That’s <i>ba-na-nas</i>: China’s censoring of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ gets ridiculed online

In China, viewers hoping to catch the latest animated “Despicable Me” installment, “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” were shown a censored alternative ending.

Theatergoers uploaded images to Weibo of an addendum to the film’s ending by Chinese national censors describing what happened to the characters, altering the original ending which showed Wild Knuckles faking his death to evade capture and riding off with Gru.

Screenshots with overlaying text descriptions indicated that Wild Knuckles was caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he “pursued his love of acting and started his own theater troupe.”

Meanwhile, Gru, his partner in crime, was described as having “returned to his family,” while “his biggest accomplishment is being the father to his three girls.”

Online, people have mocked the censorship, comparing the addendum to a PowerPoint presentation.

DuSir, a popular movie reviewer with a large following on Weibo, questioned the need for the extra minute of run time.

“It’s only us who need special guidance and care, for fear that a cartoon will ‘corrupt’ us,” he wrote in his published review from Saturday.

“Minions: Rise of Gru” was released on Aug. 19 in China, despite the pattern of more and more Hollywood films being turned away by the China Film Administration, which oversees which foreign films are allowed to play locally. The latest casualty was “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which failed to make the cut due to its LGBTQ scenes.

This wouldn’t be the first time China’s censors have approved a film for release only to change its ending. In January, “Fight Club,” the 1999 movie starring Brad Pitt, became available to stream on a Chinese streaming platform, though viewers were quick to point out that the original ending had been replaced with one in which the authorities had won.

Featured Image via Illumination

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