Minions: The Rise of Gru

Kyle Balda wanted the Minions' training sequences to feel like 1970s Hong Kong martial arts cinema — disciplined, physical, where comedy emerges from bodies in motion executing impossible moves. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Drunken Master taught him that slapstick and martial precision are not opposites. In a 2022 Animation Magazine interview, Balda explicitly cited these films as the blueprint. Both are available on Criterion Channel.