The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

Kyle Balda wanted the Minions' training sequences to feel like 1970s Hong Kong martial arts cinema, disciplined, physical, where comedy emerges from bodies in motion executing impossible moves. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Drunken Master taught him that slapstick and martial precision are not opposites. In a 2022 Animation Magazine interview, Balda explicitly cited these films as the blueprint. Both are available on Criterion Channel.