities
Gifcities is the internet archive’s collection of animated GIFs from the early days of the web. For me it’s a nostalgic trip down memory lane, showcasing the creativity and humor of the early internet. You can search for specific GIFs or just browse through the collection. The site has recently been updated with improved search - there’s a write up about it on the Internet Archive blog.