Extras:
Sound Effects Only Track, Audio Commentary with Pixar crew members,
Outtakes, Mike's New Car animated short, For the Birds
animated short, Pixar Company Tour, Story featurettes, Monster Files,
Music and Sound Featurettes, Design Featurettes, Animation Featurettes,
Monster TV Treats, Ponkickles 21, Interactive Game, Disney Storytime,
Music Video, Behind-the Screams, Orientation to Monsters Incorporated.
Directors:
Peter Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich
Screenplay:
Robert L. Baird, Rhett Reese, Jonathan Roberts, Andrew Stanton
Voice Cast:
James P. Sullivan: John Goodman
Mike Wazowski: Billy Crystal
Celia: Jennifer Tilly
Randal: Steve Buscemi
Waternoose: James Coburn
It looks as though computer generated films have crossed the gap between
kid fare and conventional cinema.
But don't get all excited and herald
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
as a great, the only guys who can pull the gap
together are the people at Pixar. Being the only person in the world to
hate Shrek (Eddie Murphy was the only saving grace) you will not find
any comparisons to it here. Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bug's Life, and now
this, all are great. And in this movie you'll find what all the
commotion was about and recognize it for it's good attitude and
atmosphere. Just don't go in expecting Toy Story 3 and you'll be fine.
Imagine a parallel world to ours where monsters really do live in our
closets. But eliminate all gruesome visions of the monsters we've seen
in films (that means Carrot Top too by the way) and imagine that they're
just simple creatures with a job. They cross into our world through
closet doors and proceed to scare children. Turns out, to them, a
child's scream is a means of energy that they use to power their city.
But it's getting harder to scare children apparently and Monsters
Incorporated needs a new weapon.
That's where monstes James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski come in. James,
voiced by Goodman, is a master scarer and generates enormous numbers for
the company with the help of friend Mike, voiced by Crystal. But when
covering for Mike by doing his paperwork one night James accidently lets
a child into the monster world. Early on we are told that children are
considered toxic to them. Now James and Mike have to get the child back
to her world before things esculate further out of control.
A good film with a likeable plot, great characters, and the obvious
charm that only Pixar can place. Granted this is not as good as the Toy
Story films but there are enough jokes and good humor to keep kids
entertained as well as adults. Try to catch the Ray Harryhausen
reference early on to see what I mean.
Disney has included both a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and a 4:3 full
frame transfer on the same disc. What I am I going to tell you about the
video? Of course it's great! It was made in the computer realm and
transfered directly from that source so of course we get a great
picture. Colors are bright ans sharp and backgrounds are well detailed.
Just watch the scene when Mike and James are walking down the street,
going to work. Talk about blinding to the eyes.
One of the best transfers from Disney, hands down, if not the best.
Audio is presented in only Dolby Digital 5.1. You readers in the UK got
a DTS 5.1 option on the R2 disc but I know why we didn't. Some people
are too ignorant to realize how good widescreen is over here and a full
frame transfer inclusion took up precious disc space. With that said
(has anybody picked up on how much I really hate full frame? ...
"yes, but Buena Vista in the UK only let the 2-disc release be the
widescreen one, making those with a single-disc suffer in fullscreen"
- DVDfever.co.uk Ed) the audio
is very good. Surround channels are used well and it fits the movie
well. Listen to the ending sequence with the doors to see what I mean.
Not to be outdone by a certain CGI generated green creature's DVD's
mammoth sales, Disney has produced a two disc set with some decent
extras. Here's how the list stacks up:
Sound Effects Only Track:
Different since seperate tracks usually focus on the film's soundtrack.
Audio Commentary:
The people at Pixar produce a fun commentary track worth listening to.
Mike's New Car:
Disc 2 runs for 207 minutes total and starts with this fun
animated short created exclusively for the DVD and
VHS release of the film. Pixar creates fun shorts and this is just that.
Shown in full frame and it runs for 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
For the Birds:
This animated short was shown with the film in the
theaters. Actually pretty funny. Shown in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
and runs 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
Outtakes:
A collection of the outtakes shown at the end of the film. Shown in full frame.
Pixar Company Tour:
This bonus is actually listed again in the door
named Pixar. A short segment showing the company and how everything
happens. We see them riding around on scooters and such. I guarentee
it's not all rainbows and sunshine all the time though, it can get
pretty hard creating a CGI flick.
Story Featurettes:
Several featurettes on the story process. Shows
storyboards, how they made it into the script, and some deleted items.
Monster Files:
3 featurettes are featured here. The first interviews
the voices behind the characters and the othes deal with how the
monsters thmselves were created.
Music and Sound Featurettes:
Detailing the sound and music recording process. Interesting.
Design Featurettes:
How the film was put together. Features a guide to the manu "in-jokes" in the movie.
Animation Featurettes:
How the CGI process is used. This is what a lot
of people will want to know about and these featurettes do that well.
Release:
This is what I wish more DVDs had. A look at the release and
premiere of the film. This features just that and a look at the toys and
mechandise plus advertising items.
New Monster Adventures:
A sub-menu featuring cool stuff. A link to
Mike's New Car is here for some reason. First we get Monster TV Treats,
a collection of segments featuring Mike and James, these are actually
quite funny. Ponkickies 21 is two clips of a Japanese show where Mike
and James guest star. Interactive Game and Disney Storytime are
included. A music video is included to round it out.
Behind-the Screams:
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Gotta love that cheesy title.
Orientation:
This is different. Several links to gudies to working for Monsters Incorporated.
Overall, as far as I'm concerned, Disney has produced a stellar pack of
supplements. Take that Shrek... whoops I mentioned that movie.
Monsters, Inc. is presented in 32 chapters. Packagine is amaray with a
seperate holder included for disc 1. A collecible book is also included.
Overall, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy Monsters, Inc.
and adults will not be bored to tears. I have to say it, this movie
blows Shrek to pieces in my opinion and establishes the fact that Pixar
are the only ones who can do it. Here's to Monsters, Inc. 2.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
