Minions Family Movie Night

We had a fun family movie night courtesy of Movies Anywhere watching Minions over the Halloween weekend. It is always enjoyable to pop up some popcorn, relax on the couch with my minions and watch a move that the whole family appreciates viewing.  Minions, the prequel film that leads up to the Despicable Me series of movies, is a delight to see because of the zany antics of those wacky yellow creatures that star in it who mean well but have a tendency to be really unlucky.  Of course the minions' bad luck leads to lots of humorous situations that have my family smiling and laughing throughout the movie.

Movies Anywhere provided us a digital download code for Minions and we streamed the movie in high definition to our big screen television.  Using this digital service is very easy and it makes accessing and storing your home video library very convenient.  Originally known as Disney Movies Anywhere, the service has a new name and now provides a one stop spot for people to view digital movies from Fox, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, as well as Disney.  With the Movies Anywhere app and website you can download or stream movies to watch virtually anywhere.  Stream a movie to your television like we did for our family movie night or download a film to watch on your mobile device while you are on the go.

Movies Anywhere simplifies your digital video collection by providing access in one place to movies from multiple studios purchased or redeemed through a variety of retailers.  Redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-ray and DVD disc packages from participating studios and enjoy them through Movies Anywhere whenever and wherever you want.  Link your account with Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes or Vudu and when you make a movie purchase it will instantly be available to view through Movies Anywhere.  No more having to worry about a device being compatible with the retailer you purchased a digital movie from.

It was despicable to me that you used to be locked into watching movies on certain devices based on where you bought them. Movies Anywhere bridges the gaps between retailers and hardware manufacturers giving consumers control of how they watch the movies they purchase.  Buy a participating studio's movie from retailers including Amazon Video,  iTunes, or Google Play and through Movies Anywhere it can be viewed as you desire on your choice of Amazon Fire, Android devices, Apple TV, Chromecast, iPhones, iPads, Roku and popular Internet browsers no matter where you bought it from.  If you want digital movies can even be purchased straight from Movies Anywhere. There are more than 7,300 films available through Movies Anywhere and that count will continue to grow as new releases come out.

Another nice feature about Movies Anywhere is when mom or dad want to watch a movie that is too scary for the kids or isn't age appropriate for them it can be streamed or downloaded to a device so it can be watched in private.  In fact, Movies Anywhere accounts are designed knowing families have multiple members with differing preferences.  So you can stream multiple movies simultaneously to different devices using one account. So on a night when we weren't watching something together,  I was able to download and watch Kong: Skull Island to watch on my iPad in our home office while the kids streamed The Emoji Movie on the living room television from the same Movies Anywhere account.

Movies Anywhere gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval for being an accessible and convenient option for storing and viewing your library of digital movies.  In addition to watching movies around the house, we've used the service quite a bit while traveling too.  We kept the kids amused watching movies on the app while we drove from Michigan to Florida and back on a family vacation.  On another instance, I passed the time while stuck at the airport after a flight was cancelled watching stuff from my Movies Anywhere catalog of films.  Our family really is bananas about Movies Anywhere!   For more information about this great service, please visit moviesanywhere.com

One of the ways we like to make a family movie night fun is by getting into character ourselves.  We had a blast dressing up as Gru and his minions with outfits from Costume Super Center. Costumesupercenter.com always has a great selection based upon movie costumes in sizes for both kids and adults to choose from.  Looking for a Santa suit for a Christmas party, a Jedi robe to go see Star Wars Episode VII in, or some Minions inspired outfits for your own family movie night party, Costume Super Center has a great selection to choose from that will add some extra fun to any occasion.  A Geek Daddy's minions give Costume Super Center a thumbs up!

Yogurt Freezes great treat for Minions Family Movie Night

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias and its advertiser.  All opinions are mine alone. #MinionsMovieNight #CollectiveBias

My little minions have been beseeching me to add Minions © 2015 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. to our home video library ever since we went to see it at the movie theater over the summer.  So on December 8, 2015 when Illumination Entertainment released Minions on Blu-ray and DVD we raced to the store to pick it up so our family could enjoy a #MinionsMovieNight at home.

We always like to do a fun activity or make a special treat to make family movie nights a bit more memorable than us just sitting on the couch and throwing a disc in the dvd player.  For our Minions family movie night, we made yogurt freezes resembling the three minions who are the stars of the movie, Stuart, Kevin & Bob.  Because we were going to enjoy watching Minions in the ambiance of our living room Christmas Tree we added some holiday flair to our treats by dressing them with Santa caps and red minions' overalls. To make your own fun family movie night minions Yogurt Freeze treats here are the ingredients and directions for the recipe:

Ingredients

Lemon Yogurt
Bananas
Fruit Sheet Snacks
Mini Marshmallows
Mini Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Sprinkles
White Frosting (plus Blue if you want that colored overalls)
Popsicle Sticks

Directions

+ Line a cookie sheet with wax paper;
+ Cut your bananas in half and insert a popsicle stick in the bottom;
+ Place your bananas on the cookie sheet;
+ Completely cover each banana half with lemon yogurt (another option is to use yellow food coloring in vanilla yogurt for a brighter minion color than we achieved);
+ Cut your mini marshmallows in half and place them to represent the minions' googles;
+ Use your mini chocolate chips for the eye balls, goggle bands, and mouths;
+ Shape red fruit sheet snacks into the shape of Santa caps and overalls placing them on your minions;
+ If you want to go with the movie look for your minions don't add the Santa caps and cover the red overalls with blue frosting.  Instead of using fruit sheet snacks for the outline of the overalls you can also go to a craft or bakery supply store and get blue edible paper to craft your overalls with.
+ Create the brim and ball of your minions' Santa cap  with white frosting;
+ Use chocolate sprinkles for the hair on minions not wearing a Santa cap;
+ Place the cookie sheet in your freezer for one hour.
+ Pull them out and you have a Yogurt Freeze minion you can eat that will be yummy for your tummy.

CLICK HERE for more Minions Movie Night inspiration.

Minions (rated PG) tells the story of how the minions came to serve Felonious Gru in the Illumination Entertainment movies Despicable Me & Despicable Me 2.  In this movie, which features the voice talents of Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton, as the bumbling minions try to find their place in the world, Stuart, Kevin and Bob become recruited by super-villain Scarlet Overkill and her inventor husband Herb in a plot to steal the British crown.  Hilarity and high jinks ensue.  

CLICK HERE to find a retailer where you can purchase Minions on Blu-ray or DVD.

My kids adore the minions and also found them to be rather delicious!