PIXAR
Disney / Buena Vista | 2001 | 92 mins. | Rated G
The fourth feature film from the much ballyhooed Pixar Animation Studios, Monsters, Inc. was released theatrically in the United States on November 2, 2001. The film was a major critical and box office success, grossing over $525,366,597 worldwide. At the time, Monsters Inc. to CG-animation to a new level of detail, and helped to solidify Pixar’s position as leaders in their field. As Pixar had done from the start, they also continued to mix state of the art animation with solid storytelling, which made Monsters, Inc. even more memorable. Even eight years later, the highly rendered textures of fur and other objects are still very impressive, especially in HD.
The story takes place in the city of Monstropolis, a place that might be considered similar to one of our cities, were it not for a few major differences. First off, its population consists entirely of monsters. The city also runs on the power of intense human emotion. The way it works is fairly simple: all those monsters that hide in the closet and scare little kids only do so because they have to—they use the screams as energy to power Monstropolis, which exists just on the other side of every kid’s bedroom closet door in the world.
As the film opens, Monstropolis is facing a crisis; the city is facing rolling blackouts because kids have become harder to scare. The responsibility of avoiding a complete energy shutdown falls on the shoulders of one of the city’s top scarerers, James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman), a big, blue, furry creature that looks like a cross between a gorilla and Grover, from Sesame Street. Sully’s best buddy, a green one-eyed creature named Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) is the prep man. While Sully is Brave and fearless, Mike is rather phobic, and maybe more frightened then the children he’s charged with scaring. Together, they’re approaching the all-time scream record. Their lone challenger is Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), who will stop at nothing to move past them. One night, after hours, Randall decides to cheat by making some unauthorized trips to the other side. Sulley accidentally discovers his plot.
A huge problem arises when Sulley accidentally allows a little girl referred to as “Boo” through her closet portal, and onto the “scare floor” of Monsters, Inc., risking both his and Mike’s job. More importantly, Boo’s appearance has broken a cardinal rule; citizens of Monstropolis have been taught that human children are contaminated and deadly. If anything escapes from our world into theirs, it triggers a massive team of commandos in hazmat suits, poised to save Monstropolis. This presents a real switch. Monsters quaking at the sight of children; it’s both clever and effective. An interesting game of cat-and-mouse plays out, as Mike and Sully protect themselves and the girl, while trying to expose Randall’s far-reaching scheme.
Goodman, Crystal and the rest of the voice actors do excellent work here, which only serves to bring more dimension and life to the already excellent animation. While Monsters Inc. may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s an example of a film that successfully brings together screenwriting, art direction, voice acting, and animation to make a complete and successful film.
Monsters, Inc. comes to Blu-ray debut with a very good 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. The varied blues and purples of Sulley’s fur, the slick-scaled greens of Mike’s hide, and the vivid reds and oranges that populate their adventure look fantastic. Black levels are fantastic. I didn’t see a single artifact, color band, or other digital artifact at any point in the presentation. There are some brief moments of softness, but all-in-all Disney has provided an excellent transfer.
Disney-Pixar has supplied an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio as the featured soundtrack, and it’s a good one. All of the speakers get involved, and while the sound isn’t pushed too far from the source, it’s still fairly dynamic soundtrack. During chase scenes and the films scarier moments the volume goes up a bit. Additional audio options are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
The 4-disc Blu-ray edition of Monsters, Inc. features all of the supplemental content from Disney’s 2001 Collector’s Edition DVD, adds some exclusives, and includes both a standard DVD and Digital copy of the film.
• Audio Commentary (Disc 1): Director Pete Docter, co-director Lee Unkrich, writer Andrew Stanton, and executive producer John Lasseter disscuss Monsters, Inc., its characters, storyline, and cultural relevance. Along with the technical details, they talk about the film’s themes etc.
• Director’s Introduction (Disc 1, HD, 2 minutes): Docter appears before the disc reaches the main menu, giving viewers a quick overview of everything they’ll find in the Blu-ray release of Monsters, Inc.
• Filmmakers Round Table (Disc 1, HD, 22 minutes): Filmed at the Hidden City Cafe, the fabled Pixar hotspot, Docter, Unkrich, producer Darla K. Anderson, and story supervisor Bob Peterson laugh their way through an amiable chat about their work at Pixar Studios, their contributions to Monsters, Inc., and the development and eventual release of the film.
