Features
High Life Thursday, November 29, 2001
7
“Monsters, Inc.” scares up more than childish laughter
John Goodman and Billy Crystal lend their comic voices to “Monsters,
in Disney’s hilarious look at life as a monster.
Disney’s latest animated
opus is a huge success
and provides laughs for
all audiences.
By Max Turner
Features Editor
Children’s movies, or so-
called “family films,” are always
a gamble. There are those, like
“Toy Story” and “The Wizard of
Oz,” that tell magical stories that
truly do charm audiences of all
ages. Then there are those, like
“Surf Ninjas,” that simply rely on
falling and flatulence to zero in
on the target audience and offer
nothing more. Disney’s latest
computer animated masterpiece,
“Monsters, Inc.” follows in the
tradition of the former, telling the
charming story of two monster
friends with such wit and charm
that even the most cynical of au
diences could not help but be
wooed by its innocent pleasures.
“Monsters, Inc.” takes its set
ting in the fictional city of
Monstropolis, a city inhabited
entirely by monsters. Their world
exists parallel to the human and
the only connection is through
children’s closet doors. It is the
Job of the workers at Monsters,
Inc. to travel through these
closet doors in an organized fash-
ion, and cause children to
scream. The screams are then
collected in tubes and used as
energy to power Monstropolis.
“Monsters, Inc.” follows the
escapades of two workers. Sully
(John Goodman), a blue and
green-haired giant on the verge
of setting Monsters, Inc’s all-
time scares record, and Mike
(Billy Crystal), a one-eyed green
baU.
One night while working late.
Sully stumbles upon a closet
door that has been left out. Let
ting his curiosity get the best of
him, he ventures through the
door and inadvertently lets the
What makes this and
other Disney-Pixar col
laborations so special is
their wit, spirit, and abil
ity to communicate to
any generation... .Never
do the writers resign
themselves to bathroom
or bland slapstick humor
that is such an easy way
to amuse children.
child on the other side through
the door. It is assumed in
Monstropolis that children are
toxic, so the minute it becomes
public knowledge that a child is
loose, the city goes into panic. It
is up to Mike and Sully to get
Internet graphic
Inc.” coworkers Sully and Mike
the child safely back into its
room without authorities getting
it, hurting it, and getting Sully in
trouble for letting it through in
the first place.
The premise isn’t especially
revolutionary and all the usual
Disney bad guys and sidekicks
are there, but this isn’t where
“Monsters Inc.” achieves its
magic. What makes this and the
other Disney-Pixar collabora
tions so special is their wit, spirit,
and ability to communicate to
any generation. “Monsters, Inc.”
is able to strike that perfect bal
ance in which there are enough
simple jokes to keep younger
audiences amused, and there are
at the same time enough other
jokes to keep the rest of the au
dience awake and attentive.
In “Monsters, Inc.,” however,
not even the simpler jokes are so
mindless as to repel mature audi
ences, though. Never do the writ
ers resign themselves to bath
room or bland slapstick humor
that is such an easy to amuse
child audiences.
... “Monsters, Inc.”tells
its story with such wit
and charm that even the
most cynical audience
could not help but be
wooed by its simple
pleasures.
“Monsters, Inc.” will inevita
bly draw comparisons to
“Shrek,” this summer’s huge ani
mated success, especially in light
of the new Oscar category for
Best Animated Feature. “Shrek”
was not without merit, but
“Monster’s, Inc.” proves that
Disney is still the master of ani
mation. “Shrek” did appeal to
more than just children, but it did
so at the sake of the good
spiritedness of most kids mov
ies. While “Shrek” took an almost
cynical tone, “Monsters, Inc.” is
able to maintain its innocence
and avoid cheesiness, a much
more impressive feat.
Furthermore, “Shrek’s” pop
culture references were heavy-
handed and obvious while “Mon
sters, Inc.” maintains pop culture
references that are more subtle
and, therefore, rewarding. In
“Shrek,” for instance, a princess
is seen in a fight scene and, in
perfectly predictable fashion,
jumps in the air and floats a la
“Matrix.” In “Monsters, Inc.,” on
the other hand, references can be
found as subtle as a restaurant
named Harry hausen’s, the name
of a famous monster special ef
fects artist.
Also, “Monsters, Inc.” tran
scends the usual children’s
themes on beauty or fairness and
includes a subplot addressing
energy concerns. Monstropolis
is in the face of a scream short
age, and on either side of the is
sue, there are those monsters
who attempt to find new means
to suck screams out of children
and those who look for alterna
tives to scream. It’s not the most
complex of themes, but it ad
dresses a modern-day concern
under the coat of a children’s fan
tasy, a feat that could only be so
gracefully pulled off by the
people of Disney and Pixar.
The adventures of Sully and
Mike are engaging and hilarious
at any age. Look past the G rat
ing and “family film” label, and
“Monster’s Inc.” can offer a
wonderful escape for any audi
ence.
Monsters, Inc,
1/2(out of****)
Stamng: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, and James Cobum
Directed By: Pete Doctor
Rated G
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