Barnes & Noble

The DVD edition of Monsters, Inc. -- the latest Disney-Pixar collaboration -- is really something to scream about. Its many supplemental features include the Academy Award-winning computer-animated short "For the Birds," as well as a new animated short created for the DVD, "Mike's New Car." There are also exclusive "outtakes" and, for animation buffs, a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic evolution of the film, from abandoned concepts to animation tests. But Monsters, Inc. -- an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature and Oscar winner for Randy Newman's rollicking ode to friendship, "If I Didn't Have You" -- is itself a sheer joy to behold. While the Disney-Pixar Toy Story films and A Bug's Life revealed the secret lives of toys and insects, Monsters, Inc. confirms something that generations of children have always known: There really are monsters lurking in their bedroom closets! What they don't know is that these beasts are employees of the titular corporation, and their job is to scare children -- whose screams somehow fuel the power grid in Monstropolis (where monsters live). The real revelation here, though, is that monsters are deathly afraid of children. John Goodman is the voice of the bearlike Sully, Monsters, Inc.'s leading scream producer. His sidekick is Mike (Billy Crystal), a giant eyeball with a mouth, arms, and legs. Chaos ensues when a fearless little girl follows Sully through the closet door and into Monstropolis. Monsters, Inc. brims with visual invention (a climactic chase aboard an assembly line of closet doors is a particular tour de force), as well as in-jokes for keen-eyed viewers. Like the Toy Story films, it's a state-of-the-art crowd pleaser. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

After exploring the worlds of toys and bugs in the two Toy Story films and A Bug's Life, the award-winning computer animation company Pixar delves into the realm of monsters with its fourth feature. Hulking, blue-furred behemoth James P. "Sully" Sullivan (John Goodman) and his one-eyed assistant Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are employed by Monsters, Inc., a scream processing factory. It seems that the denizens of their realm thrive on the screams of kids spooked by monsters lurking under their beds and in their closets. It's the job of Sully, Mike, and their co-workers, including sarcastic Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), crab-like CEO Henry J. Waternoose (James Coburn), and lovely snake-headed receptionist Celia (Jennifer Tilly) to keep the frights flowing. When Sully and Mike are followed back into the monster world by a very unafraid little human girl named Boo (Mary Gibbs), they are exiled to her universe, where they discover that such a modern-day mythological specimen as the Abominable Snowman is a fellow refugee. Karl Williams

Product Details

• UPC: 786936773736
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: ABC
• Language: English, English
• Editions: Bonus DVD
• Time: 1:31:00
• Sales Rank: 2,099

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