Monsters, Inc.

In my first year of university, I was excited for “Monsters Inc.” thanks to the sneak peak on the “Toy Story 2” DVD. I thought the preview was hilarious and I was expecting the film to be just as good as “Toy Story 2”. I wish that I knew then what I know now: original films must be judged differently than sequels. Until the film was released on DVD, I was slightly unsatisfied with “Monsters Inc.” only because it was not as funny and did not have as many inside jokes as “Toy Story 2” did. Also going into the film, I did not know that Pete Docter was directing instead of John Lasseter. After a decade has passed however, I grew to love this movie a good deal. Once again, the Disney success formula is used: great story, great characters and technological breakthroughs. This movie taught me that future Pixar movies could not always be exactly the same as their first three films. Having dealt with my past concerns about this movie, I can now illustrate why “Monsters Inc.” is such a great film.

Pixar makes great buddy pictures. Unlike “Toy Story” however, in which two guys become friends, we have a story about two ordinary best buddies who get caught up in a crisis. At first, the film was going to have Sulley be a new scarer with Randall as the top dog at Monsters. Inc. This resembles “A Bug’s Life” too much in my opinion and so I like the change that was made. Instead, Sulley is the best scarer at the company. Even though his life is quite perfect, we recognize that he does need a more meaningful purpose in life. The use of the Monsters Inc. commercial is great for exposition. I love the irony in the text “Not Actual Child” and in the slogan “We scare because we care”. It is humorous how the loss of innocence in society is a power problem in the monster world. It is a sad thing in our world but an economic problem in theirs. Our two main characters, Mike and Sulley, are well established as “two regular Joes” as they walk to work. Another great exposition scene is the first sequence on the scare floor. It is well organized and well accompanied by Randy Newman’s Oscar-nominated score. We are introduced to the process of scaring and also to a “2319”. The fact that monsters view kids as contaminated is important because the contrast adds comedy but also explains why humans have never fully discovered the existance of monsters. Boo’s introductory shot is great because at first we see her as cute due to the pause in action and then we are reminded by Sully’s reaction that kids have “germs”. Again, the contrast makes us laugh. I love when Sulley is trying to explain to Boo that nothing is in his closet. It is something every parent can relate to and once again, there is irony. There are multiple relatable moments for parents like that in this film. I also like the line “…but I’m not gonna scare ya. I’m off duty.” It is humorous how that is the main reason why he is not going to scare Boo. The scene also introduces heart for the first time in the film as Sulley looks at Boo sleeping. It is a sight he has seen hundreds of times before but for the first time, because he helped put Boo to sleep, he sees true innocence in a human child. Randall actually convinced me that he was cheating and his plan with Mike was a way to cover it up. I also thought the machine that Randall and Fungus were talking about was going to help him boost his numbers. Once Mike is accidentally kidnapped, I knew that there was something else going on.

When Sulley accidentally scares Boo and he sees the paused images on the replay screens, something else is revealed to him. He sees himself through Boo’s eyes and maybe even feels remorse for all the scaring he has done to kids just like Boo. As on “Toy Story 2” (spoiler alert), we get a surprise when we find out that Waternoose is the one actually behind the secret plot to kidnap children. We feel that we have been taken safely out of the frying pan only to be thrown very suddenly in the fire. I should change my analogy however to being “left out in the cold” due to the location of the Himalayas. When Mike refused to help Sulley any longer, I don’t think he means to end their friendship. It is like he says later: “I was just mad”. His anger at the situation prevents him from thinking straight. Despite what Mike has said, Sully leaves to save Boo. Mike then comes to his own realization: Sulley is not being selfish. He is. The plan Sulley invents to expose Waternoose is a great concluding moment in the movie. We as the audience believe that we are so smart because we know that Boo is no longer in the costume but the filmmakers still trick us. At first, we think that Sulley’s full plan was to get the CDA to chase Mike as a decoy but when the wall rises up on the simulator, Mike’s lines and Waternoose’s reaction are a nice surprise and very satisfying. I hope that Mike and Sully did get a copy of that tape. That would have been a fun way to start out "Monsters University" by having them watching and laughing at it. The animation as Sully says goodbye to Boo is very dramatic. Sulley’s eyes are tearing up and Boo, during the hug, gently strokes Sulley’s fur. Unlike the rest of the world, I like how we don’t see Boo in the last shot of the film. It makes the ending of the movie much more memorable and powerful. The tone of Boo’s voice in that final shot seems to communicate that she always knew that Sulley would come back. There are hilarious gags throughout “Monsters Inc” such as the Swiss door with the yodeling. I like how an octopus is the chef at the sushi restaurant and it is a great gag when Boo sneezes on Mike. In addition, Mike cans himself on the beam and Boo doesn’t see it. That is classic slapstick.

