Duckyworth's Thoughts: Monsters University ~ 2013

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Hello, my friends! The next instalment of Duckyworth's Thoughts is here. :wave:

 

I'm sure that most, if not all, of you reading this are familiar with the 2001 Disney Pixar film Monsters Inc. :D A film about two friends, Sulley and Mike, who work in a monster facility that uses scream energy to fuel their city, and come across a young girl who has stumbled into their world, and they go on a journey to try and return her home. :aww:

Even though I, like some people, find it a little bit odd how everyone thinks that it the first thing to make the joke that monsters scare people just as part of their job – Aargh! Real Monsters and many other things did that WAY before this film :confused:, but still, it is a childhood favourite of mine, and while it's not the BEST Pixar film, in my opinion (the Toy Storys - especially the third one - WALL-E, Up and Finding Nemo have that honour :aww: ), but it is still great. It has some memorable characters, a creative plot, some great animation some genuine heartfelt moments – it's simply a very good film... :clap:

So good apparently, that a prequel has been made for this film, showing how the heroes of Monsters Inc met – in the film I'm reviewing today....

MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY! :nerd:

 

DT 96 - Monsters University by Duckyworth

 

Yep, although I do find it a bit odd how Pixar has began making sequels/prequels for many of their films, with films that are being/have been made including Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, which are the best ones which are most understandable – as Toy Story almost DEMANDED sequels as the story was a great setup for sequels, Cars 2, which I haven't seen but from what I've heard, it'll probably kill brain cells upon viewing :fear: , Finding Dory..... I'm quite indifferent to that personally :shrug: , but if it was called Finding Nemo 2, it would raise the question 'Why has that stupid little twit got lost TWICE?! :rofl: '  ,  and THIS film – Monster's University, I can imagine that if Monster's Inc was popular enough to make a prequel, power to Pixar for making one. :aww: But I will say this – WHY haven't you made a sequel for The Incredibles?! That film ENDED on a cliffhanger, for goodness sake! :ohnoes:

And while this film is nowhere near the best sequel/prequel that Pixar has made, I am really happy that I saw this film, and I personally think it is better than Brave.... But I will say that I have noticed that after Toy Story 3, Pixar has suffered quite a DROP in quality in their films.... Most noticeable in how Cars 2 did... :hmm: For fifteen years, Pixar seems to have had its own renaissance (similar to how the 1990's is the Disney renaissance), where nearly ALL of the films blew audiences away with films that were HUGE hits – with the exception of Cars, but I personally don't mind Cars. And now it seems that instead of the films being 'Oh wow, that was AMAZING!', they've turned into 'That was good.' Not overly spectacular, but still good. :aww: And while this film is nowhere near the best Pixar film, and I'm personally not truly sure whether Monsters Inc DEMANDED a prequel :shrug: - it is still good – and I'll definitely be buying it on DVD when it comes out on DVD. :D

 

:iconreadplz: Some of my friends may not have seen this at the cinema yet, so I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum. I may not remember much from when I saw it, anyway... :aww:

This film revolves around Mike and Sulley meeting each other in university. Mike, in his childhood, had a fascination with the work of the scarers at Monster's Inc after going there on a school trip, and he believed for his childhood that if he studied the art of being a scarer, he would be a successful scarer himself one day. He eventually made it into Monsters University, taking a course in Scaring, and he eventually meets Sulley. Mike studies hard, while Sulley—who comes from a talented family of scarers—relies on his natural scaring ability and begins to falter. At the final exam, Mike and Sulley's rivalry makes Dean Hardscrabble, the rather... creepy dean of the university :ohnoes: , fail them both (rather harshly, I may add :ohnoes: ) and drop them from the program. However, Mike discovers the Scare Games, a University contest which is a competition of scaring ability, and Oozma Kappa, the fraternity house that is equally ostracised – even from the teachers :ohnoes: - for not being scary, and offers them a proposition that he and Sulley join to take part in the Scare Games. So the race is on to prove themselves as competent monsters – and prove that proving yourself is not all down to simple frightening appearances, but down to your spirit as well, how the most different individuals can come together to make a great team, and asking what's better – being scary or fearless? :D

