Monsters University is a 2013 computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Kori Rae, with John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich as executive producers. The music for the film was composed by Randy Newman, making it his seventh collaboration with Pixar. It is a prequel to Monsters, Inc., making it the first, and currently, only time Pixar has made a prequel film.
Plot[]
Ever since he was a kid monster, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) has dreamed of becoming a Scarer. To make his dream a reality, he enrolls at Monsters University. During his first semester, he meets Sully (John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer. Sully and Mike engage in a fierce rivalry that ultimately gets them both kicked out of MU's elite Scare Program. To make things right, Mike and Sully -- along with a bunch of misfit monsters -- will have to learn to work together.
Why It's Great[]
- It explores the life of Mike and Sulley in college before they became friends.
- Great animation, once again providing creative monster designs.
- The humor is very funny.
- It teaches that you shouldn't let others dictate whether you're good at something or not. If you're willing to work hard and team up with other people, you can accomplish almost anything.
- Several clever callbacks to Monsters, Inc., such as the Yeti appearing at the end of the movie as it is revealed that he used to work at Monsters, Inc.
- The third act is very exciting and interesting.
- Some of the new characters can be really likable.
- The film features some very well-implemented cameos from several characters from the original Monsters Inc. One of the most clever implementations is with the CDA and Roz at the end.
- It also gives us a good exploration of Randall's backstory on how he was originally a good nerd and friend of Mike until he became villainous after Sulley humiliated him at the final Scare Games contest.
- The musical score by Randy Newman is excellent.
- In particular, the main theme of the movie, "Gospel" by MarchFourth Marching Banding (located in Oregon), is also pretty good and catchy.
- Amazing voice acting, with John Goodman and Billy Crystal once again doing a great job as Mike and Sulley.
Bad Qualities[]
- The movie is not that original, as it features some clichés. The Scare Games plot also resembles a bit too much with the X-Games plot of An Extremely Goofy Movie.
- While the film can be funny, some of the jokes are hit or miss.
- It's not considered great enough to be top-tier Pixar standards.
- A plot hole occurs in that, while in Monsters Inc., Mike remarks to Sulley "You've been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade, pal", but here they hadn't met until college. However, there was an early draft that had them meeting in grade school before Pete Docter advised director Dan Scanlon to disregard the line to focus on the setting, and Scanlon retconned this as an "an old monster expression"
- Likewise, it's not explained neither why Mike and Sulley didn't recognize the Yeti and vice versa in the first film when here it's shown that the Yeti used to be their boss in the mail department at Monsters Inc. during their intern days.
- The film's ending is a bit bittersweet as Mike doesn't become a Scarer at the end, meaning that many of his work and study during his formative years was for naught as he isn't scary at all, which can give the negative message that not all dreams can be achieved.
Reception[]
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 80% based on 201 reviews with an average rating of 6.81/10.
Box Office[]
Monsters University grossed $268.5 million in the United States and Canada and $475.1 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $743.6 million.