Monsters, Inc.
Encyclopedia
Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios
. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich
and David Silverman
, and written by Jill Culton
, Peter Docter
, Ralph Eggleston
, Dan Gerson
, Jeff Pidgeon
, Rhett Reese, Jonathan Roberts
, and Andrew Stanton
. The starring voices are John Goodman
and Billy Crystal
as Sulley and Mike, two monsters who work at a power plant that powers the monster world with children's screams, Mary Gibbs as Boo, a little girl who enters the monster world, Steve Buscemi
as Randall, a rival monster, Jennifer Tilly
as Celia, Mike's girlfriend, and James Coburn
as Mr. Waternoose, the plant's owner.
The film was released to theatres by Walt Disney Pictures
in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002. It was a commercial and critical success, grossing over $525,366,597 worldwide. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
also reported extremely positive reviews with a 95% approval rating. The film is scheduled for a 3D re-release on January 18, 2013. Also, a prequel, Monsters University, is scheduled for a June 21, 2013 release.
One day, Sulley finds an activated door on his scare floor after the workday has ended. He finds no one in the room behind the door, but a little two-year-old girl (Gibbs) follows him back into the monster world. Far from being scared, she calls him "Kitty" and delights in playing with him. Since monsters think humans are lethally toxic, Sulley tries repeatedly to return the girl to her room, but she keeps following him back, and Randall eventually deactivates and stores the door, leaving the girl stuck in the monster world. The girl's presence then becomes public knowledge when Sulley sneaks her into a restaurant to find Mike, so they hide her in their home while the Child Detection Agency (CDA) searches for her. Sulley decides to call the girl "Boo", and he slowly bonds with her after realizing that she is not poisonous. He also discovers that her laughter produces even more energy than her screams.
The next morning, Sulley and Mike disguise Boo in a monster costume and sneak her into work. Randall agrees to help them return her to her bedroom, but when Mike enters the room, Randall captures him in a box, thinking that he is Boo. Randall intends to kidnap Boo and subject her to a device that extracts her screams.
What follows is a series of battles, chases, and accidents in which Sulley and Mike attempt to protect Boo from Randall and his scream machine (including a direct homage to the 1952 Warner Brothers cartoon "Feed the Kitty
", in which Sulley thinks Boo is accidentally crushed in a garbage compactor). Eventually, Waternoose banishes both Sulley and Mike to the Himalayas
, where they meet the Abominable Snowman (John Ratzenberger). Sulley and Mike return to the monster world through a village at the foot of the mountain, where Randall chases them through the company's roller-coaster-like door-moving system. When the energy in Boo's laughter activates the doors in storage, the chase passes in and out of the human world. Finally, Sulley and Boo defeat Randall. Sulley throws Randall through the door of a trailer-park trailer, where a woman beats Randall with a shovel thinking that he was an alligator, and Mike destroys the door to make sure Randall never comes back.
Just as Sulley and Mike attempt to return Boo to her home, Waternoose and the CDA call her door to the scare floor, ready to arrest them, but Mike leads the agents away by fleeing with Boo's monster costume, and Sulley flees with Boo and the door. When Waternoose follows Sulley and Boo, Sulley attempts to set up and activate the door, and when Waternoose follows them through the door, he confesses to Sulley that he is willing to kidnap a thousand children before he lets the company die. However, Sulley had not properly activated Boo's door, causing the three to actually wind up in the adjacent Monsters, Inc. training room, which is equipped with a video monitoring system. Mike has recorded Waternoose's confession, and after he replays the confession, CDA agents arrest Waternoose and take him away.
With the scream-machine plot foiled, the CDA agents call in their leader, who is revealed to be Roz (Bob Peterson), the company's bookkeeper who was working undercover at Monsters Inc. Mike says goodbye to Boo and Sulley returns her to her bedroom, then Roz has the door shredded, preventing monsters from entering the human world and visiting Boo again. Sulley keeps one of the wood splinters as a memento.
Some time later, Sulley becomes the CEO of Monsters, Inc., and the company has ended the energy crisis with his policy of making children laugh instead of scaring them. Meanwhile, Mike has managed to collect and reassemble the pieces of Boo's shredded door. When Sulley puts his piece in its place, the door becomes activated again, and when he peeks into her room, Boo greets him as "Kitty" once again.
, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton
and Joe Ranft
. One of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming session was a film about monsters. "When we were making "Toy Story" Pete Docter claimed "everybody came up to me and said that they totally believed that their toys came to life when they left the room. When Disney asked us to make more films, I wanted to tap into a child-like notion that was similar to Toy Story. I knew monsters were coming out of my closet when I was a kid. So I decided monsters would be appropriate". Docter's original idea revolved around a 30-year-old man dealing with monsters (which he drew in a book as a boy) coming back to bother him as an adult. Each monster represented a fear he had, and conquering those fears caused the monsters eventually to disappear.