 

While the film in no way reaches the heartfelt moments (the scenes like when Sulley says goodbye to Boo, for example – I actually think I cried when I saw that for the first time when I saw this film when I was about 7 :cries:) or action (the awesome door ride scene :headbang: and Randall being pummelled by Boo in a way that Ash from Evil Dead would be jealous of :giggle: )that Monsters Inc has, it does still have some pretty memorable moments – including showing us some funny references to the first film and reveals of younger versions of the characters we love from the original film. :D

First of all, I'd like to point out that, unlike in Brave, I was able to spot the Luxo Ball and A113 sign (two things that always appear in Pixar films as little Easter eggs) in this film when I saw it at the cinema – the Luxo Ball was a painted picture in the first game of the Scare Games, when they talk about children's toys being dangerous, and A113 was on the door when Sulley first appears. Unfortunately, I DIDN'T see the Pizza Planet truck (another Pixar Easter egg) in this one, so if anyone knows where it is, can you please tell me? ^^;

 

The main two characters are, of course :iconofcourseplz:, Michael 'Mike' Wazowksi and James P. 'Sulley' Sullivan. :D

Voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, respectively, one thing that I find a little bit odd is that they don't really sound any younger than in Monster's Inc. I get that there may not have been THAT big a gap between Monster's University and Monster's Inc, but it still seems a little bit odd to me that they don't sound any younger.... :shrug: Maybe a nitpick, but it's something that occurs to me as a bit strange.... ^^;

But speaking of these two, I have to admit.... how CUTE is Mike in the opening of the film on the school trip to Monsters Inc? :love: He reminds me a little bit of baby Blu in Rio for some reason... Except that I doubt that Mike would be able to dance the samba as well as Rio... :lol: And obviously, he's a much cuter one-eyed being than Sauron... :rofl:

I like how, seen as Sulley got the main focus in Monsters Inc, Mike gets the main focus in Monsters University. :aww: Mike has always shown that he's good in book-smarts, and seems to win over the teachers on the scare program. But unfortunately, there seems to be one little problem... Even though he knows his stuff, he lacks a certain element that Dean Hardscrabble believes cannot be taught – he simply isn't scary. But luckily, in this film, no matter what everyone else may say to him to bring him down, he inspires his fellow outcasts to stand up against those who say they'll never amount to anything. One thing I find a little strange about this is that Sulley actually says to Mike later in the film that he's nothing without Mike to help him, but in Monster's Inc.... looking back, I don't see TOO much that indicates that Mike was the one who MADE the duo – sure, there was that one scene where Mike offers Sulley advice, but Sulley doesn't follow it, and Mike blames that fact for the reason that they were banished to the Himalayas, and obviously, the two did seem like an effective duo at times... But looking back at the first film, I can't really see TOO much in Monster's Inc that indicates that Mike is the 'leader' of the duo – they seem to help out each other just as much as the other. But we DO see Mike coming up with a lot of plans to try to get rid of Boo – 'using mainly SPOONS' :rofl: - and he does have the ingenuity to collect all of the pieces of Boo's door and put them all together – showing some genuine signs of intelligence, and he shows how he can keep Sulley properly in good condition in the workout montage in the first scene with Mike and Sulley. :aww:

In Monsters University, however, there are quite a few moments that proves that Mike knows his stuff – for example, he inspires the monsters of Oozma Kappa and helps them bring out the monster within them, by training them through thick and thin – even using the 'Scary feet' technique that we see at the beginning of Monster's Inc, and he even helps out Sulley to generate enough scare power to open the door back to the monster world at the end. :aww:

Another nice little touch is when we see Little Mikey, the cute little monster teddy we see in Monsters Inc when Sulley cheers up Boo – 'Oh, he's a happy bear...' :lol: I also like how when they start working at Monsters Inc, we see a pic of them shaking hands with Mr Waternoose.... with an afro. :lol: Just before he started planning to kidnap children to prevent the company from going under... :iconangryplz:

