---
name: "Chris Renaud"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/chris-renaud"
fi1m_id: "chris-renaud"
imdb_id: "nm0719208"
tmdb_id: 124748
wikidata_id: "Q351884"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "5 December 1966"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 14
average_fi1m_score: 66
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T16:10:26.351660+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Chris Renaud

## Identity

Chris Renaud

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/chris-renaud
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** chris-renaud
- **IMDb ID:** nm0719208
- **TMDB ID:** 124748
- **Wikidata ID:** Q351884
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Renaud, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q351884, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719208/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/124748

Director and producer. Born 5 December 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 5 December 1966, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- **Active:** 2005–present
- **Also known as:** Кріс Рено
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 14: 2 acting, 4 directing, 1 writing, 5 producing, 2 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Chris Meledandri](https://film.one/person/chris-meledandri.md), [Janet Healy](https://film.one/person/janet-healy.md), [Ken Daurio](https://film.one/person/ken-daurio.md), [Steve Carell](https://film.one/person/steve-carell.md), [Cinco Paul](https://film.one/person/cinco-paul.md), [Pierre Coffin](https://film.one/person/pierre-coffin.md), [Brian Lynch](https://film.one/person/brian-lynch.md), [Eric Stonestreet](https://film.one/person/eric-stonestreet.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 60 (3), 2010s 65 (7), 2020s 64 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 61 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Animation 4, Comedy 4, Family 4, Science Fiction 3, Action 1, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2,916m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Renaud, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q351884, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719208/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/124748

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Secret Life of Pets 2*](https://film.one/film/the-secret-life-of-pets-2.md) (62), [*Despicable Me 4*](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-4.md) (55)
- **Apple TV:** [*Despicable Me*](https://film.one/film/despicable-me.md) (74)
- **Peacock:** [*Despicable Me 2*](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-2.md) (71)
- **Netflix:** [*Minions: The Rise of Gru*](https://film.one/film/minions-the-rise-of-gru.md) (66)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Chris Renaud

> Chris Renaud’s family comedies work best when the visual mischief grows out of a character’s vanity. We enjoy his comic timing, but the return to Gru finds him settling for sketches where a story should be.

Gru’s determination to be taken seriously is the useful starting point of *Despicable Me* (2010), directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin. Steve Carell’s voice work makes the villain good company without requiring him to be pleasant from the start. We were amused by his self-importance well before we were moved by him. The gadgets and comic timing do much of the work, though the predictable story sometimes presses too hard for affection. Renaud is good at this sort of family comedy when he lets an awkward character remain awkward.

The Minions, which Renaud co-created with Coffin, make his taste for visual mischief plain. Yellow, cylindrical and largely non-verbal, they suit a director whose stylised character designs have little interest in looking real. Their misbehaviour gives the first film much of its fun. Renaud’s willingness to let comic performers riff is another useful habit: the voices need room to be funny, too.

After the first Gru film, Renaud directed *Dr. Seuss' The Lorax* (2012), his first solo feature, and reunited with Coffin for *Despicable Me 2* (2013). *The Secret Life of Pets* (2016), about pets left alone by their owners, led to a sequel he also directed in 2019. The subjects changed, but family life and outsiders adjusting to unfamiliar company remained recurring concerns.

His return to Gru with Patrick Delage on *Despicable Me 4* (2024) exposes the limits of that approach. Gru is now a father of four, working for the agency that once pursued him, and Renaud struggles to find him anything else to want. The script by Mike White and Ken Daurio sends the family into suburban witness protection. That ought to give the characters something to adjust to, but the film keeps moving between sketches before any one story can develop.

There are still laughs in the fourth film, even if Will Ferrell’s shouting as Maxime Le Mal is only intermittently funny. Renaud can get a joke out of an absurd character, but sustaining interest across a feature asks more of him. Start with the original *Despicable Me*, and do not feel obliged to turn a family evening into a franchise commitment.

## Biography

Chris Renaud is an American filmmaker, designer, storyboard artist and voice actor. Born in December 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in illustration. He began his career as a graphic designer in sports entertainment, creating logos and mascots, before working on comics for Marvel and DC. He later joined Blue Sky Studios as a story artist on films including *Ice Age: The Meltdown* (2006) and *Horton Hears a Who!* (2008).

