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| Pete
Docter, David Silverman |
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| (v/o)
Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly,
James Coburn, Mary Gibbs, John Ratzenberger, Frank Oz |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Mike (Billy Crystal): Put
that thing back where it came from, or so help me!
Monsters generate their city's power
by scaring children, but are terribly afraid of being contaminated
by children, so when one enters Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley
and his assistant Mike find their world disrupted
 As
technically accomplished as pioneering computer animatotion company
Pixar is, their genius has always been the creation of simple, immediately likable
characters who get themselves into sometimes outrageous but always understandable situations that
mass audiences of all ages can easily relate to. From the simple situation of the famous little desk light
that insists on bouncing on top of a rather flimsy ball in Pixar's first short Luxo Jr.
all the way to Woody's predicament choosing between eternal life in a toy museum or a more limited time
as a child's beloved toy, strongly defined characters have always been placed in tightly woven narratives
that offer the best kind of old-fashioned entertainment in a high-tech, innovative CG presentation. Their partnership
with the Disney studio makes terrific sense, especially because their level of technical innovation and their films'
appeal to all age groups most closely resembles the Disney studio during its Golden Age in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Monsters, Inc. is another solid effort in this fine tradition: an imaginative tale with rich, colorful characters;
a tightly constructed screenplay that includes a pulse-pounding, rollercoaster climax; and a convincing sincerity that
manages to include pathos without resorting to the pat sentimentality or cheap tricks that have marked so many hand-drawn
Disney efforts. The movie zips by at an awesome pace, but without ever seeming rushed or hysterical. And the odd exception
aside, the celebrity voices are well-chosen, including an impressively conniving Steve Buscemi bringing life to lizard-like
villain Randall. It may not quite manage to reach the giddy heights of Toy Story 2, but that comparison might
not be quite fair, as that sequel had the advantage of a number of strong, predefined characters, enabling an even more
efficiently constructed narrative. Monsters, Inc. may not be as willfully hip or as iconoclastic as arch-rival Shrek,
but it's clearly the far more strongly constructed film that will be most likely be remembered more fondly two decades hence.
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Released on DVD near-simultaneously
all over the world in late September 2002, there are now a confusing
number of different versions available internationally.
The Region 1 release is a two-disc set with both fullscreen and
widescreen transfers, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and a huge abundance
of extras. The Region 4 release does without the fullscreen transferon
disc 1, and uses the available space for a DTS mix even better than
the superb Dolby Digital track. For Region 2, it's a little more
confusing: a one-disc 'Family Edition' is available in the UK, with
a minor selection of extras on board. The two-disc 'Deluxe Collector's
Edition' has the same contents as the Region 4 release (including
the DTS audio mix) and comes packaged in a very handsome cardboard
slipcase. A similar Dutch/Belgian Deluxe edition comes in the same
packaging, but misses out on the DTS audio track in favor of Dutch,
Flemish and French dubbing, and has further incurred the wrath of
DVD collectors by offering the extras on the second disc only dubbed
in French or Dutch (that's right: no English!). The one-disc 'family
edition' with a handful of extras is also available in Belgium and
The Netherlands, as is a more cheaply priced release carrying nothing
but the movie.
The anamorphic widescreen image
is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 1.85:1. As with Toy
Story 2 and Shrek, this is another transfer drawn
directly from the digital source, and once again, the result is
nothing short of stunning. Every teture, from Sully's bright blue
fur to Roz's lizard-like skin is rendered with an amazing amount
of detail, with lighting and framing contributing to the near-transcendent
photorealism of the entire feature. A reference-level transfer if
ever there was one.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound mix was created by Gary Rydstrom, who once
again proves himself as one of the industry's leading sound designers.
Sound effects are highly detailed and full-bodied enough to bring
this fantasy world to immediate life, while the climactic rollercoaster
ride through the 'door depository' can easily replace the overplayed
Pod Race from The Phantom Menace as prime demo material
for any home cinema sound system. The DTS mix included on the Region
4 release and the Region 2 Deluxe Edition available in the UK is
even marginally better, boasting slightly better detail definition
and better control of bass response.
Most extras are of course located
on disc two, but disc one holds a few worthwhile addition of its
own, including an impressive isolated effects track, which
brings to the fore the incredible amount of detail to be found in
the impeccable sound design with the dialogues turned off. Also
included is a screen-specific audio commentary by director
Pete Docter, co-director Lee Unkrich, executive producer John Lasseter,
and screenwriter Andrew Stanton. This is a fun track, both informative
and entertaining, recorded by guys who love what they do and are
clearly obsessed with their work and convinced of its quality and
value. They can be a little too full of themselves and their own
accomplishments at times, but they also have an unbridled, childlike
enthusiasm for their work that makes it hard to resist. In their
undying efforts to be fun, cool and slightly geeky, they even include
an 'impromptu' phone call to a surprise guest close to the end.
Also on disc 1 is a sneak preview of their upcoming feature
'Finding Nemo' and a game for the kiddie market.
 The
second disc has dual menu options: one for the "Human World"
and one for the "Monster World." Each of these sub-worlds
offers different sets of supplements, the "Monster World"
offering more extra material featuring the characters from the film,
and the "Human World" delving into the production background.
"Monster World" has three options available via both the
main menu and inside "Monster World." A much-publicized
highlight is the new short Mike's New Car, a very funny five-minute
comedy short featuring Mike and Sully, again voice by Crystal and
Goodman. It's an animated short in the finest Disney tradition,
getting the most out of a very simple situation involving two pre-defined
characters. It's as gorgeously animated as the feature itself, making
this a true winner. There's also the recent Oscar-winning Pixar
short For the Birds, which is even funnier, and a set of
Outtakes (also viewable in a smaller format during the end
credits).