Docter started working on the script in 1996, and with Harley Jessup, Jill Culton
and Jeff Pidgeon
completed a draft treatment in February 1997. However Sulley worked in the scream refinery before being changed to Monsters Inc.'s top scare producer. Also Boo was aged six, but was changed to 3 years of age, because "The younger she was, she became the more dependent on Sulley," Docter claimed. The initial story did not have the character of Mike Wazowski. Mike wasn't added to the story until in April 1998, when Development Artist Ricky Nierva drew a concept sketch of Mike and everyone liked it. Jeff Pidgeon
and Jason Katz story-boarded a test in which Mike was helping Sulley choose a tie for work and Mike Wazowski soon became a vital character in the movie. Originally Mike had no arms, and had to use his legs as appendages, however due to technical difficulties arms were soon added. Billy Crystal
had been approached to play Buzz Lightyear
in the original Toy Story, but turned down the offer. However once he saw Toy Story he regretted not taking the part, and when he was approached to play Mike he jumped at the offer. The film went into production in 2000.
One of the major breakthroughs of Monsters Inc was the simulated movement of Sulley's fur and Boo's shirt. The animators would animate the characters "Bald and Naked" and once the animation was finished a computer program aided by the Simulation Department would apply the hair and cloth onto the characters. If Sulley moved the hair would react to the movement just like it would in nature. The same goes for Boo's t-shirt that would produce wrinkles in the fabric. This would save the animators from animating the three million hairs on Sullivan individually.
The release of Monsters, Inc. nearly was delayed by a lawsuit brought by Lori Madrid against Pixar, Disney and Chronicle Books
. The suit alleged that the defendants had stolen her story There's a Boy in My Closet, which she had mailed in October 1999 to a number of publishers, including Chronicle Books. The plaintiffs had requested a temporary injunction against the release of the film. Judge Clarence Brimmer, Jr. had a hearing on the injunction on November 1, 2001, the day before the film was to be released. He judged against the injunction, and the entire suit was thrown out on June 26, 2002.
Another lawsuit by Stanley Mouse
, alleged that the characters of Mike and Sulley were based on drawings he had tried to sell to Hollywood in 1998.
, Disney and Pixar announced a 3D re-release of Monsters Inc. for January 18, 2013 in honor of Monsters University coming out.
In the UK, Ireland and Malta
, it earned £37,264,502 ($53,335,579) in total, marking the 6th highest-grossing animated feature of all time in the country and the 32nd largest movie of all time. In Japan, although earning $4,471,902 during its opening and ranking 2nd behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the weekend, on subsequent weekends it moved to first place due to exceptionally small decreases or even increases and dominated for six weeks at the box office. It finally reached $74,437,612, standing as the third highest-grossing film of 2002 and the third largest US animated feature of all time in the country behind Toy Story 3
and Finding Nemo
.
reports that 95% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 164 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. The critical consensus was: Even though Monsters, Inc lacks the sophistication of the Toy Story series
, it is a still delight for children of all ages. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 88% based on 33 reviews. Another review aggregator, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 78 based on 34 reviews.
Charles Taylor from Salon.com
stated: "It's agreeable and often funny, and adults who take their kids to see it might be surprised to find themselves having a pretty good time." A. O. Scott
from The New York Times
gave a positive review saying: "There hasn't been a film in years to use creative energy as efficiently as Monsters, Inc." Mike Clark from USA Today
also gave a positive review saying: "Though the comedy is sometimes more frenetic than inspired and viewer emotions are rarely touched to any notable degree, the movie is as visually inventive as its Pixar predecessors." Reelviews film critic James Berardinelli
, who gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4 wrote: "Monsters, Inc. is one of those rare family films that parents can enjoy (rather than endure) along with their kids." Roger Ebert
, film critic from Chicago Sun-Times
, while praising the movie with 3 out of 4 stars, wrote: "Monsters, Inc. is cheerful, high-energy fun, and like the other Pixar movies, has a running supply of gags and references aimed at grownups." Lisa Schwarzbaum, a film critic for Entertainment Weekly
gave a B for the movie and wrote: "Everything from Pixar Animation Studios, the snazzy, cutting-edge computer animation outfit, looks really, really terrific, and unspools with a liberated, heppest-moms-and-dads-on-the-block iconoclasm."
