Cuddly monsters are back for Blu-ray release *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Monsters, Inc., Billy Crystal knows how to get the laughs

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/20/2009 – “I began thinking about other things that were true for me as a kid,” says Disney Pixar Monsters, Inc. director Pete Doctor. “One thing I knew was that monsters existed and they were in the closet, especially at night. My clothes would turn into different things…tentacles, claws, and eyes. We began thinking that there must be some reason why monsters scare kids and started playing with that notion.” Doctor also directed Disney Pixar Up.

The town of Monstropolis runs on the energy of children’s screams, and Sulley is the top scare monster doing his part to help with an energy crisis. Voiced by John Goodman, the giant blue-furred monster begins to question his work when he gets to know a little girl named Boo. Is it ethical to frighten children? Sulley’s wise-cracking sidekick Wazowski, voiced by Billy Crystal, just wants to stay out of trouble and avoid the CDC, the Child Detection Agency.

“The intriguing thing to me about this subject matter is the idea that as kids we have these unnamed, unconscious fears, and we create monsters as a way to make them tangible,” says Doctor. “We began thinking, if monsters represent fears, what then are the monsters themselves afraid of? The obvious answer: children. Our own fears are afraid of us!”

Produced by Pixar before the merge with Disney, the film is darker with some adult dialog and one-liners that youngsters won’t understand and may mimic. The animation is phenomenal. Visually, the work is imaginative and engaging and tells a story all on its own.

“In Monstropolis, the sky’s the limit,” says Doctor. “We started with buildings that could move and talk. John Lasseter pushed us to think in terms of a more relatable Monster World, like our own cities, only designed for monsters. They’ve got huge buildings built of steel and stone because they need to accommodate 3-ton guys walking around. And everything from doors to telephones to cars have to be multipurpose in order to handle everyone from 8 foot monsters to little guys who are only two inches tall.”

Monsters, Inc. Disc 1 includes exclusive all new Blu-ray bonus features. There’s a Filmmakers Round Table with Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, Darla Anderson, and Bob Peterson. Ride and Go Seek: Building Monstropolis In Tokyo presents a sneak peak of the newest Monsters attraction in Tokyo Disneyland, with exclusive interviews of the artists and engineers behind the ride.

Disc 1 also contains the original DVD bonus features. There’s the Academy Award-nominated short “Mike’s New Car” with audio commentary by the directors. Likewise, there’s the Academy Award-winning short “For the Birds”.

Disc 2 contains exclusive Blu-ray bonus features. Roz’s 100-Door Challenge is an interactive game. Players deal with whatever is behind each new door. It could be a puzzle, a trivia question, a mini-game, or it could be crazy. Do your best. Your future employment at Monsters, Inc. hangs in the balance.

BD-Live features include Movie Chat, Movie Mail, Movie Challenge and Movie Rewards. There’s a Disney File Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media Player. And, there are the original DVD bonus features: Banished Concepts, Storyboard to Film Comparison, Monster File and three animation gag reels (Sulley/Boo/Waternoose, Giraffe Gag, and Sulley Bowling Boo).

Monsters, Inc.

Distributor: Disney Pixar

Release date: November 10, 2009

Suggested Retail Price: $45.99 USA, $52.99 Canada

Feature run time: 95 minutes

Rated: G

The following technical specifications may only apply to feature:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Video: 1080p, Widescreen

Sound: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 5.1 Dolby Digital English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish