Review: Monsters, Inc.

Set in Monstropolis, at an energy facility where monsters work as ‘scarers’ to source the energy of the screams of the children whose closets the monsters emerge from. Our protagonists are big, furry, blue (with a bit of purple) lug ‘Sully’ Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) who is a top ‘scarer’, and his little, one-eyed, green pal Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal), who works at the same company as a technician. One night, Sully stumbles upon some shenanigans involving jerk rival ‘scarer’ Randall (voiced by Steve Buscemi), who seems to have allowed a ‘contamination’ to occur by accident and is trying to cover it up. That is, a cute little girl (voiced by Mary Gibbs, a real toddler pretty much doing ‘baby-talk’, apparently) has wandered through the portal/doorway between the plant and her bedroom whilst Randall was trying to beat Sully’s scare score, well after clocking-off time. Somehow, poor Sully ends up stuck with the kid, and since it is believed that children are extremely hazardous to monsters, he and Mike have to try and hide the adorable little girl before all hell breaks loose. Yes, the monsters are actually scared of the kids they’re supposed to be scaring. Unfortunately, the toddler has a pesky habit of not staying put…and develops a soft spot for the big, blue guy in particular, calling him ‘kitty’. A subplot sees Mike attempt to woo receptionist Celia (voiced by Jennifer Tilly), but constantly disappointing her as he attempts to help Sully with the child whom they have nicknamed Boo. Baritone-voiced James Coburn plays the factory owner Henry J. Waternoose, who looks like a science experiment melding Jabba the Hutt with a huge crab.

 

For me, the best Pixar effort to date, this 2001 animated buddy movie from co-directors Pete Docter (The overrated “Up”), David Silverman (“The Simpsons Movie”), and Lee Unkrich (“Finding Nemo”, “Toy Story 2”, “Toy Story 3”) has terrific voice casting, and for the most part I think the animation really does hold up well almost 15 years later (1995’s “Toy Story”, for instance, looks like a cheapo screen saver now, fun as the film still is). It’s nowhere near as photorealistic as ILM’s “Rango” from 2011, as the kids in particular, are typically cartoony. However, the attention to texture here really does set it apart from the rest of the pack, along with the prequel “Monsters University”. It’s only in the few snow-set scenes that the animation has dated a bit, looking a tad like something out of a computer game. Those scenes look OK, the rest looks amazing.

 

The other standout thing here is the screenplay by Dan Gerson (“Monsters University”, “Big Hero 6”), from a story by Docter, Jill Culton (director of “Open Season”), Ralph Eggleston (“The Princess and the Frog”), Jeff Pidgeon (the “Toy Story” series), and Andrew Stanton (the “Toy Story” series). The basic plot is actually kind of hilarious, with monsters basically doing menial work as ‘scarers’ to mine human children’s’ screams for their energy source. It’s clever, and actually a little disturbing when you think about it. More importantly, it’s the most consistently amusing and enjoyable Pixar film to date. There aren’t any lulls, and it holds up just as well on repeated viewings. There’s a funny opener with a monster failing a simulated ‘scare’ when the kid being scared ends up scaring him. Cute Ray Harryhausen name-drop with the name of a restaurant, too. I like the rather 60s-era Saul Bass-like titles design too, even if it seems odd for a kids movie from the 00s. Even the end credits are genuinely clever, with outtakes and bloopers featuring a terrific cameo by a certain “Toy Story” character. The characters are also memorable, particularly the central pair of Mike and Sully, who in my view are more memorable and better company than Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Their relationship is terrific and not only well-written but well-acted out in the voice department by Billy Crystal and John Goodman. It’s Crystal and Goodman’s film, really, though I loved that their characters actually match the actors voicing them in terms of size. Whoever came up with that idea was very clever. There’s also sturdy support from the late James Coburn, one of my all-time favourite character actors who offers up a terrific bit of late-career vocal work. Steve Buscemi, meanwhile makes for a perfect envious jerk, Jennifer Tilly is perfectly chosen to voice the impatient girlfriend of Mike, and John Ratzenberger has an hilarious cameo as the Abominable Snowman. Special mention must be made of the human toddler Boo, who is seriously the cutest little thing you’ll ever done see. Mike and Sully may be the stars of the show, but little Boo steals her every scene, and possibly the film.

 

Enjoyable characters, good humour, an interesting plot all combine to make this the standout Pixar animation film for my money. It has yet to be bested.

 

Rating: B