(Randy Newman
, after 15 previous nominations, for If I Didn't Have You
). It was one of the first animated films to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film
(lost to Shrek
). It was also nominated for Best Original Score
(lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and Best Sound Editing (lost to Pearl Harbor
).
At the Kid's Choice Awards in 2002, it was nominated for "Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie" for Billy Crystal
(who lost to Eddie Murphy
in Shrek
).
American Film Institute
Lists
and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
. The score lost both these awards to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but after 16 nominations, the song "If I Didn't Have You
" finally won Newman his first Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
and then-Pixar owner Steve Jobs
, Disney (who at the time owned the rights to make sequels to all of Pixar's films up to Cars) announced that a sequel to Monsters, Inc. would be made by Circle 7 Animation
, who were also working on an early draft of Toy Story 3
. Titled Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, the film would have focused on Mike and Sulley visiting the human world to give Boo a birthday present, only to find that she had moved. After getting trapped in the human world, Mike and Sulley split up after disagreeing on what to do (Sulley wanting to look for Boo, Mike wanting to find a way to get back to Monsters, Inc.). Screenwriters Rob Muir and Bob Hilgenberg were hired to write a script for the film, and storyboarded an early draft of it. However, Disney's change of management in late 2005 (which saw Eisner replaced by his lieutenant Robert Iger
) led to renewed negotiations with Pixar, and in early 2006 Disney announced that they had purchased the studio. The Disney-owned sequel rights were then transferred to Pixar, leading to the cancellation of Muir and Hilgenberg's version of the film and the subsequent closure of Circle 7.
A Pixar-made sequel was officially confirmed in 2010. The original release date of the film was November 16, 2012, but it was later changed to November 2, 2012 to avoid direct competition with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
Part 2. On April 5, 2011, it was announced that the film's release date had been pushed back to June 21, 2013 due to the success of Pixar films that are released in the summer, according to Disney distribution executive Chuck Viane. It will be the studios' fourteenth feature film.
In early 2011, there were claims that Monsters, Inc. 2 was going to be a prequel which focuses on Sulley and Mike's studies at the University of Fear, where they start off as rivals but soon become best friends. On March 29, 2011, it was confirmed that the film will indeed be a prequel and the new title Monsters University was revealed. The feature will be directed by Dan Scanlon
and produced by Kori Rae. It was also announced that John Goodman
, Billy Crystal
and Steve Buscemi
will be reprising their roles. New voice cast includes Dave Foley
, Julia Sweeney
, Joel Murray
and Peter Sohn
.
, was made by Pixar in 2002 in which the two main characters have assorted misadventures with a car Mike has just bought. This film was not screened in theaters, but is included with all home video releases of Monsters, Inc., and on Pixar's dedicated Shorts DVD.
version of Monsters, Inc. was made by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha
's Comic Bon Bon magazine in Japan; the manga was published in English by Tokyopop
until it went out of print.
on PS1, PC
, Game Boy Color
, and GBA
consoles in 2001, and later by THQ
for Nintendo Gamecube
in 2002.
skating tour from 2003 to 2007.
around the world.
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich
Lee Unkrich
Lee Unkrich is an American director and film editor. He is a longtime member of the creative team at Pixar, where he started in 1994 as a film editor. He later began directing, first as co-director of Toy Story 2...
and David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
, and written by Jill Culton
Jill Culton
Jill Culton is an American animator, who is best known for her directorial debut on Sony's first animated movie, Open Season.Previously, she studied at the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts....
, Peter Docter
Peter Docter
Peter Hans "Pete" Docter is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter from Bloomington, Minnesota. He is best known for directing the films Monsters, Inc. and Up, and as a key figure and collaborator in Pixar Animation Studios. The A. V. Club has called him "almost universally...
, Ralph Eggleston
Ralph Eggleston
Ralph Eggleston is an American animator, art director, storyboard artist and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios....
, Dan Gerson
Dan Gerson
Daniel "Dan" Gerson is a writer who lives in California. He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Monsters Inc., Chicken Little, Curious George, Cars, Meet the Robinsons and many US TV shows like Misguided Angeles, Big Wolf on Campus and Something So Right.He was also a voice actor in the...
, Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon is an American voice actor, writer and animator at Pixar Animation Studios.He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and WALL-E, as well as many US TV shows...
, Rhett Reese, Jonathan Roberts
Jonathan Roberts (writer)
Jonathan Roberts is an American screenwriter, television producer and author. He is best known for co-writing Disney's The Lion King.-Life and career:...
, and Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional voice actor based at Pixar Animation Studios. His film work includes writing and directing Finding Nemo and WALL-E; both films earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.-Life and career:Stanton was...
