Why must Hollywood continue to churn out such a mix of films? Why cant they all just be like Monsters Inc. The recent spate of animated films; Toy Story one and two, Chicken Run, A Bugs Life and Antz not to mention Shrek (which had its moments, but Im not forgiving Mike Myers for that accent anytime soon) have been excellent and thankfully Monsters Inc safely tops them all as the most pleasing and entertaining cartoon you’ll see all year. I usually steer clear of kids films (if I see one more evil henchman get hit in the groin…) as they are basically dreadful. Kids are seen as easy money by the film industry and consequently we can look forward to Cinderella 2, Dumbo 2 and the simply heinous Bambi 2. Exactly what are they going to call them ; Beauty and the Beast 2: The Beast is Back, or Dumbo 2: An Elephant Never Forgets: The Revenge.
So naturally I was wary when I downloaded Monsters Inc (you didn’t think id shell out £3.50 did you) as I was still recovering from Cats and Dogs. But I needn’t have been as I found it possessed a warmth and charm altogether lacking from other kids movies such as Harry Potter. Monsters Inc displays exquisite production design and animation with the creators refusing to make one frame that wasn’t immaculate. The whole film was seamless enjoyment, with a wonderfully playful and funny script and a cast of voices perfectly pitched.
Billy Crystal is Mike Wazowski a small green eyeball who is not meant to be scary, personally I found his inane New York –Jewish constant banter terrifying. John Goodman is the green and hairy top scarer Sully who competes with Steve Buscemis slimy purple monster, Randel. Their boss is Waternoose voiced by James Coburn and Boo is played by Pixar artist Rob Gibb’s daughter Mary Gibbs.
Monstropolis is powered by the energy of children’s screams, with Sully as the current top scarer (he scares kids witless whilst they sleep, not very wholesome but what are ya gonna do?) at Monsters Inc. All is going well until a child comes through an unguarded doorway (children are considered highly toxic, don’t ask me why maybe the writers are wondering that themselves, maybe they cant sleep at night for worrying about that very thing, which is ironic because many young children don’t go to sleep for fear of the monster in their closet, so actually it serves the writers right ha!) and so all hell breaks loose.
Monsters Inc is invigoratingly fresh and original animation not seen since Disney in the 40s, it is a fabulous modern fairy tale with great gags and visuals. Pete Docter directs, along with Lee Unkrich and David Silverman with John Lasseter producing. The film took roughly five years to write and then make, not surprising as CG animation is incredibly expensive and time consuming.
My personal highlights are the Monsters who have seen Boo giving their statements in much the same way as Red Neck Hillbilly UFO sighters and the 21-19! Set piece. The whole movie can be called stunning, but the end is truly breathtaking and unusually intelligent for a kids movie (which is always nice as I get so sick of these ploddy boring as muck endings where the bad guy gets pushed of a cliff and the heroes get married and live happily ever after) so Monsters Inc was a welcome change.
Go and see Monsters Inc now is my advice it is fantastic with gorgeous colour and beautiful animation coupled with sparkling dialogue and a plot unafraid to be clever.
(and stay for the outtakes)