Monsters, Inc.



Monsters, Inc. is set in Monstropolis, a city inhabited by monsters, some of whom are those who emerge from bedroom closets to scare human children. This is used to collect the screams of kids, which power the city. The main power company in the city is called Monsters, Inc. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is a crab-like monster, Henry J. Waternoose. The top scarer at Monsters, Inc. is James P. Sullivan, aka "Sulley", a blue-furred giant who is partnered with the green, one-eyed Mike Wazowski.

The two of them are best friends and roommates. Sulley is a gentle and easy-going creature, while Mike is obsessed with his car and dreams of marrying his girlfriend, the Medusa-like Celia Mae. Sulley's main rival as a scarer is the chameleon-like Randall Boggs who possesses the ability to change the color of his skin to match his surroundings.

As the two train and head off to work, their discussion reveals that the city is suffering a scream shortage because children have become desensitized to fear by an over-exposure to television. After they arrive at the Monsters, Inc. work floor we are shown that monsters can call up and travel through any child's door, thus being able to sneak in to bedrooms around the world and collect screams. In order to allow Mike to take out his girlfriend, Sulley agrees to stay at work late and turn in his paperwork. He finds a lone door on the work floor after hours, a violation of policy.

An investigation leads to a small human girl coming through into the monster world. Sulley is frightened, as it is believed all human children are toxic to monsters). After several misadventures, he attempts to take the girl to Mike, who is enjoying a romantic dinner with his girlfriend at Harryhausen's. The girl escapes, causes the alarm to be raised, triggers the Child Detection Agency to take action, and the two grab her and barely make it home.

The girl stays overnight and is soon named Boo (for her habit of saying "Boo!" all the time). The two come to know she is not dangerous as once thought, but they still plan to return her the next day. She is disguised as a monster and they sneak her inside. Mike wants to toss her in any old door, but Sulley wants to return her to her home. A mistake gets Mike kidnapped by Randall, who had intended to take Boo. It is learned Randall has created a machine to extract screams straight from kidnapped kids. Sulley and Mike tell everything to Waternoose. However, it turns out that Waternoose is in on Randall's scheme. Because of the decline in productivity, he fears for the company's future, and sees Randall's machine as the only way of ensuring Monsters Inc's survival. Waternoose betrays them, banishing the two to the Himalayas.

The two stay with the Yeti until Sulley learns of a village down below. After an argument with Mike, he sneaks back to his world that way. Mike soon follows. They confront Randall and attempt to rescue Boo. In the end Mike and Sulley send Randall to a motor home in a Louisiana swamp, where he is beaten senseless with a shovel by the family living inside (who mistake him for an alligator). Mike and Sulley destroy the door Randall went through, thus trapping him.

Mike and Sulley trick Waternoose into exposing himself to the CDA, whose true leader is Roz, the scare floor secretary. Boo is sent home and her door is put through a grinder. Sulley comes to realize that laughter is more powerful than screams and the company is redefined. Sulley becomes the new Chairman and CEO, and the monsters now enter the doors to entertain the kids as comedians, resulting in ample energy for the monster world. In secret, Mike also has Boo's door reassembled. Sulley takes one more peek inside and Boo is heard but not seen, while Sulley has a surprised and happy smile on his face.

Voice cast

 * John Goodman: Sulley
 * Billy Crystal: Mike Wazowski
 * Mary Gibbs: Boo
 * Jennifer Tilly: Celia Mae
 * Steve Buscemi: Randall Boggs
 * James Coburn: Henry J. Waternoose III
 * Bob Peterson: Roz
 * John Ratzenberger: Yeti
 * Bonnie Hunt: Flint
 * Jeff Pidgeon: Bile
 * Frank Oz: Fungus
 * Dan Gerson: Needleman and Smitty
 * Steve Susskind: Jerry

Spin-offs

 * A manga version of Monsters, Inc. was produced by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha's Comic Bon Bon magazine in Japan; the manga is published in English by TOKYOPOP.
 * Feld Entertainment currently tours a Monsters, Inc. edition of their Disney on Ice skating tour.
 * A series of video games, and a multi-platform video game were created, based on the movie.
 * A short was made by Pixar in 2002, Mike's New Car.
 * In Cars, one of the films that Mack watches at the end is called "Monster Trucks Inc."

Theme park attractions
Monsters, Inc. has inspired three attractions at Walt Disney theme parks.


 * In 2006, "Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!" opened at Disney's California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The dark ride was developed to boost the theme park's lagging attendance, and was quite successful in doing so, at least for a period of time.
 * In 2007, "Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor" opened at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 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.
 * In 2009, "Monsters, Inc: Ride And Go Seek" will open at Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Chiba, Japan. Following the format of the California dark ride, "Ride and Go Seek" will simply be an extended version with enhanced effects.

Music
The score was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and the song "If I Didn't Have You" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Awards

 * Monsters, Inc. won the Academy Award for Best Song (Randy Newman for "If I Didn't Have You"). The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing and Best Music, Original Score.
 * Monsters, Inc. and Shrek are the first pair of CG animated movies to win Academy Awards in the same year (Monsters, Inc. for Best Song of 2001, and Shrek for Best Animated Feature of 2001).

For the Birds
The theatrical and video/DVD release of the film included For the Birds, a Pixar short made in 2000, a year before this film was released.

Mike's New Car
The video/DVD release also includes Mike's New Car, a short starring the characters from the film.

Trailers
One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film. Trailers for this film include:


 * Sulley and Mike stumble into the wrong bedroom.
 * In a preview shown before the first Harry Potter film, Sulley is shown playing charades with Mike, but Mike is unable to guess the phrase "Harry Potter". The clip never specifically mentions Harry Potter, but the end states that Monsters, Inc. is playing right next door. Afterwards, Mike attempts to charade but a bored Sulley quickly and correctly guesses Star Wars. A bewildered Mike asks how he does it.

Trivia

 * According to the DVD commentary, Monsters, Inc. was to be produced before Toy Story.
 * The scene containing a distraught Sulley passing out several times, as he watches what he thinks is Boo going through the trash processor, is an homage to Chuck Jones' "Feed the Kitty" Merrie Melodies cartoon.
 * When the time comes for Sulley to take Boo back to her room, she hands him some of her toys -- including the star ball from Luxo Jr., Nemo (from Finding Nemo), and a Jessie doll from Toy Story 2.
 * When Randall is getting beat up, you can see the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on the far left. This scene is also a homage to A Bug's Life, which featured the same caravan and (more or less) the same camera shot.
 * In the scene where Boo is having a toilet break, you can clearly hear her sing a song in complete English and in sentences -- despite the fact that throughout the film she speaks gibberish yet can say simple words like Kitty, Boo and even Mike's full name.