Quentin Tarantino is regarded by many cinephiles as one of the best filmmakers working today, so his son Leo certainly has a valuable source of cinematic knowledge in his father. WithMinions: The Rise of Grunow playing in theaters, perhaps it is fitting that Tarantino has revealed the potentially surprising choice ofDespicable Me 2as the first film his young son has seen.
While fans still wait to see whatTarantino’s supposedly last moviewill be, the revered filmmaker is launching a podcast titledVideo Archives Podcastwith his friend and collaborator, Roger Avary. It was while promoting this new venture that Tarantino discussed that he’s been watching with his son Leo.
RELATED:Chris Pine Reveals The Mutual Respect That He And Quentin Tarantino Have For Each Other
During an interview with Empire for the same issue promotingJames Cameron’sAvatarsequel, Tarantino recalled how he ended up introducing his son to film throughDespicable Me 2sort of by accident. “[My son is] pretty young, so he’s only really seen one movie,” Tarantino said. “I thought I was hitting a Minions cartoon, and I realise it’sDespicable Me Part 2. And he seemed to be interested in the opening credits, so I go, ‘Okay, I guess we’re watchingDespicable Me Part 2.'” As can be expected with a small child, this viewing of the second film to feature the Minions was not done in one sitting. “He gets up and he walks behind the couch, but he’s still watching the TV. We watched it for 20 minutes until it was time for him to go to the park, and then the next day we watched another 15 minutes of it,” Tarantino recalled. “And so, in the course of a week, in small bites, the first movie Leo ever watched wasDespicable Me Part 2.”
Of course,the adventures of theMinionsaren’t all that Tarantino’s been watching with his son. It turns out father and child have been watching the beloved children’s showPeppa Pigtogether, which Tarantino finds a less “consuming experience” than sitting throughDespicable Me. In fact, Tarantino has rather high praise forPeppa Pig, saying, “I actually do likePeppa Pig; I watch it a lot. I’ll say it –Peppa Pigis the greatest British import of this decade.”
That’s certainly a lot of praise from the man behindacclaimed films likePulp Fiction, which is often regarded as one of the best films ever made and possibly the number one choice for fans when it comes to Best Picture Oscar snubs. Then again, Tarantino is often celebrated for the many film and television influences seen in his work, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising for a man with such varied taste to be a fan ofPeppa Pig.
