Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Mary Gibbs and Jennifer Tilly, the film was directed by Pete Docter in his directorial debut, and executive produced by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. The film centers on two monsters — James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and his one-eyed partner and best friend Mike Wazowski – employed at the titular energy-producing factory Monsters, Inc, which generates power by scaring human children. However, the monster world believes that the children are toxic, and when one sneaks into the factory, Sulley and Mike must return her home before it is too late.
Docter began developing the film in 1996, and wrote the story with Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon and Ralph Eggleston. Stanton wrote the screenplay with screenwriter Dan 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 for its fourth.
Monsters, Inc. was praised by critics and proved to be a major box office success from its release on November 2, 2001, generating over $577 million worldwide and becoming 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 first Best Animated Feature, but lost to DreamWorks’ Shrek, and was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing. Monsters, Inc. saw a 3D re-release in theaters on December 19, 2012.
Plot[]
In a world inhabited by monsters, the city of Monstropolis is powered by energy from the screams of human children. At the Monsters, Inc. factory, skilled monsters employed as "scarers" venture into the human world to scare children and harvest their screams, through doors that activate portals to children's bedroom closets. The field is considered dangerous, as human children are believed to be toxic. Energy production is falling because children are becoming less easily scared, and the company's CEO, Henry J. Waternoose III, is determined to find a solution to the problem. James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and his best friend, Michael "Mike" Wazowski, are the organization's top employees, but their chief rival, Randall Boggs, is close behind.
One evening after work, Sulley discovers that someone has left an active door on the scare floor. As he inspects the door, a small girl enters the factory. After several failed attempts by Sulley to put her back, Randall sends the door back into the factory's door storage vault, and Sulley takes the girl out of the factory in a duffel bag. He inadvertently interrupts Mike's date with his receptionist girlfriend, Celia Mae, at a Japanese sushi restaurant, and chaos erupts when the girl gets loose. Sulley and Mike manage to escape with the girl before the Child Detection Agency (CDA) arrives and quarantines the restaurant. They soon discover that the girl is not toxic and that her laughter generates an immense amount of power. Sulley grows attached to her and calls her "Boo", while Mike is anxious to be rid of her.
The duo smuggles Boo back into the factory disguised as a baby monster and attempts to send her home, but Randall, who had been waiting in ambush for Boo, mistakenly kidnaps Mike. He straps Mike to the "Scream Extractor", a large machine capable of forcefully extracting screams from kidnapped human children, thus solving the monster world's energy crisis. Before Randall can test the machine on Mike, Sulley saves Mike and the pair report to Waternoose about Randall's plan. However, Waternoose reveals that he and Randall are working together and exiles Mike and Sulley to the Himalayas while keeping Boo with him. The two are taken in by the Abominable Snowman, who tells them about a nearby village, which Sulley realizes he can use to return to the factory. Sulley prepares to return, but Mike refuses to go with him, blaming Sulley's stubbornness for their situation.
Sulley returns to the factory and rescues Boo from the Scream Extractor, but is attacked by Randall. Mike returns to reconcile with Sulley and accidentally helps him overpower Randall. With Randall in pursuit, Mike and Sulley take Boo and escape into the door vault. Mike invokes Boo's laughter, which causes all the doors to activate at once, allowing the monsters to freely pass in and out of the human world. Randall attempts to kill Sulley, but Boo overcomes her fear of Randall and attacks him, enabling Sulley to catch him. Sulley and Mike then trap Randall in the human world, where two residents at a trailer park mistake him for an alligator and beat him with a shovel.
Mike and Sulley locate Boo's door, but Waternoose, accompanied by the CDA, brings the door down to the scare floor. Mike distracts the CDA while Sulley escapes with Boo and her door. He leads the pursuing Waternoose into the company's simulation room, where Mike records Waternoose angrily declaring his plan to salvage the company by kidnapping children. As Waternoose is arrested by the CDA, he reprimands Sulley for destroying the company and worsening the energy crisis. The scare floor administrator Roz reveals herself to be the head of the CDA, who had been working undercover to find the mastermind of the company's internal actions. Roz thanks Mike and Sulley for their help and allows Sulley to return Boo home, but she has Boo's door demolished to prevent any monsters from making further contact with her. Sulley, inspired by his experiences with Boo, concocts a plan to retool the company's power generation method to harvest children's laughter instead of screams, as laughter is ten times more potent.
With the energy crisis solved, Sulley is named the new CEO of Monsters, Inc. Mike takes Sulley aside, revealing he has rebuilt Boo's door. It needs one final piece, which Sulley took as a memento, in order to work. Sulley puts the door chip into place, enters, and joyfully reunites with Boo.
Prequel[]
A prequel titled Monsters University, which was directed by Dan Scanlon, was released on June 21, 2013.