One of the most complicated tasks for a movie fanatic would have to be attempting to rank all the Pixar movies. Picking the worst of the bunch tends to be the easiest job, however as you start moving up the list, you will start to get a headache from having to pick between so many classics. The works of the studio have become generational, addressing all types of ages and making its mark on all its viewers. When it comes to ranking the wide range of Pixar movies, one thing is for sure, 'Monsters, Inc.' is always near the top of the list.
The film's main characters are Sulley and Mike, employees of an energy company supported by monster scares. It was released in 2001 and during that time it became the highest box office animated film for the studio, an achievement which would seem small in years to come due to the tremendous success of its successors. The messages of tolerance between species that are unknown among themselves, the magical musical moments of Mike Wazowski, the atmosphere of the Monstruopolis, and every bit of witty humour. All these factors combined together, and the film hasn't aged a bit.
As a result of its huge success, Pixar decided to release a prequel in the form of 'Monsters University', which came to the big screens in 2013, but didn't receive the response expected. This does not take away the credit from the characters that made the original film an unforgettable experience, which is still one of the best productions the studio has made.
Anyway, it would be rude to leave it there, so we have decided to muster up 8 fun facts about the big bunch of friendly monsters.
1 Genius reunion
The idea for the film was first mentioned during a meal in 1994, whilst Pixar's first feature length film 'Toy Story' was being made. Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft and John Lasseter sat down and conversation suddenly started flowing about a range of furry monsters. It is no surprise that such detailed ideas were coming out of the minds of these talented producers, which eventually lead to the film being a huge hit when it was released in 2001.
2 Scurrying around the studio
During filming, not everything went smoothly behind the microphone as technicians had trouble figuring out how to record the voice of the most unpredictable character in the movie, Boo. Mary Gibbs played Boo, and just like her own character, she wouldn't stop running round the studio during recording. As a result, producers decided to run around playing with her and record her lines at the same time.
3 Script changes
In the long production process, the characters and story went through many changes with the obvious objective of improving the film. For example, Sullys distinctive blue and purple coat of fur was originally meant to be much darker in earlier versions of the scripts. Furthermore, Sully was set to to be just your average employee with brown fur, instead of being the successful blue furred scarer we see in the film. Meanwhile, Mike was going to be Randall's helper as the film was taking many different paths before the final plot was decided. Even George Sanderson, the scared orange monster, was in line to be the protagonist until Sully got the final vote.
4 Promise of redemption
With his bubbly personality, dance moves, singing and his regular misfortunes, Mike Wazowski has certainly earned his recognition as one of the most popular characters created by Pixar. Billy Crystal took on the role of Mr Wazowski's voice. The actor from New York had the opportunity to be the voice of Buzz Lightyear in 'Toy Story' but declined the offer, a decision he no doubt regrets tremendously after seeing the results. Crystal got in contact with the animation studio and he was promised a role in one of their next projects, and the role happened to be that of our beloved Mike Wazowski.
5 Head full of hair
One of the greatest innovations in the film is that of the extremely detailed animations, specifically with regards to Sully's fur. Approximately 2,320,413 strands of hair covered the blue friendly monster, which ruffled the feathers of the animators as it took around 11 to 12 hours to animate a single frame of Boo's trustworthy guardian.
6 Don't arrive late to the cinema
Trailers are something of a tradition in cinemas. So, because the presence of the internet wasn't as established as well as it is today, people couldn't watch the latest trailer from their armchair in the comfort of their own home. Therefore, when news leaked early that the new teaser trailer of 'Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of The Clones' was to be shown before showings of 'Monsters Inc', hundreds of George Lucas fans purchased their ticket for the Pixar film, but apparently left the cinema after seeing the trailer. Little did they know what they had done at the time, especially taking into account the type of reception the second episode received.
7 Think different
One of the people responsable for the birth of Pixar was Steve Jobs who invested five million dollars into the company and produced 'Toy Story', the studios first feature film. The 'Monsters Inc.' team did not forget about Jobs as they made a play on words with his famous advertising slogan of 'Think different' changing it to 'Scare different'.
8 Communication is key
John Goodman wasn't actually the first choice to be the voice of Sully, as the studio had prior testing with another famous Hollywood voice. Bill murray was considered for the role of the protagonist, and co-director Pete Docter offered the role to the legendary actor. However, the problem was that Murray was so difficult to get in contact with that they decided to hand the role to Goodman.