Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Monsters generate their city's power by scaring children, but they are terribly afraid themselves of being contaminated by children, so when one enters Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley finds his world disrupted.

Directors:

Pete Docter, David Silverman,

Writers:

Pete Docter (original story), Jill Culton (original story),

Stars:

John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs

Top 250 #218 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Goodman	...	James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (voice)
Billy Crystal	...	Mike Wazowski (voice)
Mary Gibbs	...	Boo (voice)
Steve Buscemi	...	Randall Boggs (voice)
James Coburn	...	Henry J. Waternoose (voice)
Jennifer Tilly	...	Celia (voice)
Bob Peterson	...	Roz (voice)
John Ratzenberger	...	The Abominable Snowman (voice)
Frank Oz	...	Fungus (voice)
Daniel Gerson	...	Needleman / Smitty (voice)
Steve Susskind	...	Floor Manager (voice)
Bonnie Hunt	...	Flint (voice)
Jeff Pidgeon	...	Bile (voice)
Samuel Lord Black	...	George Sanderson (voice) (as Sam Black)
Jack Angel	...	(voice)

Storyline

A city of monsters with no humans called Monstropolis centers around the city's power company, Monsters, Inc. The lovable, confident, tough, furry blue behemoth-like giant monster named James P. Sullivan (better known as Sulley) and his wisecracking best friend, short, green cyclops monster Mike Wazowski, discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. And now it's up to Sulley and Mike to send Boo back in her door before anybody finds out, especially two evil villains such as Sulley's main rival as a scarer, chameleon-like Randall (a monster that Boo is very afraid of), who possesses the ability to change the color of his skin, and Mike and Sulley's boss Mr. Waternoose, the chairman and chief executive officer of Monsters, Inc.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | scream | friend | girl | best friend | 

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Taglines:

Since the very first bedtime, all around the world, children have known that once their mothers and fathers tuck them in, and shut off the light, that there are MONSTERS hiding in their closets, waiting to emerge! What they don't know is: it's nothing personal. It's just their job.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hidden City

Box Office

Budget:

$115,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,090,134 (France) (22 March 2002)

Gross:

$289,907,418 (USA) (26 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The famous computer graphic of "The Teapot" can be seen on the table in Boo's room.

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Goofs

In some scenes, Boo's giggles and screams do not produce any power spikes (e.g. her scream right before Sulley rescues her from Randall's scream machine and her giggles when playing hide-and-go-seek with Sulley in the bathroom).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Flint: All right, Mr. Bile, is it?
Bile: Uh, my friends call me Phlem.
Flint: Uh-huh, Mr. Bile, can you tell me what you did wrong?
Bile: I fell down?

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits we see sketches of monsters with large jaws and teeth and long arms with claws hiding in and popping out of closets.

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Connections

References Monsters (1988)

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Soundtracks

"If I Didn't Have You"
Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman
Performed by Billy Crystal and John Goodman
Produced by Randy Newman, Chris Montan, and Frank Wolf

User Reviews

Adorable, funny, perfect voice casting for the lead roles

I thought Billy Crystal and John Goodman were great. I like them anyway, but I can't imagine anyone else in their roles. John Goodman comes across as a warm, fuzzy teddy bear type in so many of his roles, and this time he was actually drawn that way. Crystal and Goodman were great together, even when their characters showed signs of not getting along. And Boo sounded so natural, so childlike. There's no way an adult could have done her lines the way they were executed.

And the writing was so intelligent, this movie was not just for kids. There were a lot of clever jokes that kids might not get. Still, the warm and fuzzy qualities of so many of the monsters make this a perfect choice for kids as well as adults, and I really don't get why ABC couldn't give this a TV-G rating. It may have been a little violent or scary at times, but never all that intense. Kids see worse on Saturday morning.