Underplayed Gems

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Monsters, Inc. poster
Directed by
David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, Pete Docter
Written by
Andrew Stanton, Dan Gerson, Rhett Reese, Jonathan Roberts
Genre
fantasy film, comedy film, buddy film, monster film, children's film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 32m
Rated
G
Rating
7.9 of 10 from 19,945 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Two monsters who work at a factory that powers its city by scaring children must hide a little girl when she accidentally enters their world. They try to get her back home without being caught.

lightheartedwhimsicalplayfulwarmfast-pacedfunnyfeel-goodadventurous

What happens

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Pete Docter and written by Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, and Mary Gibbs. It centers on two monsters, the hairy James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (Goodman) and his one-eyed partner and best friend Mike Wazowski (Crystal), who are employed at the titular energy-producing factory Monsters, Inc., which generates power by scaring human children. However, the monster world believes that children are toxic, and when a little human girl, Boo (Gibbs), sneaks into the factory, the duo must safely return her home while evading discovery. Docter began developing the film in 1996, following an idea conceived in 1994 when Toy Story (1995) was nearing completion, and wrote the story with Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, and Ralph Eggleston, while Stanton wrote the screenplay with Gerson. The characters went through many incarnations over the film's five-year production process. The technical team and animators found new ways to simulate fur and cloth realistically for the film. Randy Newman, who composed the music for Pixar's three prior films, returned to compose the score for its fourth. Monsters, Inc. premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on October 28, 2001, and was released in theaters in the United States on November 2. Upon its release, it received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, grossing over $528 million worldwide to become the third-highest-grossing film of 2001. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "If I Didn't Have You" and was nominated for the inaugural award for Best Animated Feature, as well as Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing. Monsters, Inc. saw a 3D re-release in theaters in 2012. A prequel titled Monsters University, directed by Dan Scanlon, was released in 2013. A sequel series titled Monsters at Work premiered on Disney+ in 2021. A third film is in development. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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