Minions crash Olympics opening ceremonies, steal Mona Lisa
Minions infiltrated the Olympics summer 2024 opening ceremonies to steal the most famous painting in Paris.
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The Minions’ Olympics heist
All was peaceful and unifying at the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26 — that is, until the camera panned down to below the waters of the River Seine. Underneath the flotillas of athletes parading on the water’s surface, Minions (yes, those Minions) chartered a submarine to steal Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting.
Earlier in the ceremony, a dance sequence had taken place inside the Louvre, the art museum in which the Mona Lisa is displayed. The painting itself, though, was gone. Fast-forward to later in the broadcast and the camera pan to the submarine, and the culprits were revealed to be none other than the Minions. In addition to their art thievery, the banana-loving bunch performed strength training for various Olympics events. They’ve got a roomy submarine! The Minions’ segment concluded with the Mona Lisa (a fake copy, just so we’re all clear) floating unceremoniously in the Seine.
Watch the Minions’ full Olympics opening ceremonies video below, featuring two minutes of new animation:
Minions in Paris
The Minions’ Olympics moment served as both a fitting local tribute and a bit of cross-promotional synergy. The “Despicable Me” and “Minions” movies are created by animation studio Illumination, which is based in Paris. The films’ distributor, Universal Pictures, is part of the Comcast conglomerate along with NBC and Peacock, the television and streaming platforms, respectively, of the Olympic Games in the U.S.
Other special moments during the opening ceremonies included a heavy metal tribute to “Les Misérables,” Beyoncé introducing Team USA in a prerecorded video, and a prologue narrated by Steven Spielberg from Universal Studios Hollywood in California.
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Over here in the UK we didn’t see Steven Spielberg nor Beyoncé. Thanks goodness we got The Minions though. They were absolutely brilliant!