And while Boo isn't here to provide cute moments (seriously, I think Boo has the kind of voice that Vanellope Von Schweetz SHOULD have had, like a younger version of the girl from Mary Poppins – plus, being younger also adds to the cuteness factor :squee: ), we do have a very young Mike... :squee: I mean it, I was thinking 'KAWAII! KAWAII! :squee: ' when I watched that in the cinema... :love: And even though it's only for the first few minutes, it is still a very sweet scene. :D

 

Sulley is voiced once again by John Goodman – who also played Walter in The Big Lebowski, Mr Prenderghast in ParaNorman, 'Big Daddy' La Bouff in Princess and the Frog, the director in The Artist and Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove. :D Looking like a splice between Beast from Beauty and the Beast and Carol from Where the Wild Things Are, painted with polka dots from the trippy song sequence from Home on the Range :lol:, Sulley seems like the exact opposite of Mike – he's a natural born scarer, who relies on his family instincts to succeed – but, like Mike being humiliated by Dean Hardscrabble for not being scary, Sulley may appear scary, but he in turn doesn't have the knowledge that Mike has. :o

At the beginning, Sulley seems to be a little bit of a generic jerk to Mike, but luckily, as time goes on, Mike and Sulley build up the friendship they have in Monster's Inc, and as Sulley learns things from Mike, Mike learns things from Sulley – for example, Mike spends the majority of his early time at university studying for the final exam, while Sulley just relaxes and tells him to take it easy.....

Personally, when it came to MY first year University exams a few months ago... I was a little bit of both... I wasn't OVER-working myself like Mike seemed to be, I was a little bit more relaxed, but of course, when the time came, I did buckle down and work as hard as I could.... :nerd: I've always been someone who tries to look over my lecture notes from the beginning, but try to keep relaxation an important part of my day as well.... That's what I mean by a little of both – not too much of one or the other, as Mike is the workaholic, and Sulley is the other extreme. :aww:

But anyway, back to Sulley – while he starts off as being a little bit of a jerk, luckily, as time goes on, the rivalry of Mike and Sulley turns into friendship, and they start being a more effective team. I like how in the second challenge of the Scare Games – which is hilarious, by the way, each team has to steal their respective flag without catching the attention of the librarian – who is like a huge Ursula snail :lol: who literally THROWS students out of the library if they make the slightest noise – Mike tries to take it slowly, but Sulley also shows Mike a different way to win, in a faster way that in this case proves to be more effective. :D

Sulley also tries to help Mike out in the final part of the games, where each member of the two remaining teams (ROR and OK) had to scare the child simulator at the highest setting, and the team with the highest score won... It appeared that Mike won, but in reality, Sulley tampered with the simulator, so that Mike's attempt was much easier.... :wow: A nice thing to do, but unfortunately, because of this, Mike is angry at Sulley, and then rushes to the human world to prove that he CAN be a scarer – and then, when Sulley rushes to save him, Sulley admits that he is in reality rather scared, and Mike helps him overcome his fears. And it is very awesome seeing Sulley be able to scare all those adults – but if they think THAT'S scary, they should see what was happening in the forest next to the camp – either Jason Vorhees was on his way, or Snow White was running through the forest in that scary forest run... :lol:

 

Of course, one of the main highlights for a lot of people in this film was seeing a younger Randall Boggs... and yes, it's something that I liked a lot in this film too. :giggle: Steve Buscemi – who was also in Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski, Big Fish, played Wesley in Home on the Range :D, Nebbercracker in Monster House, and Wayne the Wolfman in Hotel Transylvania -  reprises his role as Randall, or 'Randy' as he nicknames himself in this film :D, and even though he doesn't appear as much as I would have hoped :hmm:, we still go into a little bit of background of how he turned out to be the jerk we all know and love in Monsters Inc – yeah, I mean it, Randall in Monsters Inc is one of my favourite Pixar, if not Disney, villains. :D But when you first see him – he's such a loveable little dweeb... :giggle:

I like how they make him wear glasses in Monster's University, explaining why he squints in Monsters Inc – because, influenced by Mike's advice, he gave up his glasses to prevent himself from giving himself away when he turns invisible. And that's a good piece of advice, because unless he's trying to be confusing like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, he wouldn't really want to give himself away... Unless he wants to look like the Invisible lizard... :lol: Also, another great touch is the poster above his bed with the band 'Winds of Change' on it.... :evileye:

Randall: You hear that? It's the winds of change....

