Movie Title-- Monsters, Inc.
Release Year-- 2001
Running Time-- 1 Hour and 32 Minutes
Director-- Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich
Cast-- Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger, Samuel Lord Black, James Coburn
Parallel to the human cities is the world of monsters. This world is inhabited by monsters and is powered by children's screams. The Monsters, Incorporated factory located in Monstropolis, is what supplies the the power for the entire city. A highly trained group of monsters referred to as "Scarers" are the ones that collect the children's screams by using doorways as portals. Every child in the world has their own particular door that enables the monster to enter the child's room through their closets however this is considered a dangerous job since children are considered toxic and just touching one is considered fatal. The "Scarers" are finding it harder to scare children thanks to all the new technology and the chairman of the company Henry J. Waternoose III (James Coburn) needs to find a solution to continue to power the city.
Top "Scarer" James P. Sullivan or Sully (John Goodman) for short and his best friend, roommate and scare partner Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are starting their day and Sully is close to breaking the all time scare record. As they walk into work the newspapers are reporting rolling blackout and scream shortages. Once they arrive at work, Mike walks up to the reception desk and wishes his girlfriend Celia (Jennifer Tilly) happy birthday, then informs her that he has dinner reservations for them at an impossible restaurant to get into.
In the locker room before heading out to the "Scarefloor" Sully and Mike's rival, Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) harasses Mike in the locker room and Sully comes to Mike's defense saying to "save it for the Scarefloor". Mike goes to pick up Sully's closet door key cards for that shift and the clerk Roz (Bob Peterson), gives him a hard time about never turning in his paperwork.
While on the Scarefloor one of the Scarers accidentally brings back a child's sock. The whole Scarefloor becomes quarantined and the CDA (Child Detection Agency) arrives to cleanse the area. As they are leaving for the day, Mike remembers that he did not turn in his paperwork but he is afraid he is going to be late for his date with Celia so Sully offers to turn the paperwork in for him. When he goes back to the Scarefloor, he discovers someone has left a door at their station. He goes inside to see if anyone is on the other side and when he comes back he finds that he has brought a child back with him.
Sully puts the child in a duffel bag and goes to tell Mike what he has found but she escapes and causes chaos in the restaurant. Sully and Mike take the girl back to their apartment and try to come up with a plan on how to put her back where she has come from before they are caught with her.
I love this film. Who knew that all those monsters that we were afraid of as kids actually have jobs and have families to support back in their own little worlds and are really afraid of us? That bit of imagination is what makes this a fun spin on the classic monster stories and it also helps to teach children not to be scared of monsters.
All of that aside, John Goodman and Billy Crystal are great together. They work so well together, they actually make you truly believe that they are these characters. When I think of either of these men, "Monsters, Inc." is the first film I think about. I think that one of my favorite characters, aside from "Boo" is Roz. Roz is so dry and expressionless that when she makes her quick jabs at Mike she is that much funnier. Watch the credits on this film, Roz will crack you up.
This film is perfect for the whole family. Gather all your little monsters up for this film and Don't Forget the Popcorn!
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