Monsters, Inc.

Pixar is brilliant. Blah, blah. Animation is fantastic. Yeah, yeah. Story lines are mesmerizing. We get it.

But let’s be real. With every new release, we’re saying the same thing. And Monster’s Inc., the most recently released Blu-Ray from Pixar stands tall in a line of stunning releases. The voices in Pixar movies are always spot-on but none perhaps more so than the nutty combination of Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Sully and Mike in Monsters, Inc. As the two familiar monsters seen everywhere during the movie’s initial promotion – Sully as the round cyclops type; Mike as the furry blue beast – the two provide fantastic comic relief with pitch-perfect noises and vocal delivery.

Of course, the story has to live up to the talent present and you’d expect nothing less from the studio. Here, Monstropolis is the city in question in which these monsters live and a human child’s screams are the energy upon which it runs. Thus, Sully and Mike go to work like any other blue collar job, putting in their time to jump through closet doors on the “human side” so they can generate the town’s energy. But what happens when a child comes through to the other side. That’s when trouble ensues.

The charm in the movie is turning the childhood worlds we’re so used to completely upside down. It takes a horror movie concept and turns it into the next great animated feature that absolutely anyone can enjoy. And therein lies the brilliance of Monsters, Inc. The obvious tension is set up by Randall the Lizard and the plot plays out nicely, but the overall themes and story arc are what make this movie shine.

As a new Blu-Ray release, you hope you’re getting your money’s worth and Pixar delivers there as well. The audio commentary gives some great insight into the thought process behind the concept and the various characters, and a section called “Banished Concepts” is particularly insightful and entertaining. Also, the “Ride and Go Seek” is worth watching to see the new ride in Tokyo Disneyland. Is it all worth the extra money to replace your DVD? Depends on how far into Monsters, Inc. you want to go. However, if you have yet to purchase this movie, then that makes this the way to go.

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