FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT in the form of animation, the 3-D kind, reigned supreme again at last week’s box office with the release of “Despicable Me.” The film represents a big risk for Hollywood since established franchises (“Toy Story”) and “brands” (“Marmaduke”) seem more of a safe bet than an original story.

“Despicable Me” stars Steve Carell as the voice of Gru, a most wicked villain who delights himself in scaring children and driving the biggest polluting vehicle. Gru takes tremendous pride in doing the most dastardly deeds for the media attention he gets but more importantly, for his hard-to-please mother (Julie Andrews, yes that Julie Andrews) who has tormented him since childhood and still considers him a failure.

We meet Gru during a career crisis. Vector (Jason Segal), a much younger and more annoying villain, has stolen one of Egypt’s pyramids and replaced it with an inflatable replica. Not to be outdone, Gru decides to steal the moon with his newly developed shrinking machine. He assembles his team that includes the ancient Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) and dozens of small, pill-shaped minions (who steal every scene they’re in). Outsmarting Vector is not easy for Gru until he observes a sibling threesome of orphans selling Girl Scout cookies to Vector. Gru quickly adopts the trio from Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) of Miss Hattie’s Home for Girls and uses them to gain entry to Vector’s tech-out fortress to retrieve the shrinking machine that Vector stole. Gru is, of course, a bad parent – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But as Gru takes in their charm and sweetness, his heart begins to melt, but not before he has to regain his reputation, impress his mother and save his kids from harm’s way.

The film, directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, has been animated in a distinctly European visual style which has a refreshing quality, during the current 3-D craze these days. The actors voicing the characters are hardly recognizable and that adds to the fun for the adult audience; Carell does a fine Boris Badenov accent while Brand and Segal have fun with against-type roles. But the minions steal the show. Their gibberish language and their frenetic antics will have you laughing and smiling, and wishing for more. “Despicable Me’ truly kicks into gear after Gru finds his heart and goes off to rescue his daughters. Stick around for the end credits.

“Despicable Me” is MPAA-rated PG for rude humor and mild action; in theaters nationwide, and available in 3-D and 2-D.