Film #032 - Monsters Inc. (2001)
Until Cars, Monsters, Inc. was my favorite Pixar film. Oh, I made a lot of noise about Toy Story 2, but deep down, I always knew that it was Mike and Sully that I’d rather watch.
The thing is that Monsters, Inc. gets almost everything right. The cast is perfect, the story is engaging, the songs are good, but not intrusive. In fact, the only thing I would have changed would be the handling of Mr. Waternoose, who I would have preferred had a chance at redemption, since he meant well, but went astray.
Still, that’s me quibbling. The basic premise is quite original. There have certainly been “swithceroo” worlds before, but the motion of monsters scaring kids as a source of electrical power gives it all a new twist. And the notion that the monsters are even more afraid of the children speaks a lot to fearing what one doesn’t understand. (It’s interesting to note that Waternoose and Randall - and even “number one” - have no fear of children. They understand them too well.)
Billy Crystal as the one-eyed ball Mike Wazowski and John Goodman as lovable hulk james P. “Sully” Sullivan are a perfect double act, playing off each other perfectly. Crystal was, in fact, offered the role of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story and turned it down. I have to think that was good for both pictures. Tim Allen’s single-minded Buzz was perfect and Crystal is much better suited for the hapless lover and best friend that personifies Mike.
Monsters, Inc. is also filled with little touches that help define the “Pixar style”, such as using a real little girl (complete with nonsese words and songs) for Boo. They even had her re-draw Boo’s crayoning so as to give it that authentic “4-year-old look”. There are some silly monster-related puns, but for the most part the references are clever, and it never seems to just be puns for the sake of them.
The animation is beautiful, particularly the much-hyped hair on Sully. That this film lost out on the Academy Award to Shrek of all things is one of the great disappointments. Of course, the Academy is known for doing that sort of thing. (See Star Wars, Goodfellas, Citizen Kane)
Well, anyway. This is a great film and one of Pixar’s best. It can appeal to just about everyone, since it has action, comedy, great visuals, music… And it has Pixar’s best non-Pixar-specific end credit gag: the company music re-telling of the movie. Gold.