Mike: *imitating* You hear that? You hear the winds of change – oh, what a creep. :XD:

One of the funniest moments with little Randy is when he makes cupcakes for Mike.... They have SMILES on them! :giggle: The happiest food since Mushu's breakfast for Mulan.... And it's HAPPY to see you! :meow: And luckily, unlike the remake of the Cat in the Hat and with Pinkamena :iconpinkamenaplz:, Randall makes them out of PROPER ingredients. :D

And because he was accepted into ROR, as he managed to pass the Scare exam and prove himself to be one of the 'cool ones', that horrible team became a bad influence for poor little Randy, and therefore, he became one of the bullies, resulting in that prank scene I'll mention later... :iconangryplz: ..... All the more reasons to hate Johnny Worthington... :cries:

And the main reason why he hates Sulley so much is because the two went up against each other in the last part of the Scare Games, where they had to scare a child simulation. Sulley roared so loudly that he distracted Randall, and caused Randall to fall onto a heart rug, and due to Randall's camouflage ability, he suddenly became painted in hearts.... :giggle: But due to his embarrassment, he was ostracised once more by those bastards in ROR, and because of this, he vowed to get his vengeance on Sulley.... :evillaugh:

Yeah... I wish that this film could have gone into more detail about Randall's backstory – like for example, having a deeper reason than simply joining a team that was a bad influence, but still, it was nice to see Randall again. :D

 

The same can be said for Roz... Yep, ROZ makes an appearance late in the film, after Mike and Sulley return from the human world – and she says 'I'm always watching... Alwaaaays.' :lol: Even if she IS voiced by a MAN – Bob Peterson, who also voiced Dug in Up and Mr Ray in Finding Nemo. :lol:

 

The other teams in the Scare Games are pretty awesome – my favourite being HSS, the goth team :XD: and PNK, who said to Terri and Terry when they wished them good luck, 'Thanks! We're gonna rip you to pieces!' :rofl:

The only real ones I don't really find that interesting are the stereotypical bully team – ROR. :hmm: The leader of ROR, Johnny Worthington, is just your stereotypical tough bully university student, who at first, accepts Sulley and rejects Mike... To be honest, while the rest of the team LOOKS awesome, and the crab with a few teeth missing even gets in some pretty funny moments, Johnny doesn't have that much to him... I mean, Nathan Fillion does a good job voicing him, he's just pretty forgettable..... :hmm: Maybe if there was something worked in about the history of ROR with the other teams, or maybe having a more original reason why he's such a jerk... But no, he just appears as the stereotypical bully... Much like that annoying schmuck bully in ParaNorman, Foxy Loxy in Chicken Little and Myrtle Edmunds in Lilo and Stitch... If only he could have a bit more development – like Brent in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs who STARTED as a clichéd bully but eventually became more funny as the film went on. :hmm:

And in the party for the winners of the first challenge of the Scare Games, ROR plans a rather sneaky way to 'invite' Oozma Kappa in....

:iconitsatrapplz: :iconsaysplz: IT'S A TRAP! :nuu:

But then, they pull off a Carrie-esque prank on them – coating them in coloured paint and stuff, and taking a picture of them, dubbing them the cutest monsters on campus.... and then posting the pictures all over campus... :ohnoes: If only Carrie WAS here – at least those jerks would get the punishment they deserve...

And here's where my biggest PROBLEM with this film comes in... Some of the things that the students and teachers do just.... WOULDN'T roll in real-life – for example, it worries me a little bit that the teachers don't do ANYTHING about the bullying... They don't try to take the pictures down, they don't intervene... In fact, in the case of Dean Hardscrabble, they seem to PROMOTE the humiliation of Oozma Kappa, Mike and Sulley.... :no: I mean, I know that in the monster world, they'll have different values, and they'll obviously think differently of individuals – for example, they banished the Abominable Snowman for tampering with mail :lol: - but still, it seems WAY too mean-spirited to me, for some reason... I mean, if they humiliated a student like that in REAL life, Johnny Worthington and the ROR would be EXPELLED if it was up to me.... :no: But maybe I'm nitpicking a little bit too much – it just reminded me of mean-spirited scenes in Balto and An American Tail.... :hmm: Mean-spirited overtones like this in films, ESPECIALLY children's films (I can forgive Felidae for it because it's an ADULT murder mystery film) just... REALLY seem to be a hot button with me... And unlike Foxy Loxy, Johnny Worthington doesn't get any real comeuppance except for being defeated in the typical manner in the Scare Games - for being such a jerk, I would have liked for him to be humiliated in the same way as Oozma Kappa was.... :hmm:

