Well, of course George Lucas loves the goddamn Minions

All of which goes some way toward explaining how next month’s new installment in the Minions franchise, Minions And Monsters, will arrive in theaters sporting a voice cameo from Lucas. (Whose previous contributions to the acting canon include a couple of cameos in his and Steven Spielberg’s movies, a Robot Chicken gag, and that one time he showed up on The O.C.) This is per Collider, which was sitting down for a conversation with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri when he dropped the bizarre casting info. “I had this privilege of meeting George about two years ago,” Meledandri revealed, “And what led to my meeting him is how much he loves Illumination movies, and specifically Despicable Me, and even more specifically, the Minions.”

And so, when an idea for a role was percolating amidst the Minions And Monsters brain trust, Meledandri pitched the writers and producers on asking Lucas to handle the job. “I had no idea,” Meledandri said of whether Lucas would be receptive to the request. “But I got such a fast yes.”

Of course, this quick agreement may now lead to what the animation CEO was polite enough not to call a big problem, even though we, personally, would not enjoy having to duck calls from a crazed Lucas, desperate for his next Bob or Stuart fix: “It was incredible. So, we’re thrilled to have him in the film. I saw him recently, and he’s already talking to me about the role he wants to do next in the next Minions movie. So, it’s pretty incredible.”