. The starring voices are John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
and Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
as Sulley and Mike, two monsters who work at a power plant that powers the monster world with children's screams, Mary Gibbs as Boo, a little girl who enters the monster world, Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Randall, a rival monster, Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
as Celia, Mike's girlfriend, and James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as Mr. Waternoose, the plant's owner.
The film was released to theatres by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
in the United States on November 2, 2001, in Australia on December 26, 2001, and in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2002. It was a commercial and critical success, grossing over $525,366,597 worldwide. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
also reported extremely positive reviews with a 95% approval rating. The film is scheduled for a 3D re-release on January 18, 2013. Also, a prequel, Monsters University, is scheduled for a June 21, 2013 release.
Plot
Monstropolis is a city populated entirely by monsters. The monster world can be connected to children's bedrooms in the human world through closet doors. When a door is properly activated, it becomes a portal between the monster world and the human world. The city's power supply is provided by Monsters, Inc., a power plant that employs monsters to scare children and extract energy from their screams. The company has a large warehouse full of doors, work areas called "scare floors" where the doors are activated, and a special training room in which employees practice their scare skills. The company's best scarer is James Sullivan (Goodman), whose assistant is his best friend and room mate Michael "Mike" Wazowski (Crystal). Sulley's main rival is Randall Boggs (Buscemi), but enjoys a patronizing relationship with the company's CEO, Henry J. Waternoose III (Coburn), who likes Sulley because of his scaring ability. Waternoose is also worried about an energy crisis because children are harder to scare than they used to be.One day, Sulley finds an activated door on his scare floor after the workday has ended. He finds no one in the room behind the door, but a little two-year-old girl (Gibbs) follows him back into the monster world. Far from being scared, she calls him "Kitty" and delights in playing with him. Since monsters think humans are lethally toxic, Sulley tries repeatedly to return the girl to her room, but she keeps following him back, and Randall eventually deactivates and stores the door, leaving the girl stuck in the monster world. The girl's presence then becomes public knowledge when Sulley sneaks her into a restaurant to find Mike, so they hide her in their home while the Child Detection Agency (CDA) searches for her. Sulley decides to call the girl "Boo", and he slowly bonds with her after realizing that she is not poisonous. He also discovers that her laughter produces even more energy than her screams.
The next morning, Sulley and Mike disguise Boo in a monster costume and sneak her into work. Randall agrees to help them return her to her bedroom, but when Mike enters the room, Randall captures him in a box, thinking that he is Boo. Randall intends to kidnap Boo and subject her to a device that extracts her screams.
What follows is a series of battles, chases, and accidents in which Sulley and Mike attempt to protect Boo from Randall and his scream machine (including a direct homage to the 1952 Warner Brothers cartoon "Feed the Kitty
Feed the Kitty
Feed the Kitty is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, in which bulldog Marc Antony adopts a small cat, Pussyfoot , and tries to hide it from his owner...
", in which Sulley thinks Boo is accidentally crushed in a garbage compactor). Eventually, Waternoose banishes both Sulley and Mike to the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, where they meet the Abominable Snowman (John Ratzenberger). Sulley and Mike return to the monster world through a village at the foot of the mountain, where Randall chases them through the company's roller-coaster-like door-moving system. When the energy in Boo's laughter activates the doors in storage, the chase passes in and out of the human world. Finally, Sulley and Boo defeat Randall. Sulley throws Randall through the door of a trailer-park trailer, where a woman beats Randall with a shovel thinking that he was an alligator, and Mike destroys the door to make sure Randall never comes back.
Just as Sulley and Mike attempt to return Boo to her home, Waternoose and the CDA call her door to the scare floor, ready to arrest them, but Mike leads the agents away by fleeing with Boo's monster costume, and Sulley flees with Boo and the door. When Waternoose follows Sulley and Boo, Sulley attempts to set up and activate the door, and when Waternoose follows them through the door, he confesses to Sulley that he is willing to kidnap a thousand children before he lets the company die. However, Sulley had not properly activated Boo's door, causing the three to actually wind up in the adjacent Monsters, Inc. training room, which is equipped with a video monitoring system. Mike has recorded Waternoose's confession, and after he replays the confession, CDA agents arrest Waternoose and take him away.
With the scream-machine plot foiled, the CDA agents call in their leader, who is revealed to be Roz (Bob Peterson), the company's bookkeeper who was working undercover at Monsters Inc. Mike says goodbye to Boo and Sulley returns her to her bedroom, then Roz has the door shredded, preventing monsters from entering the human world and visiting Boo again. Sulley keeps one of the wood splinters as a memento.