 

Speaking of other teams, I really like the characters in Oozma Kappa. :D

The head of the house is Don, played by Joel Murray – who also played a policeman in The Artist. Something about Don reminds me a little bit of Doc from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – for some reason, their voices sound a little bit similar to me... :meow: And he also looks like if Patrick's dad from the SpongeBob episode I'm With Stupid was mixed with Squidward Tentacles... :D He's the eldest member of the fraternity, who came back into university to learn more about computers. He, like the father from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, has a pretty cool moustache, and he gets quite a few funny moments revolving around being the eldest student in the university, and also when he falls in love with Squishy's mom, and says 'Picture me as your older brother who's marrying your mom.' :icondoomed2plz:

 

Squishy, the one who's mom owns the Oozma Kappa fraternity house, is voiced by Peter Sohn, who's actually done some animation in Brave, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Osmosis Jones and the Iron Giant, and he's also voiced Emile in Ratatouille. He looks like if like if Russell from Up got mixed together with the Adipose from Doctor Who. :lol: There isn't really much I can say for these characters, except that I really love their designs, and they are likeable characters in whole. :aww: His mom is also very funny – especially in the scene when she says she's listening to her tunes, and death metal is playing... :lol:

 

Terri and Terry, the Pleakley twins :rofl: - played by Sean Hayes (Mr Tinkles in Cats and Dogs, the Fish and... urgh, Mr Humberfloob :x in the Cat in the Hat, and Brain in Igor) and Dave Foley (Flik in A Bug's Life, and Yes Man in Fallout New Vegas) respectively – are two funny Siamese twins who are often having differing opinions. :D When it comes to Terri and Terry, it's hard not to ask, "Are two heads really better than one?" :lol: These bickering brothers have little in common: Terri with an "i" is a real romantic who's quick to spot the silver lining in any situation, while older brother Terry with a "y" sports a more cynical outlook on life. If they can stop squabbling long enough to work with their Oozma Kappa brothers—they might be able to put their heads together—literally. :meow: If you get mixed up, Terri is the smaller one with the I shaped horn, and Terry is the one with the Y shaped horns. :aww: A really funny part is when Terri is introducing himself to Mike and Sulley, and he says he's a dance coach, and his brother says 'And I'm not!' And when Terri turns, Terry spills his hot chocolate. :lmao: Luckily, they do learn to work together, and I can imagine that they could make for good magicians – seen as they talk about misdirection when they help get the flag in the second part of the Scare Games. :clap:

 

Art is probably the funniest designed out of the Oozma Kappa members – probably because of the way they animate his legs waving about when he introduces himself, and when he rolls about quite a few times. :D Played by Charlie Day, he's a funny guy who makes me laugh with the way he rolls about – and it's actually hinted that he's been to jail before, and he has an extra toe in his possession – but who's toe? :lol: Again, sorry if there's not much I can say about him, but he is still a very funny character just in the way he moves... :lol:

 

Dean Hardscrabble is the villainess of this film – YAY! The first Pixar villainess! :clap: She actually intimidated me quite a bit when I saw this the first time – in a way that Mad Madam Mim from Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp, Medusa from The Rescuers and Mother Gothel from Tangled would be jealous of (those Disney villainesses are BRILLIANT, don't get me wrong, but I was really surprised by how uneasy Hardscrabble could make me feel in this) – sure, Hardscrabble is no Queen Grimhilde (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves), Princess Mombi (Return to Oz), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove) or Ursula (The Little Mermaid), but in a strange way, she reminds me a little bit of a Lady Tremaine from Cinderella kind of villainess... She doesn't really have many evil powers or a great agenda, but the way she manages to make life a misery for Mike and Sulley due to her authority, in the same way Lady Tremaine tormented Cinderella does manage to make me feel pretty insecure in the film.... (I haven't seen 101 Dalmations all the way through, so I can't really compare her to Cruella De Vil, even though they LOOK strangely similar in their face shape :XD: )