The characters are the best part of “Monsters Inc.” and the technological advancements should also be mentioned. John Goodman is the perfect Sulley, a benevolent and thoughtful workaholic. Billy Crystal creates the best character in the film, which makes up for the fact that he turned down the role of Buzz in “Toy Story”. Lasseter called Crystal to offer him the role of Mike and according to Crystal, before Lasseter could say anything, Crystal said: "Whatever it is: yes." In two separate other settings, Crystal said that Mike Wazowski is one of his favorite roles. For me, Boo was the most realistic CGI character preceding Gollum. Mary Gibbs, who is the voice of Boo, is the daughter of one of the filmmakers and I hope that Pete Docter continues his tradition of not having child actors play children in his movies. The perfect casting decision for the role of Randall is Steve Buscemi. Randall’s face even reminds me slightly of Buscemi’s. James Coburn was wonderful as Waternoose. The character’s grandfatherly persona makes him appealing to the audience but the filmmakers hold back in making him too relatable. As a result, his true nature is a shock but we are able to accept it. I feel this film begins the tradition of casting John Ratzenberger in every Pixar film and the Yeti is a funny character that lightens up the film when we need it the most. I also like Frank Oz’s performance as well as Bob Peterson’s. Roz is unique but also a classic secretary. I feel that Bob Peterson’s influence and story work is an important factor that begins to separate the Pixar films of the 90’s from those in the subsequent decade but that is not a bad thing. I can’t image films like “Finding Nemo” and “Up” without him. Randy Newman’s score provides the perfect mood and the use of hair in the film is revolutionary. The shot of Sulley after he wipes out on the mountain looks so real even today. This is because the only things moving in the shot are Sulley’s hair and the falling snow . The door vault is one of the greatest “wow moments” in Pixar history. The sheer size and complexity is mind-boggling. I like the chase around the world in that the music changes throughout. This film expanded the “Pixar Universe” thanks to Jessie’s cameo and the Pizza Planet truck next to the trailer from “A Bug’s Life”. Most of the inside jokes happen in Boo’s room at the end of the film. For the first time, Pixar shows us an inside joke referring to a future film: Nemo appears as a toy in Boo’s room as well as at least two other times in the film. I don't know how Pixar is able to convert its classic films into 3D so well. The 3D version of this film was cool but not as cool as "Finding Nemo". That entire show demanded 3D conversion where as only a few moments in "Monsters Inc." did. I am not saying that the conversion was bad. On the contrary, the conversion appeared flawless. Sulley's hair, Randall's camouflage and the massive door fault looked amazing in 3D.

Many executives at Disney had concerns about John Lasseter choosing Pete Docter as the first person to direct a Pixar film other than himself. Other filmmakers at the studio like Andrew Stanton had more supervisory experience but Docter surprised them all. This film came out in a tough year in terms of the Oscars. It had to compete with “Shrek” and “The Fellowship of the Ring” but amazingly, Randy Newman won his first Oscar after 15 nominations for the entertaining song “If I Didn’t Have You”. I am so happy about that and the song is the perfect way to conclude the movie. I wish this film had won the first Oscar for Best Animated Feature. I first saw this film with the wrong expectations. Other lessons that Pixar taught me with "Monsters Inc." and other movies was that heart & humor must be balanced to create a good film and that well-executed exposition is more important than jokes. As funny as “Toy Story 2” is, there was not enough room in “Monsters Inc.” for that. There is a very unique charm that can be felt while watching this movie. I am glad that “Monsters University” turned out good as well with Docter and Lasseter supervising that prequel. Ironically enough, I expected Docter’s next film in 2009 to have a similar light-heartedness. Instead, I experienced something I hope I will never forget.

4.5 Stars out of 5