Some time later, Sulley becomes the CEO of Monsters, Inc., and the company has ended the energy crisis with his policy of making children laugh instead of scaring them. Meanwhile, Mike has managed to collect and reassemble the pieces of Boo's shredded door. When Sulley puts his piece in its place, the door becomes activated again, and when he peeks into her room, Boo greets him as "Kitty" once again.
Voice cast
- John GoodmanJohn GoodmanJohn Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, a large furry blue monster with horns and purple spots. Even though he excels at scaring children, he is kind-hearted and thoughtful by nature. - Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
as Michael "Mike" Wazowski, a green monster with a ball-shaped body, a single large eyeball, and skinny arms and legs. He runs Sulley's station on the scare floor, and they are close friends and room mates. Mike has an outgoing personality and is dating Celia Mae. He makes cameo appearances in Finding NemoFinding NemoFinding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
, CarsCars (film)Cars is a 2006 American animated family film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Joe Ranft. It is the seventh Disney·Pixar feature film, and Pixar's final, independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney...
, WALL-EWALL-EWALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
and Toy Story 3Toy Story 3Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
. - Mary Gibbs as "Boo", a 2-year-old human girl. She is unafraid of any monster except Randall, who regularly scared her at night. She overcomes her fear of Randall by the end of the movie. The book based on the film gives Boo's "real" name as Mary Gibbs, the name of her voice actress. In the film, Boo shows Sulley a drawing of Randall with the name "Mary" signed in the corner.
- Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Randall Boggs, a multi-legged lizard-shaped monster with a chameleonChameleonChameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
-like ability to change skin color and blend in completely with his surroundings. He is Sulley's rival in scream collection. - Jennifer TillyJennifer TillyJennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
as Celia Mae, a GorgonGorgonIn Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...
-like monster with snakes for hair. She is Mike's girlfriend and the receptionist for Monsters, Inc.. - James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as Henry J. Waternoose III, a crabCrabTrue crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
-like monster with five eyes. At the start of the film, he is CEO of Monsters, Inc., the job having been in his family for generations. - Bob Peterson as Roz, a slugSlugSlug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
-like monster with a raspy voice (similar to Selma DiamondSelma DiamondSelma Diamond was a Canadian-born American comic actress and radio and television writer, and is known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series Night Court.-Life and career:Diamond was born in Montreal, Quebec,...
's). She is the administrative clerk for Scare floor F. At the end of the film she turns out to be the Child Detection Agency's (CDA) "Number One", working undercover for years to reveal the child kidnap plot. - Frank OzFrank OzFrank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...
as Fungus, Randall's three-eyed assistant and reluctant participant in the plot. - John RatzenbergerJohn RatzenbergerJohn Deszo Ratzenberger is an American actor, voice actor, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in Cheers.-Early life:...
as the Abominable Snowman, a yetiYetiThe Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
banished to the HimalayasHimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. - Samuel Lord Black as the furry George Sanderson, assisted by "Charlie". He is the butt of a running gag in which he repeatedly contacts human artifacts by accident, triggering "23–19" incidents and humorously overblown reactions by the CDA resulting in the removal of his hair.
- Dan GersonDan GersonDaniel "Dan" Gerson is a writer who lives in California. He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Monsters Inc., Chicken Little, Curious George, Cars, Meet the Robinsons and many US TV shows like Misguided Angeles, Big Wolf on Campus and Something So Right.He was also a voice actor in the...
as Smitty and Needleman, two goofy monsters with cracking voices who work as janitors and operate the door shredder when required. - Jeff PidgeonJeff PidgeonJeff Pidgeon is an American voice actor, writer and animator at Pixar Animation Studios.He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and WALL-E, as well as many US TV shows...
as Thaddeus Bile, though his friends call him "Phlegm", a trainee scarer for Monsters, Inc. - Bonnie HuntBonnie HuntBonnie Lynne Hunt is an American actress, comedian, writer, director, television producer and daytime television host.- Early life :...
as Ms. Flint, a snake-like monster who trains new monsters to scare children.
Production
The idea for Monsters, Inc. started with a lunch in 1994 attended by John LasseterJohn Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering....
, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional voice actor based at Pixar Animation Studios. His film work includes writing and directing Finding Nemo and WALL-E; both films earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.-Life and career:Stanton was...
and Joe Ranft
Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor who worked for Pixar and Disney. His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies....
. One of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming session was a film about monsters. "When we were making "Toy Story" Pete Docter claimed "everybody came up to me and said that they totally believed that their toys came to life when they left the room. When Disney asked us to make more films, I wanted to tap into a child-like notion that was similar to Toy Story. I knew monsters were coming out of my closet when I was a kid. So I decided monsters would be appropriate". Docter's original idea revolved around a 30-year-old man dealing with monsters (which he drew in a book as a boy) coming back to bother him as an adult. Each monster represented a fear he had, and conquering those fears caused the monsters eventually to disappear.