When talking to a friend of mine :iconthecrazyoneofthegang:, she rose a very good point - Pixar villains seem to be a bit more three-dimensionalmost of the time – making everyday obstacles that you may not deem scary suddenly APPEAR intimidating – for example, Sid from Toy Story is just a rough child who plays with toys in a very... violent way, but to Woody and Buzz he's almost like a devil! The same can be said for AUTO in Wall-E – he's simply following his directive to keep the ship away from Earth, but because of how he carries out his objective by almost DESTROYING WALL-E makes it all the more creepy.... :o

Dean Hardscrabble is no exception.... I think she must have had a very rough childhood, personally, in which she was told that only the BEST is acceptable – she says in the film 'It's my job to make great students greater, not make mediocre students less mediocre...' She's pretty indifferent to a lot of things, and the way she just hides her emotions makes me feel pretty uneasy when I saw this for the first time. Now, I know some people may not see her as the main villain in this film, but seen as she doesn't even seem to give Mike and Sulley a CHANCE in this film at first, or does she do anything to stop everyone else ostracising them – in fact, she appears to PROMOTE it :ohnoes: - I just felt that she came across as the antagonist for this film...... and wow, does she do a great job filling in the role... :clap: She has a REALLY awesome design – almost like what you would get if you mixed the Grand Councilwoman in Lilo and Stitch with one of the Cocoa Beetles from Coraline – and gave her dragon wings... :wow:

The voice actress of this creepy character is – get this – HELEN MIRREN. :o That's right, that snore-fest filled pile of owl pellets NYRA from Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole... :yawn:

*wakes up* Sorry... memories of that boring owl are setting in... ^^; But still, one reason why I like Dean Hardscrabble so much is that she restored my faith in Helen Mirren as a voice actress... :clap: She is SO much better written, more interesting, and above all – she seems to be a more three-dimensional character than boring Nyra, who is simply a monotonous one-note villain... :snore: It's like with Janeane Garafalo, I know she voiced that HORRIBLE character Bridget in The Wild, but she voiced Stitch in Titan AE and Colette in Ratatouille  - characters that were MUCH more memorable and likeable.

In the end of the film, the way that she DOES show her surprise at Sulley and Mike's teamwork made it more aware that she was a more three-dimensional character.... It reminded me quite a bit of when Anton Ego in Ratatouille realises that there can be food that can surprise him. :aww: While, like my friend :iconthecrazyoneofthegang:, it is a little bit underwhelming when Hardscrabble DOES lose her temper, because part of what made her so intimidating was not knowing what she was like when she WAS trying to scare someone.... But still, as I said before, Dean Hardscrabble was a VERY cool villain in this film.... Probably one of my fave Pixar villains now. :D Thank you, Helen Mirren.... I forgive you for Nyra... :phew:

 

The two judges of the Scare Games are pretty funny – Clair and Brock, played by Aubrey Plaza and Tyler Labine respectively. Clair reminds me a little bit of Celia mixed together with Don's moustache (another nitpick – I would have liked it if Celia was worked in – maybe if she was a student or member of a fraternity? :hmm: ), and she always keeps calm while Brock is often being a loud frat boy always going 'YEAAH!' when the games take place. :lol:

 

But one thing I thought they were going to touch on was the scene where Mike arrives at Monsters University... The welcoming committee all seem a LITTLE bit too HAPPY... Like in Toy Story 3 where something seems off about Lotso when he welcomes the heroes... :hmm: I would have thought they would go into that – like maybe they were being MADE to overact being happy to the new students by Dean Hardscrabble – like maybe there were students who were actually a little bit upset about Dean Hardscrabble's treatment of the... less successful students... But maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this... :shrug:

