Monsters, Inc. – Blu-ray Review

Monsters, Inc. is Pixar at their most fun. That’s pretty apparent by the character designs, but the film itself gives the sense that director Pete Docter and his team felt they had nothing to prove. By this point, they’d already delivered a nice one-two punch with Toy Story 1 and 2 as well as the admirable A Bug’s Life, all of which had received good-to-great reviews. And even while the animation powerhouse goes into fun mode, they refuse to give up what makes their catalogue work so well to begin with.

Fun also seems to be the message the movie is conveying about monsters themselves, another staple in Pixar’s bag of tricks. Also present is a solid, touching story about a monster, Sully (John Goodman) who befriends a forbidden child. The film also cleverly plays around the idea that monsters are more terrified of us than we are of them in funny, interesting ways. Given the recent state of things, the story’s become a little more socially relevant with energy scarcity and corporate downsizing.

Then there’s the voice actors, all of whom turn in fine work. John Goodman is right at home as James P. Sullivan, making the creature completely lovable. Billy Crystal compliments him well as Mike, being annoyingly good in the part. He too fits like a  glove in the shoes of the short, green, one-eyed monster. Mary Gibbs, who at the time of recording was only three, adds to the lovely charm that the toddler Boo has about her. Steve Buscemi is another highlight as Randall, and his character’s appearance really fits the voice Buscemi creates.

In fact, if there’s anything that doesn’t go in this film’s favor it would be how immature some of it is. This was before Pixar would mature into the great filmmakers they are today and some of the script seems to go for the easy laughs. Perhaps this is because I expect more out Pixar than the other guys, but it still feels like Pixar had yet to evolve.

It’s really just nitpicking though, as Monsters, Inc. is a great little film at the end of the day that is creative, energetic, and touching. It’s one of the best films the studio’s done and still holds up eight years down the road. Truth be told, this was my first trip to Monstropolis, and I can say it was well worth the trip. Rest assured I’ll be revisiting many times over the years to come.

8 out of 10

The Video

Coming in at its 1.85:1 ratio, Monsters, Inc. looks absolutely flawless. Colors are all vivid and pristine while sharpness is absolutely stellar. Everything has a three-dimensional look that really shows off the gorgeous animation Pixar inhabited this picture with. Not much else to say other than this is perfection personified.

10 out of 10

The Audio

5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is what’s present here and it sounds nothing short of stupendous. Like the crystal clear video it accompanies, the mix never falters and comes directly from the original source material. Music comes in perfectly, dialoge was always crisp and clear, and the array of sound effects are brisk. Once again, Disney and Pixar knock this sucker out of the parrk.

10 out of 10

Packaging and Extras

Monsters, Inc. comes in a thick, standard Blu-ray case that houses all four discs. The case itself is housed by a slipsleeve cover. Disc three is the original DVD of the film complete with all the extras, while disc four is a digital copy of the film.

Peter Docter opens up the set with a 90 second introduction to what we’ll find on this Blu-ray. It’s a nice and harmless.

First up is an audio commentary by Docter, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich. The track is lively and informative as the four discuss technical issues that related to the animation while keeping things mostly focused on the story, characters, and cast. They talk in-depth why they chose certain actors for parts and what plot points where dropped and why. It’s informative, energetic, and entertaining like most of the Pixar commentaries.

This is followed by a “Filmmakers’ Roundtable Discussion” that features Docter, Unkrich, Bob Peterson and producer Darla Anderson. Clocking in at around 22 minutes, this is an informative discussion that has the quartet talking about how the story came to be and their worries on the animation (which at the time was groundbreaking.) They also discuss the impact of 9/11 on the film as well as the chimp. All in all, it’s a nice alternative to the commentary or a great companion piece to it.

“Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek: Building Monstropolis in Japan” runs around eight minutes and has Docter, Roger Gould and Disney Imagineers talking about the conception and creation of the “Ride and Go Seek” attraction as well as Disneyland Tokyo itself. It’s a rather informative piece for those of us who’ve never been to Japan.

