Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Directed by Pete Docter
Lovable Sulley and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski are the top scare team at Monsters, Inc., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it's the monsters who are scared silly, and it's up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home.
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7 films that influenced Monsters, Inc.
What critics say influenced Monsters, Inc.
It's not worth cataloging it all, neither the details nor the referential jokes (though I have to go on record as saying that the re-enactment of a scene from the 1952 Chuck Jones short Feed the Kitty is as noble an homage to classical animation as Pixar has ever performed), because even a cursory viewing can't help but pick up at least some of the work that went into creating a deep, totally plausible environment for the film's action, using indescribable breadth of imagination to create the illusion of a quotidian world.
Seemingly inspired by the near lunatic imagination of director Tim Burton - the creatures and locales will remind one of bits from "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - and some of the old Looney Tunes shorts - particularly the nightmare door factory scenes and the monsters just doing their job (which is reminiscent of Ralph the wolf and Sam the sheepdog clocking in, putting in their hours as adversaries, and then going home friends), the film is one of those efforts that deserves and pretty much requires a second viewing.
Monsters, Inc. rivals the Toy Story movies for sheer magic, the Wallace and Gromit shorts for constant astonishing inventiveness, and The Nightmare Before Christmas for whimsical creature design (without Nightmare’s macabre).
Seemingly inspired by the near lunatic imagination of director Tim Burton - the creatures and locales will remind one of bits from "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - and some of the old Looney Tunes shorts - particularly the nightmare door factory scenes and the monsters just doing their job (which is reminiscent of Ralph the wolf and Sam the sheepdog clocking in, putting in their hours as adversaries, and then going home friends), the film is one of those efforts that deserves and pretty much requires a second viewing.
This premise bears some resemblance to Henry Selick's "Monkeybone," where nightmares power a netherworld, and also to the French film "The City of Lost Children," in which a mad scientist attempts to steal children's dreams.
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In Monsters, Inc., Pixar Studios’ fourth feature after Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999), Larson’s joke is taken to the next level, where the monsters are not only fully aware of the kid on top of the bed, but need that kid to maintain their way of life.
It outdoes A Bug’s Life for Pixar magic and outdoes Chicken Run (from Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Parks) for zany invention.
This movie has the same delicious mixture of heart, humor, and technical wizardry that made A Bug's Life and the two Toy Story movies into instant classics.
Director John Lasseter worked with a team of screenwriters, which included Buffy guru Joss Whedon, future Pixar Oscar winners Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL•E) and Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc., Up), Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow (who would go on to collaborate on decidedly lesser future projects like the Garfield movies and Daddy Day Camp), and Disney veteran Joe Ranft (who had contributed story material to both Beauty & the Beast and The Lion King) to craft a story that is both familiar and unique.
The Disney-affiliated computer animation company that blasted onto the scene in 1995 with the now legendary Toy Story and followed it up spectacularly with A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 ('99), delivers another delightful piece of crisply rendered cartoon animation, complete with a touching and witty story, a talented cast, and a colorful palette of pixels fairly jumping off the screen.
The fine folks at Pixar, who created the Toy Story franchise and the 2001 film Monsters, Inc., really, really want you to love their movies.
With this film, Pixar ("Tin Toy," "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life") should officially be declared a national treasure.
Much as they did with the similarly witty and entertaining "Toy Story" films, the filmmakers here have taken a simple childhood notion - monsters in the closet just like toys that are alive and lead their own lives in those other films - and turned it into a fun, imaginative and completely engaging story.
In Monsters, Inc., Pixar Studios’ fourth feature after Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999), Larson’s joke is taken to the next level, where the monsters are not only fully aware of the kid on top of the bed, but need that kid to maintain their way of life.
It outdoes A Bug’s Life for Pixar magic and outdoes Chicken Run (from Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Parks) for zany invention.