Another thing I'd like to question is the fact that Mike and Sulley get EXPELLED because they ended up creating tons of scream energy when they returned back home and destroy the lab where they create doors to the human world – okay, destroying a room could be a good reason to expel them – but still, if the teachers don't intervene with bullying in this world, I would think they would approve of all of the scream energy that Sulley and Mike created, proving their potential.... It's like Balto proving himself in the race scene, and then STILL being ostracised because HE'S A WOLF... :iconseethingplz: I mean, they prove their ability, and could be the best scarers in the scare program.... But no, they get expelled... At least I could understand Hardscrabble being angry at Sulley sabotaging the scare equipment in the Scare Games to help out Mike.... :hmm:

But at least this scene in Monster's University has a purpose, as it shows Dean Hardscrabble suggesting to Mike and Sulley that they could work at Monsters Inc, therefore providing them an opportunity to prove themselves. :aww:

 

Also, there is a continuity error in Monsters Inc now, when Mike says 'I've been jealous of your looks since fourth grade.' :o Maybe he means he had heard of Sulley, because he was popular back then? Just a suggestion.... :shrug:

 

The animation has definitely improved from Monsters Inc – sure, the animation in Monsters Inc is still good, but like Toy Story, some of the animation hasn't aged too well... In fact, Monsters University is the first Pixar film that uses global illumination, a new lighting system introduced as part of the overhaul of the rendering system used since the first Toy Story film. In the planning stage of the film, director of photography, Jean-Claude Kalache, asked "What if we made these lights just work?" Before the new system, artists had to build reflections and shadows manually, which became increasingly complex as the models and the setups became more technologically advanced. The new lighting system uses ray tracing, a technique that imitates the behaviour of the light in the real world; this automatized the process, delivered more realism, produced soft shadows, and let the artist spend more time on models and complex scenes—some of which contained thousands of light sources. :aww: The designs of all of the monsters are also awesome – especially the one dragon monster in Monsters Inc who looks like a furry version of the Gwythaints in The Black Cauldron... :wow: I also enjoy the designs of the buildings, like the aquatics department, that awesome library which I SWEAR was on loan from Beast's Castle, and the scare program hall where the lighting almost adds a Bram Stoker's Dracula style light to the already creepy Dean Hardscrabble... :icondraculalolplz:

 

The music in the film is, once again, composed by Randy Newman... :clap: I've always liked Randy Newman as a composer, and while I would have liked it if they used 'I Wouldn't Have Nothing If I Didn't Have You' as the theme, or at least played it once in the end credits, like how 'You've Got A Friend In Me' was continued to be used in the Toy Story films, I still like the music in this film. :D

 

Another nitpick I have is that... some of the university student life jokes are lost on me – especially seen as it's an American film – things like paddling are things that still work, but seen as we don't do that in the UK, some American based jokes go over my head.... ^^;

 

:iconthecrazyoneofthegang::iconsaysplz: Though not as good as the first one in my opinion, it was a worthy prequel. I love seeing my favourite characters as teenagers and the new characters were likeable too, I would love to see them again.
I also love all the little touches and references they made to the first film, like the Abominable Snowman (who I'm going to guess was actually banished for tampering with the mail...the monster world sure is harsh about what is worthy of banishment), Randall's "winds of change" poster and of course, Roz.

Dean Hardscrabble looks like my old headmistress at school, only my headmistress was scarier XD
Helen Mirren is awesome, I loved watching the cast recordings on youtube because she really stood out.

Haha Roz is amazing, I love her. "your stunned silence is veeeery reassuring."

:iconwaywardplatypus::iconsaysplz: This film, for being a prequel, was actually surprisingly a great film. Although I was quite disappointed about Randall's screen time, it's conclusion was really surprising, and it didn't wreck my memories of Monsters. Inc, the movie that defined my childhood, and my favourite movie of all time, darn the people who say Toy Story was better, no offence if this applies to you. Yeah, I do agree Randall needed a bit more screentime, but it seemed to show what people can do to influence a person, even idols, like how Johnny Worthington influenced Randall's brash/highly competetive personality in the first movie, as he seemed to obey him willingly, like with Waternoose in the first movie.

(Also, I've noticed his scale colour was lighter than in the first movie, a little touch, but a nice, sutble one.)