Two shorts are next, the first being Mike’s New Car which was on the 2002 DVD. Crystal and Goodman are back in their respective roles for an entertaining romp that actually features some solid laughs. It also has a commentary from Gould and Docter, but not Pete and Roger. Their children provide silliness and laughs over the track as they discuss what both of their dad’s created.

For the Birds was the short that accompanied Monsters, Inc. in theaters and it’s present here as well. It’s cute and endearing, and also features a commentary by director Ralph Eggleston. He gives a nice track that discusses the technical aspect of everything and keeps everything engaging.

Roundng out disc one are trailers and sneak peeks for upcoming Disney films and Blu-rays.

Disc two kicks off things with “Roz’s 100 Door Challenge” which places you as an applicant at Monsters, Inc. and wants you answer 100 questions on various general trivia and also about the film itself. Depending on where you finish, you’ll be assigned a job at the company. The higher you score, the higher the job you get. Can’t really hate on this as I do find these games Disney includes on their Blu-rays to be amusing.

Interestingly enough, the disc divides up the rest of the extras into two separate “doors” labeled ‘Humans Only’ and ‘Monsters Only’.

Humans Only

The first of seven domains here is called Pixar and features the “Pixar Fun Factory Tour” that’s hosted by Lasseter and Docter. It takes us through the new Pixar studios and is decently fun over it’s short run-time.

Story comes up next and christens us with “Story Is King” that has Docter and Peterson giving us a quick rundown of how the story was conceived and their storyboard pitches. Quick and informative, it does warrant a look.

“Monsters Are Real” runs around a minute and a half and has comments from Goodman, Crystal, James Coburn, Andrew Stanton, and other Disney/Pixar heads. While brief, they all discuss the main story point of children being afraid of monsters. It’s nice to have, but it could be lived without.

The “Original Treatment” runs about thirteen minutes and combines filmed artwork with background music and narration to communicate the film’s first, very rough draft. It’s amusing to see as very little of this is what the finished film ended up being. It’s one of the best features on the disc and should be the first one you check out.

“Story Pitch: Back to Work (Early Version)” is voiced by Peterson and re-enacts an early concept of Mike and Sulley bringing Boo to the factory. Like the “Treatment” it’s worth a look to see an alternate version of the scene. Also like that featurette, it differs heavily from the finished version to give it more merit.

“Banished Concepts” gives us other unused ideas and is introduced by Unkrich before offering a look at four different scenes. They provide us story reel renditions of each segment with some resembling the final film.

Following this up is “Storyboard to Film Comparisons” and runs around five minutes. It allows you to see the ‘boards in storyreel or full color, or side-by-side.

Art Gallery is the next domain and it features “Characters”, which takes a look at drawings and what not for all of the characters, “Color Scripts” which shows how the different color hues work for the film, “Concept Art” for each of the locales, and “Posters” which gives us all the ads.

“Designing Monstropolis” lasts under three minutes and is hosted by David Silverman. Unkrich and John Lasseter also chime in with how they created this world from scratch. It’s brief, but also an interesting look at the creation of Monstropolis.

“Set Dressing Intro” features Docter and Unkrich along with set dressing supervisor Sophie Vincelette. It’s about three minutes of her discussing how the set was littered with different props. She also shows us how she creates these things on her computer. While the piece itself is nice, it doesn’t hurt her voice is easy on the ears.

“Location Flyarounds” is seven minutes and spins you around the room of four different locations featured in the film. They give us a nice scope into this world, and are also solid looks into the world.

Monster File is the next domain and it’s divided into two sections. First is “Cast of Characters” which is five and a half minutes and features Docter, Unkrich, Bob Peterson, and the various cast members. There’s some material worthwhile here, but otherwise this is more of a typical EPK than it is featuring more actual facts.

“What Makes a Great Monster?” is a minute and a half and has character designer Bob Pauley and art director Tia Kratter. It seemed like this was introduction to the galleries on the previous DVD, yet it’s still decent if brief.

