Blu-ray Review: Pete Docter’s Monsters, Inc. on Disney Home Entertainment

A stunning release of one of Pixar’s most sadly underappreciated works.

Monsters, Inc.Now that moms and dads have become especially vulnerable to uninspired Hollywood clichés of the strained human condition (e.g. K-PAX, Life as a House), the young-ins have the wondrously potent Monsters, Inc. to fall back on. Not only is Pixar’s latest gem the epitome of rock-solid Hollywood escapism, its reconstruction of a cartoon corporation in the grips of recession serves as the elementary yet efficiently nuanced backdrop for a grandiose celebration of realized childhood fears.

The Monsters, Inc. infrastructure is feeling the heat of the child scream shortage. The company’s cuddly employees used to be able to break into children’s bedrooms and secure enough screams to power the monster world’s energy needs. Kids, however, don’t scare as easily nowadays—some even scare back, turning monsters into whimpering fools.

The burgeoning recession calls for desperate measures, which leads to corporate greed and serious breaches in protocol. While the film’s recession-themed narrative may be coincidental, one eerie conceit recalls America’s recent Anthrax scare. The fear-ridden Monsters, Inc. forces their employees into decontamination units should they return to the monster world with human remnants statically stuck to their furry backs.

Advertisement

Big and cuddly Sulley (John Goodman) is the company’s prime scream collector, the bane of one mean lizard’s existence. Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) is his slithery name, a chameleon looking to steal screams artificially. With the help of one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), Sulley looks to return a little girl to her human bedroom after she sneaks into Monsters, Inc. via Sulley’s back. The girl bonds with Sulley (she charmingly calls him Kitty and he names her Boo) as her blue protector comes up with a more humane and cost-effective way of juicing up his world’s energy needs.

Subtle references to Brazil abound, from the annoyance of red tape to the epic climax that finds Sully and Mike riding through the core of the monster corporation. Unlike Antz and Shrek, the endlessly precious Monsters, Inc. affords little room for cheap pop culture references and easy postmodern jabs. An Abominable Snowman (he opts for “adorable snowman”) is the film’s major loose end, though his snowy abode tests Sulley’s unblinking determination.

The film’s humor is snappy, its attention to detail outstanding. Most importantly, though, its rendering of narrative is innocent and pure. Sulley and Boo’s relationship is a heartbreaking reminder of how fear is intricately bound to childhood experience. The monster inadvertently makes the little girl cry, thus breaking the purity of their trust. There are no cheap moral tags and the film’s closure is far from naïve (kids still know how to distinguish a lame joke from a good burp). By film’s end, Sulley and Boo’s reconciliation and separation becomes a humbling reminder of what it’s like to fear, imagine and hope.

Advertisement

Image/Sound

Proving, along with Up and WALL-E, that Pixar are masters of the Blu-ray format, this release of Monsters, Inc. is a testament to the film’s extraordinary achievements in world building and character design. Monstropolis’s bright colors and intricate details pop, with nary a hint of artifacting or noise. Monsters, Inc.’s photorealistic hair animation, so impressive on the big screen, is perhaps even more so here, where each strand of fur can be examined down to the particle. The film’s complex sound design is replicated equally impressively, never more so than in the warehouse chase scene, which still ranks among Pixar’s best set pieces.

Extras

Transfers the standard-definition DVD release’s treasure-trove of extras-an absurd amount of behind-the-scenes footage, a filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes, and more-and adds a few Blu-ray exclusive features, including an entertaining roundtable discussion and a tour of the (rather lame-looking) Monsters, Inc. ride at Tokyo Disneyland. The disc also includes several good-for-the-kids games, a standard DVD of the film, and a digital copy.

Overall

A stunning release of one of Pixar’s most sadly underappreciated works.

Advertisement
Score: 
 Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bonnie Hunt, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, Sam "Penguin" Black  Director: Pete Docter  Screenwriter: Dan Gerson, Andrew Stanton  Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment  Running Time: 91 min  Rating: G  Year: 2001  Release Date: November 10, 2009  Buy: Video, Soundtrack

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.