 There
are three major sections inside "Monster World": "New
Monster Adventures," "Behind the Screams," and "Orientation."
All feature lots of playful little vignettes, some of which are
glimpsed during the film, including the Orientation quickies,
"Welcome to Monsters, Inc.," "Your First Day at Monsters,
Inc., Orientation Film," and some "History of Monster
World' pencil animations that inspired the film. You'll also find
an amusing fake "Employee handbook" with guidelines on
how to be a better employee, a "Monster of the Month"
gallery, and "Scarer Cards," little narrated trading cards
for two dozen characters in the film.
In Behind the Screams, you'll find the Outtakes once again,
the entire TV broadcasts as seen in the film and the fake Company
Play Program referred to by Mike but never seen in the movie (it's
there, but hidden in the form of an Easter Egg). Finally, New Monster
Adventures includes Mike's New Car, some very brief Monster TV Treats
spots, the "If I Didn't have You" music video, and some
very funny "Ponkickies 21," exclusive animations for the
popular Japanese TV show.
Moving on to the "Human World," here you will find a detailed
tour of Pixar and the development of Monsters, Inc. The door
leads you straight to the movie's impressively animated Door Depository,
where seven different doors grant access to this section's main
areas: "Pixar," "Story," "Monster Files,"
"Design," "Animation," "Music and Sound,"
and "Release." Each section has its own short introduction
with the Pixar crew - including John Lasseter and directors Pete
Docter and Lee Unkrich - and selecting Production Tour from
the main "Human World" menu brings you the twenty minutes
of intros all combined. Although reasonably entertaining, this extended
look behind the scenes at Pixar will be appreciated mainly by the
studio's biggest fans, for whom a job at Pixar (where the party
clearly never ends) would be their ultimate dream come true. More
casual viewers may however be turned off by the smug self-satisfaction
and somewhat overbearing show-offy quality of the footage presented
here.
Investigation of the various individual areas however will prove
more than worthwhile for anyone interested in the actual development
of the movie:
- Story brings us the movie's initial starting point,
beginning with the Monsters are Real and Original Sulley Intro
vignettes, plus the film's Original Treatment via an animated
storyboard montage and a videotaped Story Pitch for the "Back
to Work" sequence. Finally, Banished Concepts reveals four
scenes that were boarded but never produced along with an intro,
while Storyboard to Film Comparison provides a multi-angle look
at the Boo bedtime scene via a storyreel, final composite or
splitscreen comparison.
 The
next major area is Monster Files, which houses a huge
amount of value within a relatively small area. In addition
to the What Makes a Great Monster?vignette hosted by creature
conceptualist Bob Paulen, an immense collection of sketches,
visualizations, and design work in various stage of production
can be found in the Character Design Galleries. For most characters
in the movie, several different designs can be compared here,
making for fascinating browsing, all of which is pleasantly
presented.
- The Design section takes you through the next step
of the production process and straight into set design and production
design. Setting the Scene holds a "Set Dressing" vignette
and a Step Through still collection demonstrating how the sets
are built up. Color Scripts and Master Lighting are still collections
that allow you to interact with rough drawings and final composites
of various scenes, using the remote's step buttons and angle
button to view the various stages of completion. Similar to
one of the features on the Toy Story box set are the
Location Flyarounds, four video segments fully revealing empty
Monsters, Inc. locations (with a few surprises). More
rough stills can be found in Metropolis Art, with another few
dozen hand-drawn concepts of various locations. Finally we also
find The Guide to "In" Jokes, which is just that,
a slide show revealing the many insiders' jokes scattered throughout
the film.
 The
Animation area holds eight minutes of Early Tests (with
commentary by Thomas Porter), which are rendered but unpolished
completed scenes used to test the film's pacing and narrative
span. You'll also find four vignettes plus a multi-angle Product
Demonstration that allows you to see four views, "Storyreel,"
"Layout," "Animation," and "Final Color,"
with an introduction.- The penultimate area is Music and Sound. The featurette
Monster Song offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the recording
of "If I Didn't Have You," while Sound Design offers
an inside view at Skywalker Ranch with Gary Rydstrom and Tom
Meyers, and a little insight into how they construct the sound
effects mostly from scratch. Also nifty is Binaural Recording,
a weird headphone experience that's fun to try out once.
- The final area on the second disc is Release, a collection
of promotional materials. In addition to a brief snippet of
premiere footage from Disney's El Capitan Theatre, we get two
trailers and one teaser (both in non-anamorphic widescreen)
and three fullframe TV spots, plus three featurettes on Toys,
international Inserts (all the changes that have to be made
to text that appears anywhere in the film) and the usual Multi-language
Clip Reel in no less than 30 different languages. Last but not
least, there's a poster gallery of various ad concepts, and
yet another seven minutes of outtakes.
All in all, this two-disc DVD of Monsters, Inc. easily makes
good on the high expectations anyone familiar with the previous
multi-disc SE's of Pixar's other movies will have. It's not quite
as innovative or all-encompassing as The Ultimate Toy Box,
but then, that release did of course cover much of the same relevant
ground and clearly set the template for future Pixar DVDs. The
main menu screen on disc one is designed in the style of the movie's
opening titles, with the image of doors opening its central navigation
metaphor.
Navigation on disc 2 has the more photorealistic style of the movie
itself, with animated transitions and background details nicely
worked into the impressive design.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
September 30, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Monsters,
Inc .
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