Animation is next, and starts with “Animation Process” which runs three minutes and offers us a nice walkthrough how the scene goes from storyreel to animation simulation and finally to lighting. It’s a great piece for aspiring animators, and goes into depth how the entire process is done.

“Early Tests” is eight minutes and features commentary from Thomas Porter, Steve May, and Michael Fong and has them commentate over very early concept animation of these characters. They also discuss how the fur eventually became onto Sulley as well as how they added arms to Mike. It’s nice to see how well the characters evolved over time and offers up some great information.

“Opening Title Animation” is a quick two minute piece where Docter and Geefwee Boedoe discussing how the opening titles were designed. They give us some good tidbits on how these cute titles came to be what they are today.

“Hard Parts” runs under five minutes and essentially boils down to the Pixar heads discussing how the fur and clothing animation became revolutionary for this film. The piece offers some good detail into how the fur was created as well as the clothing and backgrounds.

“Shots Department” is about two minutes and has Gayln Susman once again talking about the fur and clothing. While it’s still nice to see how well all of this came together, it’s begins to wear itself out by this point. Still, this piece gives us some different information than the others so that gives it a little merit.

“Production Demonstration” features an intorduction from Unkrich talking about how to view a selected scene from storyreel, layout, animation, and final color. It’s a fine and interesting look at how everything comes together at this studio.

Music & Sound comes up next and starts with “Monster Song” featuring comments from Goodman, Crystal, and Randy Newman. The comments are pretty much everyone giving lip service to Randy, but they do give us some good insight to how the song was created.

“Sound Design” runs four minutes and has Gary Rydstrom and Tom Myers talking about the subject. It’s fairly short but offers up some good info on how Skywalker Ranch completed the sounds for the film.

Release rounds out the domains and has all of your trailers, TV Spots, and even clips from the premiere are included.

“Wrap-Up” is a fourty-two second clip that concludes the tour of Pixar Studios as they guided us through the making of. If anything, you can tell these guys had fun making and discussing the project.

Now for the next sub-section, Monsters Only:

New Monster Adventures is the first domain and it begins with “Monster TV Treats” which is seventy-three seconds and collects all the seasonal and football TV spots Pixar created to promote the film.

“Ponkickies 21″ features obscure versions of Mike and Sulley playing Janken (the Japanese equivalent to Rock, Paper, Scissors) as well as the Lucky Door Game. It’s well…entertaining to say the least.

“If I Didn’t Have You” is just the song being sung while different clips of the films are played. Good for kids, but nothing too great.

Behind the Screams is the next domain and features “On the Job With Mike and Sulley”. It runs two minutes and thirty-three seconds and has the original voice actors together for a mock news report on how Monsters, Inc. works.

Orientation is the final domain and begins with “Welcome to Monsters, Inc.” Just under a minute, the piece features the ad that was in the film.

“Your First Day” is a short, sweet three minute training video that features movie clips and concept art. Completely harmless and entertaining.

“History of the Monster World” plays like a storyreel and gives a nice little mythology on how monsters came to be and why they wanted to scare humans. It’s cute, endearing, and worth a look.

The DVD of the film retains only the audio commentary and 5.1 Surround Sound Effects Mix from the previous DVD. It’s not really a bother, as I’m sure it has been assumed many consumers already owned the previous edition.

You really couldn’t ask for a better set of extras for this film. Every nook and cranny that went into completing this project is covered, which makes it ok when the extras become a little superficial. As far as extras go, there’s few better sets than this one.

10 out of 10

Overall

Monsters, Inc. ended up being the most fun out of all of Pixar’s filmography. The film has a touching story and a fresh take on an old concept with compelling performances. It’s also one of their top works, which is saying something from a studio who seldom strikes out. They also knock it out of the park with their presentation of the film on this Blu-ray. Video and Audio are of the highest calibur and the extras are extensive and everything you could possibly want to know about the movie. This is a set that is worth every single penny, even if you do own the original DVD.

Blu-ray Overall Rating – 9 out of 10