Docter started working on the script in 1996, and with Harley Jessup, Jill Culton
Jill Culton
Jill Culton is an American animator, who is best known for her directorial debut on Sony's first animated movie, Open Season.Previously, she studied at the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts....
and Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon is an American voice actor, writer and animator at Pixar Animation Studios.He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and WALL-E, as well as many US TV shows...
completed a draft treatment in February 1997. However Sulley worked in the scream refinery before being changed to Monsters Inc.'s top scare producer. Also Boo was aged six, but was changed to 3 years of age, because "The younger she was, she became the more dependent on Sulley," Docter claimed. The initial story did not have the character of Mike Wazowski. Mike wasn't added to the story until in April 1998, when Development Artist Ricky Nierva drew a concept sketch of Mike and everyone liked it. Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon
Jeff Pidgeon is an American voice actor, writer and animator at Pixar Animation Studios.He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and WALL-E, as well as many US TV shows...
and Jason Katz story-boarded a test in which Mike was helping Sulley choose a tie for work and Mike Wazowski soon became a vital character in the movie. Originally Mike had no arms, and had to use his legs as appendages, however due to technical difficulties arms were soon added. Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
had been approached to play Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a character and the main deuteragonist of the Toy Story franchise. Buzz is a space ranger action figure and the co-leader of Andy's Room. He has also appeared in the movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and the television series spin-off Buzz Lightyear of...
in the original Toy Story, but turned down the offer. However once he saw Toy Story he regretted not taking the part, and when he was approached to play Mike he jumped at the offer. The film went into production in 2000.
One of the major breakthroughs of Monsters Inc was the simulated movement of Sulley's fur and Boo's shirt. The animators would animate the characters "Bald and Naked" and once the animation was finished a computer program aided by the Simulation Department would apply the hair and cloth onto the characters. If Sulley moved the hair would react to the movement just like it would in nature. The same goes for Boo's t-shirt that would produce wrinkles in the fabric. This would save the animators from animating the three million hairs on Sullivan individually.
The release of Monsters, Inc. nearly was delayed by a lawsuit brought by Lori Madrid against Pixar, Disney and Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.The company was established in 1968 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of...
. The suit alleged that the defendants had stolen her story There's a Boy in My Closet, which she had mailed in October 1999 to a number of publishers, including Chronicle Books. The plaintiffs had requested a temporary injunction against the release of the film. Judge Clarence Brimmer, Jr. had a hearing on the injunction on November 1, 2001, the day before the film was to be released. He judged against the injunction, and the entire suit was thrown out on June 26, 2002.
Another lawsuit by Stanley Mouse
Stanley Mouse
Stanley George Miller , better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, is an American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and Grateful Dead album cover art.-Early life:...
, alleged that the characters of Mike and Sulley were based on drawings he had tried to sell to Hollywood in 1998.
Release
The film was theatrically released on November 2, 2001. It was released on the VHS and DVD on September 17, 2002, and on the Blu-ray on November 10, 2009. After the success of the 3D re-release of The Lion KingThe Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, Disney and Pixar announced a 3D re-release of Monsters Inc. for January 18, 2013 in honor of Monsters University coming out.
Box office
Monsters, Inc. ranked No.1 at the box office its opening weekend, grossing $62,577,067 in North America alone. The film had a small drop-off of 27.2% over its 2nd weekend, earning another $45,551,028. In its 3rd weekend the film experienced a larger decline of 50.1%, placing itself in the second position just after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In its 4th weekend, however, there was an increase of 5.9%. Making $24,055,001 that weekend, it is the 7th biggest (in US$) 4th weekend ever for a film. As of September 26, 2002, the film has a total of $255,873,250 in the United States and Canada and $269,493,347 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $525,366,597. The film is Pixar's sixth highest grossing movie worldwide and fifth in North America.In the UK, Ireland and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, it earned £37,264,502 ($53,335,579) in total, marking the 6th highest-grossing animated feature of all time in the country and the 32nd largest movie of all time. In Japan, although earning $4,471,902 during its opening and ranking 2nd behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the weekend, on subsequent weekends it moved to first place due to exceptionally small decreases or even increases and dominated for six weeks at the box office. It finally reached $74,437,612, standing as the third highest-grossing film of 2002 and the third largest US animated feature of all time in the country behind Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
and Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
.
