Marlena Gru

Marlena Gru (also known as Gru's Mom) is Felonius Gru and Dru Gru's mother, Lucy Wilde's mother-in-law, Robert Gru's ex-wife, and the adoptive paternal grandmother of Margo, Edith and Agnes. She is a minor character in Despicable Me and has made two silent cameos in Despicable Me 2 and Minions. She is voiced by Julie Andrews.

Appearance
Marlena has a prominent chin and a tall beehive-like hairstyle. Despite her size, she is very strong and skilled in karate, and is capable of kicking a punching bag with so much force that it knocked her karate instructor across a room. She has a long nose that is typically seen throughout the Gru bloodline.

Early Life
Shortly after the birth of her twin sons Dru and Felonius, Marlena divorced her husband Robert and made an agreement that either of them died for Gru and Dru’s side. She became Gru's guardian while Robert became Dru's guardian. However, Marlena rarely even paid attention to Gru, much to the latter's chagrin.

Despicable Me
When Gru phoned her as he was driving to the Bank of Evil, he told her that he was planning something very big and that when she heard about it, she would be very proud, to which she cynically responded, "Well, good luck with that." Later, as Gru was building his rocket (and having a fun time with the girls), she came to his house and showed the girls several embarrassing pictures of Gru's childhood, much to his annoyance.

She later attended the girls' ballet dance, where she finally told her son that she was proud of him and that he "turned out to be a great parent, just like me. Maybe even better." At first, Gru was still a little cold towards her because of her previous neglect, but smiled when she stated that he was even better than her. When the music changed to You Should be Dancing, she, along with everyone else, rushed onstage to dance and ended up dancing together with Dr. Nefario.

Despicable Me 2
She also makes a non-speaking cameo appearance near the end of the second film where she is seen attending the wedding of her son. During the wedding first Gru's family and friends (except the Minions) take a photo, then the minions come into the photo.

Minions
She also appears in the film Minions; she and her son attended Villain-Con and looked at Dr. Nefario's new invention, the Freeze Ray. In the film's credits, it's shown that she has a portrait that resembles Mona Lisa but it's later vandalized by Minions and her son, which makes her considerably upset.

Despicable Me 3
Marlena is seen practicing diving with other young trainers named Vincenzo and Paolo in a fancy pool. When Gru comes to her, asking his mother about his twin Dru, Marlena is first surprised and then admits that he does have an extended family, and she tells him the story, noting that she had "second pick", Gru. She is never seen for the rest of the film.

Personality
Marlena and Gru are always disagreeable and she often neglects him, while he doesn't apperciate her terrible parenting either. Ironically, she somehow warms up to Gru's adoptive daughters.

Exactly the opposite of Robert Gru, she is not interested in villany and therefore prefers Dru more than Felonius.

Quotes
Marlena: "Yes, he does. An ugly girl."
 * Margo: "He looks like a girl!"


 * "Eh." - Young Marlena Gru, responding to Gru's drawing, macaroni model, and prototype of a rocket indifferently

Marlena: ​"I'm afraid you are too late, son. NASA isn't sending the monkeys anymore."
 * Young Gru: "Mom! Someday I'm going to land on the moon!"
 * Marlena: "Its important to be active in golden years."

Gallery
Check out this page's gallery!

Trivia

 * She seems to bear a somewhat resemblance to Granny Puckett from Hoodwinked!.