Monsters Inc (2001 Movie)

 

Movie Details

Series – Monsters Inc #1
Director – Pete Docter et al
Release – 2001
Rating – PG
Time – 1hr 32min

My Thoughts:

I bought this 2 disc dvd back in 2002. I loved the movie and it was (along with Toystory) what cemented my love of Pixar. But I don't watch movies very often at all and Mrs B watches them even less, so I think I watched this once more after buying and watching it initially? My best guess is that it has been 20 years since I last watched it.

Sadly, this was a lot more childish than I remembered. That wouldn't be a bad thing if I was expecting it, as I like the Despicable Me franchise and the Shrek movies too and those are both very childish. But I had it in my head that was a more adult movie that could still be for kids. The reality is that it is a kids movie that an adult can watch, if they so desire.

I had forgotten how quickly everything moved. It was less than 48hrs in-world and scene jumped to scene jumped to scene as quickly as a 5 year old's attention span. It wasn't necessarily bad, it just wasn't aimed at me and I had forgotten/neverrealized that. It was kind of a rude awakening. The positive of that is that I am not in the least tempted to go watch the sequel, Monsters University, which came out 20 years after Monsters Inc.

My sony bluray player upscaled the dvd just fine for watching on my 50in tv and it wasn't grainy like an old vhs tape. One of the reasons for re-watching this now was to see if I wanted to upgrade it to bluray to hold on to. That won't be happening and at some point I'll be getting rid of the dvd's. There's a whole disc of extras but I couldn't be bothered to put in another disc to just look at extras about a movie that I didn't care that much for now.

In the end, I don't regret re-watching this, but I will be getting rid of my dvd and I will not be rebuying it on bluray.

Synopsis from Wikipedia:

Synopsis - click to open

In a world inhabited entirely by monsters, the city of Monstropolis harnesses the screams of human children for energy. At the Monsters Incorporated factory, skilled monsters employed as "scarers" enter the human world through special doors that become portals to children's bedroom closets. They then frighten the children to harvest their screams; as human children are rumored to be toxic enough to kill a monster through physical contact, this work is considered dangerous. Furthermore, children are becoming harder to scare, causing a decline in production and subsequent energy crisis that worries Monsters, Inc. CEO Henry J. Waternoose III.

One evening after work, top scarer James P. "Sulley" Sullivan discovers that an active door has been left in the station of his rival, Randall Boggs. He inspects the door and accidentally lets a toddler girl into the factory. Frightened, Sulley unsuccessfully tries to return the girl, who escapes into Monstropolis, interrupting Sulley's best friend and assistant Mike Wazowski on a date at a sushi restaurant. Chaos erupts when other monsters see the girl; Sulley and Mike escape with her as the Child Detection Agency (CDA) arrives and quarantines the restaurant. Forced to keep the girl hidden in their apartment for the night, Sulley and Mike realize she is not toxic and her laughter generates more energy than screams.

The next day, Sulley and Mike disguise the girl as a monster and attempt to send her home. While Mike seeks out her door, Sulley grows attached to her and nicknames her "Boo". Randall, waiting in ambush for the girl, kidnaps Mike by accident and reveals his plan to kidnap children and cruelly force screams from them using a machine called a scream extractor. Sulley rescues Mike, and they go to the simulator room to alert Waternoose of Randall's plot. There, Waternoose makes Sulley give a scare demonstration to some recruits, and Boo becomes frightened. Sulley now realizes how children truly feel when scared. Boo inadvertently reveals herself to Waternoose, who turns out to be in league with Randall. Waternoose abducts Boo and banishes Mike and Sulley to the Himalayas in the human world.

Mike and Sulley are found by the Abominable Snowman, who takes them to his lair. He reveals a nearby village; Sulley hopes to use its closets to return to Monstropolis, but Mike, feeling betrayed, refuses to go with him. Sulley returns to the factory and rescues Boo from the scream extractor. Mike returns to reconcile with Sulley, and Randall chases them through the enormous door vault as the trio searches for Boo's door. Randall eventually grabs Boo, but she overcomes her fear of him and attacks him. Mike and Sulley banish Randall to the human world and destroy his corresponding door.

Mike and Sulley locate Boo's door, but Waternoose calls it down to the scare floor, intending to have the CDA arrest them. Mike distracts the CDA while Sulley and Boo lure Waternoose into the simulator room. Sulley tricks Waternoose into revealing his conspiracy to kidnap thousands of children to solve the energy crisis. Mike records the conversation and replays it to the CDA, who arrest him. Scare floor administrator Roz reveals herself as an undercover CDA agent, and allows Sulley to send Boo home, but orders her door shredded.

Sulley retools the factory to harvest children's laughter rather than screams, since laughter is ten times more powerful. With the energy crisis solved, Mike becomes the company's top comedian, and Sulley becomes the new CEO. Mike then reveals to Sulley that he has painstakingly rebuilt Boo's door, allowing Sulley to reunite with Boo.