Rewind Back to 2001: “Monsters, Inc” - A Timeless Family Classic (25th anniversary)

Since I will be checking out the latest Pixar release, “Toy Story 5” for my next review slate, I wanted to check out a still beloved Pixar film that is celebrating its 25th anniversary - “Monsters, Inc.”

Upon the film’s release, “Monsters, Inc.” received critical acclaim and was a huge commercial success, grossing over $577 million worldwide ($298 million domestic). The film also won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “If I Didn’t Have You” and eventually spawned its own little franchise - "Monsters University” in 2013, a sequel series titled “Monsters at Work” on Disney Plus in 2021 and a potential third movie in development.

Monsters Incorporated is the largest scare factory in the monster world, and James P. Sullivan is one of its top scarers. Sullivan is a huge, intimidating monster with blue fur, large purple spots and horns.

His scare assistant, best friend, and roommate is Mike Wazowski, a green, opinionated, feisty little one-eye monster. Visiting from the human world is Boo, a tiny girl who goes where no human has ever gone before.

The 2001 Pixar film “Monsters, Inc.” is widely regarded as a timeless masterpiece and one of the highest-rated films ever produced by Pixar Animation. To this day, the animated film remains deeply beloved by audiences for its humor, world-building, and emotional depth.

One aspect of the film that’s highly entertaining is the corporate twist where Monstropolis is powered entirely by the harvested screams of the human children as the monsters go to the human world to scare the children. This highly imaginative and creative premise also delivers some comedic highlights such as monsters being deathly afraid of human items (such as a sock), which causes a “23-19” biohazard emergency that still brings some great laughs.

“Monsters, Inc.” still has a huge emotional impact that is incredibly touching, especially with the surrogate father-daughter like bond between Sulley and Boo. The film’s emotional core actually transforms the film from a corporate comedy of sorts into a truly heartfelt exploration of parenthood and unconditional love. And the scene where Sulley is forced to say goodbye to Boo is still very moving and emotional.

While Sulley and Boo take care of the emotional moments, Sulley and Mike bring us a lot of the comedic scenes. Unlike most animated films where actors record separately,

Goodman and Crystal recorded their lines together which allowed them to ad-lib, play off each other’s energy and create rapid-fire, natural comedic banter.

The animated classic also delivers a lot of hilarious moments, such as the “2319” incident that I touched upon before, the recurring visual joke where Mike is ecstatic to be featured on TV and magazine covers, completely oblivious to the fact that his face is entirely blocked and so many other moments.

The overall response to Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” was overwhelmingly positive, cementing it as both a critical masterpiece and a massive commercial blockbuster. Audiences embraced the film warmly, noting that its core message - that laughter is ten times more powerful than fear - resonated deeply with both children and parents.

A couple decades after its release, retrospect reviews on platforms rank it as “peak Pixar,” It’s frequently celebrated for aging remarkably well, maintaining its status as a timeless family classic.

MPA: Rated G   (runtime 92 minutes)

Initial release date: November 2, 2001

Streaming: Disney Plus/various PVOD services

https://youtu.be/CGbgaHoapFM?si=iPLit-f-_Bc6xmqX

• Mary Gibbs was so young that it proved difficult to get her to stand in the recording studio and act her lines. Instead, they simply followed her around with a microphone and cut Boo's lines together from the things she said while she played.

• In early drafts, the character of Boo was written to be six years old. The writers decided to make Boo younger because it would make her more dependent on Sulley.

• John Goodman and Billy Crystal sometimes recorded their lines in the same room together, an unusual move for animated films, where actors more often work alone. Steve Buscemi and Frank Oz (Randall and his assistant Fungus) also recorded their lines together for the bathroom scene.

• Billy Crystal was originally offered the role of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995) and he declined, which he later regretted after seeing the film itself, as it would've been a great opportunity for him. They would later promise Crystal a future role in a Pixar film that they would tailor to his talents. Crystal told them to "do what's best for your movie and don't forget me when something good comes around". Later in the late 1990s/early 2000s, Crystal's wife received a phone call from John Lasseter, who told him "Mr. Lasseter would like to speak to you", allowing him to voice Mike in Monsters, Inc. (2001).

• Bob Peterson, the movie's story supervisor, provided the temporary voice of Roz, the green secretary, during production. The nasal, sing-song voice proved to be such a success that they kept it in the final film.

• Boo's real name is Mary, as shown briefly on one of the crayon drawings she shows to Sulley in the scene where Boo is going to sleep on Sulley's bed. The actress who provided the voice of Boo is Mary Gibbs.

• The spin off short film Mike's New Car (2002) was originally planned as a scene in the film. It was removed from the film and made as a short, being the first Pixar short film to have dialogue.

• News leaked in early fall of 2001 that this movie would feature the first teaser for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Hundreds of Star Wars fans paid admission for the movie just to see the teaser and reportedly some left after seeing it.

• To get Mary Gibbs to laugh on cue, Peter Docter would entertain her with sock puppets in the recording booth.

• A sequel to the movie was originally planned by Circle 7 Animation, titled Monsters Inc 2: Lost In Scaradise. The plot would focus on Mike & Sulley visiting Boo on her birthday, only to find out Boo has moved. So Mike & Sulley must travel through the human world to find Boo. This sequel was cancelled when Circle 7 shut down.