Critical reception
The film received near universal critical acclaim. Review aggregate Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 95% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 164 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. The critical consensus was: Even though Monsters, Inc lacks the sophistication of the Toy Story series
Toy Story (franchise)
Toy Story is a CGI animated media franchise created by Pixar and distributed by Disney, beginning with the original 1995 film, Toy Story. The franchise focuses on a group of toys that secretly come to life and end up unexpectedly embarking on life-changing adventures...
, it is a still delight for children of all ages. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 88% based on 33 reviews. Another review aggregator, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 78 based on 34 reviews.
Charles Taylor from Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
stated: "It's agreeable and often funny, and adults who take their kids to see it might be surprised to find themselves having a pretty good time." A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
gave a positive review saying: "There hasn't been a film in years to use creative energy as efficiently as Monsters, Inc." Mike Clark from USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
also gave a positive review saying: "Though the comedy is sometimes more frenetic than inspired and viewer emotions are rarely touched to any notable degree, the movie is as visually inventive as its Pixar predecessors." Reelviews film critic James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
, who gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4 wrote: "Monsters, Inc. is one of those rare family films that parents can enjoy (rather than endure) along with their kids." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, film critic from Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, while praising the movie with 3 out of 4 stars, wrote: "Monsters, Inc. is cheerful, high-energy fun, and like the other Pixar movies, has a running supply of gags and references aimed at grownups." Lisa Schwarzbaum, a film critic for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave a B for the movie and wrote: "Everything from Pixar Animation Studios, the snazzy, cutting-edge computer animation outfit, looks really, really terrific, and unspools with a liberated, heppest-moms-and-dads-on-the-block iconoclasm."
Accolades
Monsters, Inc. won the Academy Award for Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
(Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, after 15 previous nominations, for If I Didn't Have You
If I Didn't Have You
Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso recorded a cover version of the song for the Disneymania 6 album. The song was produced by Bryan Todd...
). It was one of the first animated films to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles-based professional organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
(lost to Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
). It was also nominated for Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and Best Sound Editing (lost to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor (film)
Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
).
At the Kid's Choice Awards in 2002, it was nominated for "Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie" for Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
(who lost to Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
in Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
).
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
- If I Didn't Have You – Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
– Nominated Animated Film
Music
The album was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media has been awarded since 1960. Until 2001 the award was presented to the composer of the music alone. From 2001 to 2006, the producer and engineers shared in this award...
. The score lost both these awards to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but after 16 nominations, the song "If I Didn't Have You
If I Didn't Have You
Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso recorded a cover version of the song for the Disneymania 6 album. The song was produced by Bryan Todd...
" finally won Newman his first Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Prequel
Plans for a second Monsters, Inc. film have existed since 2005. Following disagreements between then-Disney CEO Michael EisnerMichael Eisner
Michael Dammann Eisner is an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until 2005.-Early life:...
and then-Pixar owner Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
, Disney (who at the time owned the rights to make sequels to all of Pixar's films up to Cars) announced that a sequel to Monsters, Inc. would be made by Circle 7 Animation
Circle 7 Animation
Circle 7 Animation was a short-lived division of The Walt Disney Company specializing in computer generated imagery animation and was originally going to work on making sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties , leading rivals to derisively nickname the division "Pixaren't"...
, who were also working on an early draft of Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
. Titled Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, the film would have focused on Mike and Sulley visiting the human world to give Boo a birthday present, only to find that she had moved. After getting trapped in the human world, Mike and Sulley split up after disagreeing on what to do (Sulley wanting to look for Boo, Mike wanting to find a way to get back to Monsters, Inc.). Screenwriters Rob Muir and Bob Hilgenberg were hired to write a script for the film, and storyboarded an early draft of it. However, Disney's change of management in late 2005 (which saw Eisner replaced by his lieutenant Robert Iger
Robert Iger
Robert A. "Bob" Iger is the president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. He was named president of Disney in 2000, and later succeeded Michael Eisner as chief executive in 2005, after a successful effort by Roy E. Disney to shake-up the management of the company...
) led to renewed negotiations with Pixar, and in early 2006 Disney announced that they had purchased the studio. The Disney-owned sequel rights were then transferred to Pixar, leading to the cancellation of Muir and Hilgenberg's version of the film and the subsequent closure of Circle 7.
A Pixar-made sequel was officially confirmed in 2010. The original release date of the film was November 16, 2012, but it was later changed to November 2, 2012 to avoid direct competition with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series...
Part 2. On April 5, 2011, it was announced that the film's release date had been pushed back to June 21, 2013 due to the success of Pixar films that are released in the summer, according to Disney distribution executive Chuck Viane. It will be the studios' fourteenth feature film.
