The Minions craze is unlike anything seen since the heady days of Pokemon or, going a little further back, plastic Star Wars toys. The playground is awash with Minions rushing or gibberish reworking of turgid pop staples.

Certainly their success has allowed Illumination to being spreading their wings away from the custard-coloured capers to muscle in on Pixar’s territory. The Secret Life of Pets is heading our from directors Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney with a fine, funny cast including Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper and Lake Bell.

Riffing on the Toy Story idea we’ll get to see what happens to our furry friends when we leave for work, and there’s plenty of scope for anthropomorphic hi-jinks.  For the Christmas season the team at Illumination have made us a Christmas card of sorts and we’re happy to present it below.

Here’s your festive poke, the film is out on the 14th of June 2016.