Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Remember being a child and being scared of the closet? Remember thinking there was a monster in there or under your bed? According to Monsters, Inc., you were right.

In a different dimension there is a society of very friendly monsters. Their source of energy is the scream of a child. They work in teams of 2, one doing the scaring and the other the technical harnessing of the scream energy. The scaring one enters the dimensional door into a child's room, does the scaring, elicits a scream and quickly exits.

Our heroes are Sulley, a big scaring type, (John Goodman) and his partner Mike, (Billy Crystal) the comic relief. They accidentally let an overzealous toddler back into their dimension and all 'you know what' breaks loose. Through many laughs the "monsters" discover the girl is not the toxic creature they thought she was. They also learn of an evil plot involving the child, that only our heroes can foil.

This movie is a roller coaster of imagination and humor. The pace is very swift. The jokes and visuals come at you faster than a cop on his way to a donut sale. From a sled ride down the Himalayas to a chase through a dimensional door warehouse. This movie slows down only when it gives some necessary plot exposition. But then it's off again at a NASCAR pace.

Goodman is good as his usual big lovable character. It is, of course, Billy Crystal who steals the show as the one-eyed Mike. Picture him like someone who works in middle management. That is to say he is a brown-noser who thrives on the labor of his associate, and is always trying to get out of work he doesn't want to do.

Definitely a fun movie for all ages.

The makers of Toy Story, and A Bug's Life have done it again. The people who showed us what Toys do when we're not at home and what's really going on in that ant pile, now show us what is living in our closets.

In a truly original storyline, Monsters, Inc. tells the story of Monstropolis, a city populated entirely by monsters. Their power supply company is called Monsters, Inc. Their power supply is children's screams. They gain these screams by creeping into children's bedrooms at night and scaring them. Mike and Sulley, voiced by Crystal and Goodman, are the two Scream Leaders, scaring more children than any other Monsters. Randall, the Monster in second place has a plan to get ahead of them. However, inadvertently, he allows a small child into the Monster world, a place where they believe small children to be toxic.

Like its predecessors, Monsters is a computer-generated cartoon. And like them it is beautifully done, even better than those earlier efforts. Although, they still have not reached the level of sophistication to show a fully detailed human, Boo is definitely leaps ahead of the children from the original Toy Story. The monsters themselves are wonderful and highly detailed. Sulley's fur is textured and when it blows in the breeze you can see each individual hair. The background is also loaded with details. A post-it in Mike's locker says "remember to turn in paperwork". A few scenes later he is chastised for not doing so. One of the toys in Boo's bedroom is the Cowgirl from Toy Story 2.

The one thing that makes a cartoon a classic is how well it entertains the adults. Nearly every Disney cartoon ever made has realized this and has made sure its jokes work on two levels. Unlike Shrek, the other big cartoon of the year, Monsters, Inc. has learned this lesson. I have no children, I didn't see Monsters with a child, and I still laughed and enjoyed myself. Shrek on the other hand was strictly for the kids and I hope the Academy remembers this when it comes time to vote in the new Oscar category, Best Animated Film.

My brothers have left little for me to add to this one. Monsters, Inc. is a wonderful, imaginative and very funny movie. My one complaint is that it is a little too cutesy in some places and Boo is so precious at times that diabetics should be forewarned. Still the jokes all work (I especially enjoyed the Abominable Snowman) and the visuals are great.