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monsters inc.
Monsters, Inc. is the 2001 theatrical release of another successful
Disney and Pixar Animation partnership. In this feature length computer
animated film, monsters sneak into human children's bedrooms at
night through their portal-like closet doors and scare them. Not
for the fun of it, but the monsters need to harvest the children's
screams to convert its energy to power their civilization (very
much like how we use fossil fuels and nuclear fusion to generate
electrical power). The power company for this monster world is called
Monsters, Inc. The company's top producing scarer is the very adorable
James Sullivan (a.k.a. "Sulley", features the voice talents
of John Goodman). Together with his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy
Crystal), they are the main characters.
A healthy competition between Sulley and another scarer monster
by the name of Randall for the title of the top producing scarer
is supposed to motivate all scarers to produce more scream energy.
But this competition heats up and gets out of control when Randall
works overtime to increase his yield of children's screams. One
evening, Randall leaves the magical portal closet door unguarded
and a small human girl wonders to the monster world, causing all
sorts of problems for the monster civilization and for Monsters,
Inc. The human girl befriends Sulley, when Sulley discovers that
human children are not dirty and disgusting (as the monster world
would have him believe). Sulley enlists his best friend Mike's
help in trying to return the human girl back to her bedroom before
management of Monsters, Inc. does something drastic. Will Sulley
and Mike return the human girl back to her bedroom? How will Monsters,
Inc. produce enough energy to meet the demands of their monster
world, when human children becomes increasingly jaded (perhaps
due to their exposure to violent TV shows and video games - what,
could this be?) and as a result become more difficult to scare?
As a child at heart when it comes to high quality animated movies,
I enjoyed this latest Disney-Pixar collaboration immensely. It
is the perfect family film and you can enjoy it with your children
again and again. The adult and parent in me loves this movie too.
It's good wholesome entertainment. The computer animation is visually
phenomenal. Simply put, it's eye candy for DVD viewers. The animation
is world class, bar none, and the picture quality is THX certified
for the best possible "video" transfer. (I believe it's
actually a direct computer-to-DVD digital transfer.) The sound
design is equally fantastic, with lots of surround sound channel
information in the Dolby Digital EX 5.1 soundtrack. (For THX trailer
fans, this movie starts with a new THX logo featuring a pretty
cool cow mooing surround sound demo.) This Monster's Inc. DVD
is a very collectible DVD indeed. It gets my highest recommendation!
Special Features: There's a lot of bonus features here in this
2-disc set. Most of it is on the dedicated bonus disc. The first
disc contains the feature film, including audio commentary by
the filmmakers and a dedicated Dolby Digital EX 5.1 sound effects-only
soundtrack, a THX Optimizer feature, and the usual Disney sneak
peaks/trailers of upcoming theatrical and DVD/home video releases
(Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, Inspector
Gadget 2, Treasure Planet).
On the second disc, you'll find: outtakes which includes "The
Monster's Inc. Company Play" short, two animated shorts called
Mike's New Car (created exclusively for this DVD/home video release)
and the Academy Award winning animated short For The Birds, and
two "worlds" of bonus features (Monster World and Human
World). In the Monster World, you'll find a "Train For Your
First Day at Monsters, Inc." featurette, view "The Monsters,
Inc. Employee Handbook" featurette, learn "The History
of the Monster World", play a "Peek-A-Boo" Boo's
Door Game (a video game using the DVD navigation/cursor buttons;
results will depend on the speed of your DVD player), play a DVD-ROM
game "The Lunch Room" (a computer with DVD-ROM drive
is required), and check out other interesting facts. In the Human
World, you'll find deleted scenes, 3-D Location Flyarounds feature,
Monstropolis Art Gallery (with hundreds of images), animation
gags and guide to "In" jokes, and behind the scenes
of If I Didn't Have You - 2001 Academy Award Winner for Best Original
Song. There's so much bonus material, it's a good thing that Disney/Pixar
included a fold-out booklet that helps viewers navigate the various
programs.
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