Minions mysterious pop up in Victorian town of Warrak
A small town is overrun by Minions, and the shadowy mastermind behind the invasion proves harder to unmask than any criminal mastermind from the cult cartoon.
Scrap metal sculptures of Minions, the servile race of short yellow henchmen for James Bond-style supervillains in the Despicable Me series of children’s films, are mysteriously popping up around the town of Warrak in western Victoria.
Locals like Mountainside Wines co-owner Shane Goninon are baffled as to who created the 24 sculptures and why.
“We’re (Warrak) just a small place of about 70 people and they’ve just turned up and nobody knows who’s doing it so it’s really quite funny,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.
Mr. Goninon said the first Minion appeared after almost everyone in town attended a Christmas party.
“One of the people down the road, John, went home after the party and stood in front of his house first and no one knew what was going on,” said Mr. Goninon.
Sculptures of cult cartoon characters the Minions have mysteriously appeared overnight in the small Victorian town of Warrak
The Minion that appeared outside the local racecourse stewards’ grounds donned appropriate jockey attire
They just posted on the community’s Facebook page that ‘we got home last night and Santa left a mailbox.
“They’ve been appearing overnight every few weeks ever since, and we’ve got about 24 now.”
Mr. Goninon said the creator had to be a local because of the in-house knowledge needed to tailor the Minions to each recipient.
The second to appear was off the property of a Melbourne Demons AFL club supporter, so he was decked out in the jersey’s colours, red and blue.
‘Someone down the road is a crazy Collingwood supporter, so theirs is black and white,’ Mr Goninon said.
A particularly attentive Minion was delivered to Gwen Pilgrim’s house.
“They knew that Gwen really liked gardening, so she has a plant growing out of the top,” said Mr. Goninon.
“Which was really good because she’s currently battling cancer, so she was really happy to get one.”
A specially tailored Minion potted plant appeared on the property of an avid gardener battling cancer
This Minion has adopted the armor of Australian bush ranger legend and folk hero Ned Kelly
Minions have been popping up in the Victorian town of Warrak about every two weeks since last December
Other examples of specially crafted Minions include a jockey outside the neighboring homes of a father and daughter who act as stewards for the local race club, and a firefighter who appeared under the town’s central fire warning sign.
Outside the property of Mr. Goninon and his wife Jane, Minion is standing pouring a bottle into a wine glass that is balancing on its head.
“We’re a small boutique winery and this one has popped up and pours a bottle from one of our old labels, we don’t have a vintage anymore so they did a good job of getting it,” said Mr. Goninon.
The town doesn’t have many children, but Mr Goninon said a family ‘down the road’ has two young boys.
“When we were 12 or 13 (Minions) they went out every morning to see if they had one and after a few weeks one showed up there so they got wrapped up,” he said.
Mr Goninon said the town’s Facebook community page was abuzz with Minion sightings and speculation.
Jane and Shane Goninon say they’ve noticed more cars pass by their winery since the Minions showed up
Some of the Minions, like this reindeer, act as mailboxes, while others are merely ornamental
“As soon as something comes out, they put it on there and they get all the comments,” he said.
“Two or three people blame each other and it’s all joking. Everyone talks and laughs about it.’
With the Minions starting to attract the attention of all of Australia and the rest of the world, Mr Goninon said they were starting to become a local attraction.
“We’ve noticed more cars passing by, families coming by to look,” he said.
“Some of the local nursing homes and schools have brought vans around to look.”
As to who the real culprit behind the scrap sculptures is, Mr. Goninon points the finger at born-and-raised local Daniel Buckingham who has a sculpture of Gru, the criminal mastermind who leads the Minions in the movies.
“He’s the one a few of us suspect because he’s pretty community-oriented. He’s got the skills to do it, but he’s passionately denying it.” said Mr. Gonimon.
But Mr. Buckingham and others have pointed the finger.
“A few people try to challenge us and say we did it to get more people to the winery, but anyone who knows me knows I have no skills in that area,” protested Mr. Goninon.
“I couldn’t make them to save my life.”
The Minions are made of gas cylinders of various sizes with eyes that resemble metal drinking bowls for dogs with reflectors placed inside and arms welded from tubing.
The Minion creator has been able to remain anonymous by dropping them off after dark, as there are no street lights in the region.
However, the mysterious figure has been captured on a property’s CCTV.
“Whoever did it was dressed as Santa Claus in a bear suit,” said Mr. Goninon.
“It looked like it only took them two and a half minutes to make the hole in it, put the Minion in and fill it with concrete.
“They’ve got a big pitcher of water and they throw in a few handfuls of quick-drying cement.”
When it came down to it, Mr. Goninon admitted that some mysteries are best left unsolved.
“No one wants to find out,” he said.
“Everyone laughs at it.”