• Ride and Go Seek: Building Monstropolis in Japan (Disc 1, HD, 12 minutes): A tour of the Monsters, Inc. attraction at the Disneyland Theme Park in Tokyo.
• For the Birds (Disc 1, HD, 3 minutes): Still one of my favorite Pixar shorts, this amusing animated gem involves a group of mean-spirited birds getting their much-deserved comeuppance.
• Mike’s New Car (Disc 1, HD, 4 minutes): Mike gives Sulley a tour of his brand new car in this fun short culled from the original DVD release of Monsters, Inc.
• Roz’s 100 Door Challenge (Disc 2, HD): An exclusive, interactive employee placement exam that finds the perfect role for applicants at the Monsters, Inc. facility.
• Story Featurettes (Disc 2, SD, 22 minutes): A quartet of pre-production featurettes. “Story is King” showcases the Pixar Story Department, “Monsters Are Real” gives the cast and crew a brief opportunity to discuss the monsters and their world, “Original Treatment” focuses on an early pitch for the film (one that features a version of the tale that pales in comparison to the final film), and “Back to Work” sees Peterson pitching a scene to the production team.
• Pixar Fun Factory Tour (Disc 2, SD, 4 minutes): John Lasseter hosts a tour of the “new” (now eight-year-old) Pixar Studios offices.
• Banished Concepts (Disc 2, HD, 10 minutes): A collection of five abandoned scenes that open with an introduction by co-directer Lee Unkrich. Some of the deletions feature finalized animation, but most are comprised of animated storyboards and early pre-viz inserts.
• Storyboard to Film Comparison (Disc 2, HD, 16 minutes): Watch a single scene’s original storyreel, its finalized rendering, or in a split-screen comparison of the two.
• Designing Monstropolis (Disc 2, SD, 5 minutes): co-director David Silverman discusses the ideas that produced Mike and Sulley’s city.
• Set Dressing (Disc 2, SD, 3 minutes): A look at the virtual props and cameras used to bring several Monsters, Inc. locales to life.
• Location Flyaround (Disc 2, SD, 7 minutes): This series of extended environment pans and 360 degree interior spins show off some of the film’s streets, rooms, and locations.
• Monster File (Disc 2, SD, 7 minutes): A two-part EPK that introduces the film’s monsters, delivers interviews with the voice actors, and looks at the animators’ character designs.
• Animation (Disc 2, SD, 26 minutes): Six segments are included. “Animation Process” explains how Pixar produces its films, “Early Tests” finds Mike and Sulley models being run through their paces, “Opening Title Animation” touches on award-winning illustrator Geefwee Boedoe’s title sequence, “Hard Parts” reveals the challenges the filmmakers faced, “Shots Department” shows how the animators spot-checked tricky hair and fabric shots, and “Production Demonstration” allows viewers to watch a scene develop through four stages of animation: storyreel, layout, animation, and final color.
• Music & Sound (Disc 2, SD, 7 minutes): A pair of featurettes that examine the film’s sound design and Billy Crystal and John Goodman’s rendition of “If I Didn’t Have You.”
• Release (Disc 2, SD, 17 minutes): This section includes footage from the film’s premiere, two theatrical trailers, four TV spots, an overview of the changes made to accommodate international releases, a multi-language clip reel, a merchandising featurette, and the outtakes that appeared during the theatrical release’s credit sequence.
• Monsters Only Section (Disc 2, SD, 12 minutes): A few additional featurettes from the standard DVD round out the main package. “New Monster Adventures” offers a collection of TV vignettes, two non-interactive animated activities produced for a Japanese television show, and a “If I Didn’t Have You” music video; “Behind the Screams” is an interview with Mike and Sully about their work for the company; and “Orientation” serves up a trio of animated videos — “Your First Day,” “History of the Monster World” (drawn and narrated by animation legend Bud Luckey), and “Welcome to Monsters, Inc.” — created for new Monsters, Inc. employees.
• Wrap-Up (Disc 2, SD, 1 minutes): A farewell from the filmmakers.
• Art Gallery (Disc 2, HD): Nearly 900 pieces of concept art — including character designs, color tests, early renders, and more.
• Video and Audio Calibration Tools (Disc 1, HD)
• Standard DVD Version of the Film (Disc 3, SD)
• Digital Copy of the Film (Disc 4, SD)
• BD-Live Functionality
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