MONSTERS, INC
Year: 2001
USA: Disney/Pixar
UK: Buena Vista International
Cast: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Steve Buscemi, Mary Gibbs, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Frank Oz, Bonnie Hunt, Sam 'Penguin' Black, Daniel R Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Steve Susskind
Directors: Peter Docter, David Silverman
Country: USA
USA: 92 mins
UK: 95 mins
USA Rated: G
UK Certificate: U contains mild comic violence
USA Release Date: 2 November 2001
UK Release Date: 8 February 2002
Synopsis
The Academy Award-winning creators of TOY STORY open the door to a frightfully funny world of monsters and mayhem and scare up lots of laughs in their new movie, MONSTERS, INC. This witty and imaginative new computer animated adventure is the latest film from Disney/Pixar (following TOY STORY, A BUG'S LIFE, and TOY STORY 2) and is the second feature in the current five picture association between the two studios.
Set in Monstropolis, a thriving company town where monsters of all shapes and sizes reside, the film follows the hilarious misadventures of James P Sullivan (known to all as "Sulley") and his best friend, roommate, and co-worker, Mike Wazowski. Both work at Monsters, Inc., the largest scream processing factory in the monster world, where Sulley is the top kid Scarer and Mike is his enthusiastic Scare Assistant. The main power source in the monster world is the collected screams of human children. At Monsters, Inc., an elite team of Scarers is responsible for gathering those precious natural resources. Complicating matters is the fact that monsters believe human children to be toxic and direct contact with them is forbidden. When a little girl (named Boo) accidentally follows Sulley back into his world, he finds his career in jeopardy and his life in utter chaos. Assisted by Mike, he schemes to rectify his mistake but the trio becomes caught up in a series of complications and unexpected intrigue beyond their wildest dreams.
Featuring the inspired vocal talents of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Steve Buscemi, Mary Gibbs, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Frank Oz, and Bonnie Hunt, MONSTERS, INC. is a Wait Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios Film. MONSTERS, INC. was directed by veteran Pixar animator/storyman Pete Docter, who was part of the Academy Award-nominated story team responsible for TOY STORY and the supervising animator on that landmark 1995 film. Adding valuable creative input throughout the production was executive producer John Lasseter (Pixar's executive vice president, creative), director of both TOY STORY films and A BUG'S LIFE, and a Special Achievement Academy Award' winner for TOY STORY and a 1989 Academy Award' winner for his short film, TIN TOY Grammy Award-winning composer/ songwriter Randy Newman once again joins creative forces with the Pixar team, bringing his impressive range of musical talents to the score and end credit song. Pixar, which celebrates its 15 th anniversary this year, makes its boldest leap forward yet with MONSTERS, INC.
The film represents the studio's most advanced and sophisticated use of computer animation technology to date, as it required 2.5 million rendermarks (a measure of computing power) compared to the nearly 1.1 million used on TOY STORY 2." Among its many impressive technical achievements is the breakthrough depiction of fur and hair, which has the shadowing, density, lighting, and movement consistent with the real thing. This is seen to best advantage with Sulley's feathery blue-green and purple spotted coat that includes nearly 3 million individual hairs, and with Boo's hair and pigtails. Another simulation program allowed Boo's T-shirt to move independently of her body. This approach represented a major advance over Pixar's previous experimentation with clothing on the short film GERI'S GAME (the 1998 Oscar'-winning animated short film that played in theaters with A BUG'S LIFE).