In early 2011, there were claims that Monsters, Inc. 2 was going to be a prequel which focuses on Sulley and Mike's studies at the University of Fear, where they start off as rivals but soon become best friends. On March 29, 2011, it was confirmed that the film will indeed be a prequel and the new title Monsters University was revealed. The feature will be directed by Dan Scanlon
Dan Scanlon
Dan Scanlon was an animator for The Indescribable Nth and Joseph: King of Dreams. He served as a storyboard artist for The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure...
and produced by Kori Rae. It was also announced that John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
, Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
and Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
will be reprising their roles. New voice cast includes Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
, Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
, Joel Murray
Joel Murray
Joel Murray is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Early life:Murray, one of nine children, was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois , the son of Lucille , a mail room clerk, and Edward J. Murray II, a lumber salesman. Murray, along with his siblings, grew up in an Irish...
and Peter Sohn
Peter Sohn
Peter Sohn is an American animator, voice actor and storyboard artist at Pixar Animation Studios.,Sohn started his career with Pixar in the art and story departments for Finding Nemo. He also worked on The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E. Sohn also performed the voice of Emile in Ratatouille...
.
Additional short film
An animated short, Mike's New CarMike's New Car
Mike's New Car is a 2002 Pixar animated short, starring the two main characters from Monsters, Inc., Mike and Sulley. Directed by Pete Docter and Roger Gould, it is the first Pixar short to utilize dialogue and the first to take characters and situations from a previously established work.It...
, was made by Pixar in 2002 in which the two main characters have assorted misadventures with a car Mike has just bought. This film was not screened in theaters, but is included with all home video releases of Monsters, Inc., and on Pixar's dedicated Shorts DVD.
Manga
A mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
version of Monsters, Inc. was made by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
's Comic Bon Bon magazine in Japan; the manga was published in English by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
until it went out of print.
Video games
A series of video games, including a multi-platform video game, was created, based on the film, such as a film adaptation, Monsters Inc., developed by A2MArtificial Mind and Movement
Behaviour Interactive [formerly Artificial Mind and Movement ], founded in 1992 in Québec City, Québec as Megatoon Entertainment Group, is the largest independent game development studio in Canada, specializing in the production of 2D and 3D action/adventure games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,...
on PS1, PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, and GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
consoles in 2001, and later by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
for Nintendo Gamecube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
in 2002.
Walt Disney's World On Ice
Feld Entertainment toured a Monsters, Inc. edition of their Walt Disney's World on IceDisney on Ice
Disney On Ice is a touring ice show produced by Feld Entertainment under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters dressed as Disney cartoon characters in performances that each derive their music and plot from elements collected from...
skating tour from 2003 to 2007.
Theme park attractions
Monsters, Inc. has inspired three attractions at Disney theme parksWalt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...
around the world.
- In 2006 Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! is a dark ride attraction at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California...
opened at Disney's California AdventureDisney's California AdventureDisney California Adventure, or simply California Adventure, is a theme park in Anaheim, California, adjacent to Disneyland Park and part of the larger Disneyland Resort. It opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park. The park is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and...
at the Disneyland ResortDisneyland ResortThe Disneyland Resort is a recreational resort in Anaheim, California. The resort is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area known as Downtown Disney.The area now...
in Anaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim, CaliforniaAnaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. The dark rideDark rideA dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects....
was developed to boost the theme park's lagging attendance, and was quite successful in doing so for a short time. - In 2007 Monsters, Inc. Laugh FloorMonsters, Inc. Laugh FloorMonsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is an attraction within the Magic Kingdom, a theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. It opened on April 2, 2007 within the park's Tomorrowland section, where it replaced the Circle-Vision attraction The Timekeeper....
opened at the Magic KingdomMagic KingdomMagic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
at the Walt Disney World ResortWalt Disney World ResortWalt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
in Lake Buena Vista, FloridaLake Buena Vista, FloridaLake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....
, replacing The TimekeeperThe TimekeeperThe Timekeeper was a 1992 Circle-Vision 360° film that was presented at three Disney parks around the world. It was the first Circle-Vision show that was arranged and filmed with an actual plot and not just visions of landscapes, and the first to utilize Audio-Animatronics...
. The show is improvisational in nature, and features the opportunity for Guests to interact with the monster comedians, and even submit jokes of their own via text message. The attraction has been praised for its originality, but has been criticized for being in Tomorrowland. - In 2009 Monsters, Inc.: Ride & Go Seek opened at Tokyo DisneylandTokyo Disneylandis a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
at the Tokyo Disney ResortTokyo Disney Resortis a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. It is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company with a license from The Walt Disney Company. The resort opened on April 15, 1983, as a single theme park , but developed into a resort with two theme...
in ChibaChiba Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
, Japan.