Renaud moved to Illumination, where he co-directed *Despicable Me* (2010) and *Despicable Me 2* (2013) with Pierre Coffin, and directed *Dr. Seuss' The Lorax* (2012), *The Secret Life of Pets* (2016) and its 2019 sequel, and *Despicable Me 4* (2024). He also voiced characters including Principal Übelschlecht in the latter. He received an Academy Award nomination for the 2006 short *No Time for Nuts*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (14)

### Performed in (2)

- *Sing 2* (2021), Fi1m 63, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/sing-2.md)
- *Sing* (2016), Fi1m 70, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/sing.md)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *Despicable Me 4* (2024), Fi1m 55, as Principal Übelschlecht (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-4.md)
- *The Secret Life of Pets 2* (2019), Fi1m 62, as Norman / Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-life-of-pets-2.md)
- *Despicable Me 2* (2013), Fi1m 71, as Additional Minions / Evil Minions / Italian Waiter (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-2.md)
- *Despicable Me* (2010), Fi1m 74, as Dave (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me.md)

### Wrote (1)

- *Ice Age: The Meltdown* (2006), Fi1m 61, Story Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-the-meltdown.md)

### Produced (5)

- *Minions & Monsters* (2026), Fi1m 70, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/minions-and-monsters.md)
- *Minions: The Rise of Gru* (2022), Fi1m 66, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/minions-the-rise-of-gru.md)
- *The Grinch* (2018), Fi1m 62, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-grinch.md)
- *Despicable Me 3* (2017), Fi1m 55, as Additional Minions (voice) (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-3.md)
- *Minions* (2015), Fi1m 61, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/minions.md)

### Crew (2)

- *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009), Fi1m 56, Additional Storyboarding — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.md)
- *Robots* (2005), Fi1m 62, Additional Storyboarding — [page](https://film.one/film/robots-2005.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Minions & Monsters* (2026), Executive Producer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/minions-and-monsters.md)
- *Despicable Me 4* (2024), as Principal Übelschlecht (voice) · Director — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-4.md)
- *Migration* (2023), as Additional Voices (voice)
- *Mooned* (2023), as Additional Voices (voice)
- *Minions & More 2* (2022), as Minions / Pipsqueak / Neanderthal Dad / The Animals (voice)
- *Minions & More Volume 1* (2022), as Norman / Pipsqueak (voice)
- *Post Modern Minion* (2022), Executive Producer
- *Minions: The Rise of Gru* (2022), Producer — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/minions-the-rise-of-gru.md)
- *Toying with the Holidays* (2021), as Customer
- *Sing 2* (2021), as Additional Voices (voice) — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/sing-2.md)
- *Minions & Monsters* (2021), Executive Producer
- *The Secret Life of Pets 2* (2019), as Norman / Additional Voices (voice) · Director — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-life-of-pets-2.md)
- *Santa's Little Helpers* (2019), Executive Producer
- *The Dog Days of Winter* (2019), Executive Producer
- *Illumination Presents: 10 Minion Mini-Movies* (2019), as Dave the Minion (voice)
- *Christmas in Love* (2018), as Caroler
- *The Grinch* (2018), Executive Producer — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/the-grinch.md)
- *‎3 Mini Movie Collection from the Grinch* (2018), Executive Producer
- *Despicable Me 3* (2017), as Additional Minions (voice) (uncredited) · Executive Producer — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-3.md)
- *Norman Television* (2016), as Norman (voice) · Executive Producer
- *Weenie* (2016), Executive Producer
- *Sing* (2016), as Additional Voices (voice) — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/sing.md)
- *The Secret Life of Pets* (2016), as Norman (voice) · Director
- *Cro Minion* (2015), as Minion / Neanderthal Dad (voice)
- *Binky Nelson Unpacified* (2015), Executive Producer
- *Competition* (2015), as Minion (voice)
- *Minions* (2015), Executive Producer — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/minions.md)
- *Ice Age: No Time for Nuts 4-D* (2015), Director, Writer
- *Illumination 7 Mini-Movie Collection* (2014), as The Animals
- *Puppy* (2013), Executive Producer
- *Training Wheels* (2013), Executive Producer
- *Panic in the Mailroom* (2013), Executive Producer
- *Despicable Me 2* (2013), as Additional Minions / Evil Minions / Italian Waiter (voice) · Director — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me-2.md)
- *Forces of Nature* (2012), as Pipsqueak (voice) · Executive Producer
- *Serenade* (2012), as (voice) · Executive Producer
- *Wagon Ho!* (2012), as (voice)
- *The Lorax* (2012), as Forest Animals (voice) · Director
- *Despicable Me Presents: Minion Madness* (2010), Director, Producer
- *Despicable Me* (2010), as Dave (voice) · Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me.md)
- *Warrior Champions* (2009), Director
- *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009), Additional Storyboarding — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.md)
- *Horton Hears a Who!* (2008), Story Artist
- *No Time for Nuts* (2006), Director, Story
- *Ice Age: The Meltdown* (2006), Story Artist — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-the-meltdown.md)
- *Robots* (2005), Additional Storyboarding — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/robots-2005.md)
- *小黄人和萌友*, series, Creator

## Gallery

- ![Chris Renaud](https://film.one/media/person/11271/gallery-5c9547c30a4c.jpg) Chris Renaud — Boungawa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Chris_Renaud.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Chris Renaud](https://film.one/media/person/11271/gallery-23d473484c91.jpg) Chris Renaud — Image via TMDB
- ![Chris Renaud](https://film.one/media/person/11271/gallery-54d3841a1103.jpg) Chris Renaud — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 2014: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *Despicable Me 2*
- 2007: Best Animated Short Film (nominated), for *No Time for Nuts*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/chris-renaud