Introduction
Despicable Me is an immensely popular movie and a lot of people love it, but have you ever wondered how tall Gru is supposed to be? He towers over the minions, but they are short creatures – so how does Gru compare with normal humans?
A lot of people state that Gru is around 14 feet (4.3 meters) tall, but others argue that he is rather shorter than this, somewhere between 8 and 10 feet. That’s a big discrepancy, so why do the estimates vary so much? It’s probably due to the way that the different sources have calculated his height, based on minions and bananas.
Today, we’ll be exploring the different ways that Gru’s height has been figured out, and talking about how tall he likely is as a result. This should help you understand the Despicable Me universe and its characters a little better!
How Tall Is Gru?
A lot of sources state that Gru is 14 feet tall. This is based on the idea that minions are about 3 foot 7 inches (1.1 meters) tall, and Gru is almost 4 minions tall – which would make Gru about 14 feet, or even a little taller. However, it has been pointed out that there are some issues with this calculation.
Firstly, Gru is only shown to be around 3 and a half minions tall, meaning that he would actually be around 12 feet and 6 inches (3.8 meters). Secondly, it has been argued that the height of the minions has been exaggerated, and they are actually shorter than 3 foot 7 inches.
This is debatable. The minions look to be around 1/3rd or ½ the height of the average human, which would make them around 2 foot 8 inches. That would place Gru at somewhere between 8 feet (2.44 meters) and 10 foot 8 inches (3.25 meters).
Other sources argue that a minion is only around 2 bananas tall, and since the average banana is about 7 inches long, this would make the minions only about 1 foot 2 inches (0.35 meters). That would make Gru only around 4 foot 8 inches (1.42 meters).
That’s an extraordinary gap between the different height estimates, and every source has slightly different ways of working out Gru’s height, and different estimates for the sizes of minions and bananas.
However, Wikipedia states that a minion’s height is about 3 feet and 7 inches, which is much taller than they look in relation to the humans in the movie. If that estimate is correct, it would mean that Gru (at 3.5 minions tall) would be around 12 foot and 6 inches.
That’s incredibly tall, and he’s not even the tallest character in the movie. His wife, Lucy, is shown to be a little taller than he is, and so are other characters. The furniture around Gru also does not look small in proportion to him.
Why Is Gru So Tall?
It’s debatable whether the makers of the movie intended to make Gru that tall, or whether the height of the minions wasn’t considered in relation to Gru when that bar was being set. Minions don’t really look as though they would stand at over half of the height of the average human, and that means that either the creators made a mistake, or they intended the humans in the Despicable Me universe to be particularly tall.
If you look at Gru in relation to other things in the movie, he seems in scale with his universe. For example, he stands next to a kitchen counter that comes up to approximately the height of his hip, and we never see him bump his head on a door frame or anything.
Overall, therefore, it seems that the people in this universe are just particularly tall – but perhaps only in adulthood. Agnes Gru, Gru’s adoptive daughter, is about 4 feet (1.21 meters), which is close to the average for a 6 year old girl in the real world. She does not appear freakishly tall, and she’d have a lot of growing to do to reach Gru’s impressive 12 foot 6 inches!
It’s not exactly clear what’s going on with the heights in the Despicable Me universe, but certainly Gru’s height remains a hotly debated topic, and it’s not clear if we’ll ever know, unless the creators release an official statement!
How Old Is Gru?
There are some discrepancies in Gru’s age, too. In the first movie, his date of birth is listed as September 28th, 1960. However, in Minions: The Rise of Gru, he’s depicted to be almost 12 in February 1976, and that would mean he was born around 1964 or 1965. That’s quite a big gap, and makes it difficult to place his age.
Gru is probably in his 50s in the main trilogy, and is listed as 50-59. There’s no exact way to pinpoint it, but his physical appearance suggests he’s not young.
How Much Does Gru Weigh?
Unfortunately, there are no estimates available for Gru’s weight, and his unusual appearance would make guessing difficult. He has very thin legs, but a built upper body, and is probably somewhat overweight.
Let’s assume that Gru is around 12 foot 6 inches. Of course, a 12 foot man has never existed in the real world, but as a very rough estimate, would probably be approximately 1,140 lb (517 kg). In our estimate, Gru is a little taller than 12 feet, but that should give you some idea of how much he might weigh.
If Gru’s height estimate is higher or lower than 12 foot 6 inches, his weight estimate would need to change accordingly. However, if he’s around 12 and a half feet, he’s probably a bit over 1,200 lb.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s little accurate information about Gru’s height, age, and weight. This is partly due to inconsistencies within the source material, and estimates made by fans. However, you hopefully now have a good idea of how tall Gru is, how old he is, and how much he is likely to weigh.