And as for the whole 'Scaring is a monster's job' plotline, from what I've seen, Monsters, Inc was probably the first exposture to the Mainstream Audience for this. As good as something like Aah! Real Monsters! was, this trope was mainly used in most kids shows and such before this movie's original theatrical release. As a company, Pixar was getting attention for it's creative storylines, intresting characters, and the best animation at the time with the technology they had, and the original movie was even the second highest grossing animated film at the time.

Besides, you can't hate what your childhood self loved. Just ask the Nostalgia Critic, on Follow that Bird, or, for those other people who are reading the comments, go check out Duckyworth's Spongebob Squarepants Movie review, which he has almost nothing but praise for. Monsters, Inc was to me that the Spongebob movie was for you, Ducky, even my other favorite movies never toppled my childhood favorite, like Evangelion 2:22, and Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, for example, because it got me into monsters and monster-related features in the first place!

:iconvindurza::iconsaysplz: Great film it looks visually amazing you can really see pixar's animation quality advancing but the story is quite sad T.T

:icondisneycow82::iconsaysplz: I loved this Monsters Inc prequel so much better than Brave. Although I would have liked to see more of Randall and his background story, it was still a great film to watch and I'll be sure to buy it when it comes out next month.

:iconailemadragonprincess::iconsaysplz: It's a great film. And it may be inspirational to a few of my stories.

 

So, even though this isn't as good as Monsters Inc, this is still a film I'm happy to have seen. Pixar has raised the bar for animated features so high that when they turn out a film that's merely good, instead of great, there's quite a bit of pressure on them – but still, the film seems to be doing very well at the box office. :clap: I do wish that there could have been some more jokes in the film, Johnny Worthington was more developed, and they went a little bit more in-depth into Randall's past and how he was psychologically effected, causing him to be the villain in Monsters Inc.... and maybe I would have liked a climax with Dean Hardscrabble – like, maybe they get in a chase scene or similar epic finale (for some reason, I can imagine her somehow using the students she deems scary, and somehow using a machine to collect their prowess, so she can become the ultimate scarer – I don't know, maybe that sounds stupid to you – I'm just fantasizing ways to make a great villain better :rofl: ), but for what this film is worth – it's not half bad. In fact, for a sequel, and considering how Brave and Cars 2 (I have NO intention of seeing Cars 2 :x ) didn't work as well as Pixar would have hoped, Monsters University is actually pretty refreshing. :clap:

Yeah, it's a simple underdog story – yeah, some plot elements are just glanced over – yeah, some people may not be interested if they can tell how Mike and Sulley will befriend each other in the end – yeah, maybe some plot holes and inconsistencies pop up, but we still got some good characters, a pretty cool villain, and some funny jokes, this film is definitely one you should check out if you get a chance. :meow:

 

Well, for my next review, seen as Monsters Inc has been talked about quite a bit, I have a strange desire to review Monsters Inc.... :XD:

So, join me next time, so we can see how Mike and Sulley's story continues – in my review for Monsters Inc. :iconwoooplz:

 

COMING DUCKYWORTH'S THOUGHTS –

:iconbluebulletplz: Monsters Inc

:iconbluebulletplz:Basil The Great Mouse Detective

:iconbluebulletplz:We're Back - A Dinosaur Story

:iconbluebulletplz:The Princess and the Goblin

:iconbluebulletplz: Stan Helsing (:iconfacepalmplz:)

:iconbluebulletplz:Twilight – New Moon (:icontwilightsucksplz:)

:iconbluebulletplz:All Dogs Go To Heaven

:iconbluebulletplz:Tron Legacy (:yawn: )

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BenJJedi's avatar
As much as I don't think Johnny is as bad as some make him out to be (seriously, some claim he's even worse than the likes of, for example, Frollo or even Maleficent, when they've done much worse than dump paint on somebody and literally plaster their humiliation all over the campus), I do agree he should have gotten more comeuppance than losing the Scare Games and what happened to him in Party Central.

but if you think about it in the long run, his comeuppance is quite ironic where he humiliated OK with the intention of driving them to quit, but it only pushed them to try harder. In other words, Johnny created his own downfall. :giggle: