Despicable Me 3's Directors Dove Deep Into '80s Pop Culture For Balthazar Bratt

For the third "Despicable Me" feature, the minds behind it crafted quite an interesting villain for Gru (Steve Carell) to contend with. Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) is as pretentious and egotistical as they come, rooting his evil actions in the cancellation of the TV series he starred on as a child, titled "Evil Bratt." He's flashy, over-the-top, and an overall perfect fit for the "Despicable Me" universe. To get his look and personality just right, the film's directors, Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, took a deep dive into 1980s pop culture.

"We just did this deep dive into '80s pop culture. Fortunately for Eric and Pierre and I, we're all children of the '80s ourselves, so this is something that we could have some fun with," Balda told Deadline, recalling a sketch of Bratt done by character designer Eric Guillon got the ball rolling on their research. They then made it a point for all things related to the character, from his clothing to his lair to the technology he uses, to have an '80s feel. He's trapped in the past, so the things he surrounds himself with should reflect that.

As the production team worked hard to perfect Bratt's overall aesthetic, on the voice-acting end of things, Parker didn't have to do as much heavy lifting.

In "Despicable Me 3," Trey Parker does a great job of giving a voice to the '80s-loving Balthazar Bratt. Of course, this isn't all too surprising, seeing as Parker has a wealth of voice-acting experience under his belt. Surely he used that experience to work as hard on Bratt's voice as the rest of the "Despicable Me 3" team did on putting together his era-specific look. In reality, the "South Park" co-creator and voice actor has admitted that when it came time to record his Bratt lines, he didn't have to put in much effort.

"I didn't have to do much, and I didn't really want to do a character. Just because Illumination stuff is so, you know, it's so visual and everything that I thought I didn't want to get too character-y with it," he told Access Hollywood, sharing that Bratt's voice is more or less just a heightened version of his own. Parker notes that the big reason he took the project in the first place was so that he could take part in something that his young daughter, Betty, could actually watch. After all, "South Park" isn't the most suitable for younger viewers — even though Betty actually has her own character on the show.

Balthazar Bratt isn't the most memorable "Despicable Me" villain in the franchise's history, but he's undoubtedly one of the most meticulously created. At least, when it comes to his '80s aesthetic.