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Technical Information
Studio: Buena
Vista Home Entertainment
Year of Theatrical Release: 2001
Disc Format: 2
single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format: Anamorphic
(16:9 enhanced), full frame (4:3)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1,
4:3
Region Encoding: 1
Sound Format: Dolby
Digital 5.1 EX
Running Time: 93
minutes
Director: Pete
Doctor
Stars: (Voice
over) Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Jennifer Tilly, Steve Buscemi
MPAA Rating: G
Disc Supplements:
- Feature length commentary with director Pete Doctor,
co-director Lee Unkrich, executive producer John Lasseter and
screenwriter Andrew Stanton
- Mike's New Car short film
- For The Birds short film
- Guide to film in-jokes
- Boo's Peek-A-Boo game
- Outtakes (featuring Monsters, Inc. company play)
- Monsters, Inc. employee handbook
- Location flyarounds
- Pixar factory tour
- 7 story featurettes
- 3 monster featurettes
- 7 design featurettes
- 6 animation featurettes
- 3 music and sound featurettes
- 5 release featurettes
- TV spots and theatrical trailers
- DVD-ROM game The Lunch Room
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The boys over at Pixar understand the simple,
universal truths. They understand that toys really are alive
and that monsters really do come out of our closets.
They proved their understanding of the former
with their two outstanding Toy Story films. Now they prove the
latter with Monsters, Inc.
Much is said about the quality of the computer
animation in the Pixar films, but the simple fact is that these
movies are so great because of their stories. I imagine that
you could watch roughly sketched storyboards for Monsters, Inc.
and still be entertained. In fact, I would go so far as to say
that it's precisely because the story is so good that the animation
flourishes.
Monsters, Inc., begins with the simple premise
that monsters, living within their own world, must enter our
world in order to extract screams from children. You see, screams
for the monsters are like fossil fuels for us. They provide
energy for every aspect of the monsters' day to day lives.
The monsters operate under the belief that
humans, despite being necessary for energy, are toxic to them.
Even a simple child's sock causes an emergency response resulting
in complete fumigation of the Monsters, Inc. factory.
The problem for the monsters is that the screams
are no longer working. Modern children are losing their fear
of Things That Go Bump In The Night younger and younger, making
it harder for the monsters to fill their quota. The city of
Monstropolis experiences frequent rolling blackouts and a solution
must be found.
Monsters, Inc. team of top scarers, Sulley
(voiced by John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal), while doing
their best to provide for the city's power needs, have developed
a problem: Sulley has accidentally brought a human child into
Monstropolis. After the initial panic, Sulley and Mike discover
that the child isn't exactly toxic and make an important discovery.
Specifically, they learn that laughter is many times more potent
than screams.
The duo's rival, Randall, meanwhile, has a
plan to increase the production of screams. He's come up with
a scream extractor and his intent was to test it out on the
little girl Sulley and Mike are accidentally harboring. This,
of course, sets up the conflict as Sulley and Mike realize that
humans are really harmless and try to protect the little girl,
cleverly nicknamed "Boo," from Randall.
Pixar's attention to detail and their proficiency
at computer animation continues to reach new levels of surrealism.
Part of the fun of the films is how they at once appear so completely
absurd and yet so subtly real. But the pure joy is in the characters,
story and shear inventiveness. Take, for instance, the film's
best sequence: a chase scene through the scream factory's closet
door storage facility. Other films only wish they could have
a chase sequence as fresh and exciting as this one. This will
go down as one of greats, up there with the Raiders of the Lost
Ark desert chase or the French Connection car chase.
Speaking of the closet doors, I have to say
that the inspiration behind the mechanics of the Monsters, Inc.
factory is simply genius. The physics of the doors lend possibilities
to the aforementioned chase scene that are a delight to experience.
In fact, this entire film could be described
as a delight. If Monsters, Inc. doesn't put a childlike smile
on your face, then I'm sorry to say that you've lost something
in your life and if you're smart, you'll do whatever it takes
to get it back. This isn't a film for kids; it's a film for
the inner kid in everyone.
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top |
Computer generated films have a huge advantage
over traditionally made films when it comes to DVD. Namely, they
exist purely in the digital realm. In fact, if anything, these films
actually suffer more by being transferred to an analog format for
theatrical release. For DVD, a direct digital transfer is possible,
allowing for the absolute best that DVD has to offer.
Monsters, Inc. is an example of the advantages
of digital to digital transfers. I could go into detail about how
great this, that and the other looks on the disc, but the fact of
the matter is that it's all wonderful. Colors and contrasts exist
exactly as they were intended by the animators. Even with the inclusion
of both a widescreen and full frame version on one disc, there is
no noticeable loss in quality.
I'm not quite prepared to brand the video as reference
quality, as the inclusion of the widescreen and full frame versions
tend to cramp the bitrate just a bit, but this is about as close
as you can get to that standard.
I should point out that the full frame presentation
on this disc isn't simply a cropped version of the film. As they've
done previously, Pixar actually reframed and rerendered the film
for the new aspect ratio. The result is that no important details
get cropped out. This actually creates a slighly different experience
when watching the film, one that isn't entirely unpleasant (though
I will always prefer the widescreen ratio).
:::back to top |
Sometimes animated films tend to suffer on the
audio side. The reason is simple: animated films, by nature, have
no soundtrack of their own. It all has to be created. Because of
this, it's often easy to omit the simple, but necessary sounds that
might otherwise be incorporated into a live action feature. I'm
talking about the ambient sounds that, when present, go unnoticed,
but are very glaring when absent. I'm happy to say that Monsters,
Inc. does not suffer from this problem. In fact, I'd say this is
the most lifelike animated film I've ever heard. Pixar even went
so far as to include the hum of florescent lights in the factory.
Many live action films can only hope to sound
this good.
It isn't just that these sounds are included,
but the overall Dolby Digital EX surround mix is superb. This is
a very dynamic and aggressive surround track. Sound effects whiz
around the entire surround field with perfect clarity. Dialogue
is always clear and focused to the characters. There are some nice
floor rumbling bass effects to create some added thrills.
To show off the amazing work done with the sound,
Pixar has included a sound effects only track. It's easy to appreciate
the work done on the animation, but, great as it is, the realistic
sound is what really helps to sell it. This track is worth at least
a partial listen so that you can really get a feel for what went
into this mix.
:::back to top |
Pixar can always be counted on for a decent
array of extras on their discs. In fact, they could be accused more
of overkill than any lack of content.
First up is a feature length audio commentary
with a number of the Pixar crew. Director Pete Doctor, executive
producer John Lasseter, co-director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter
Andrew Stanton are present with their views on the making of the
film. With the Pixar crew, you can pretty much expect an entertaining
track and this is certainly that. Sure, there may be a couple of
commentaries out there that surpass this one, but that list is very
short. The crew does a nice job of pointing out the development
of the story and how many of the story elements evolved and changes
as the production progressed.
Now here is where it gets tough. There are so
many other extras on this 2-disc set that I could literally write
another couple thousand words on the matter. Since I don't want
to bore anyone to sleep with that, I'll try to hit the highlights.
First off, disc two is divided into two sections.
The monsters only section contains the "lighter" material,
geared mostly for the kids and those mildly interested in the world
of Monsters, Inc. The humans only section has all of the intensive
behind-the-scenes materials, with in-depth looks at the creative
process and some of the fun that goes on at the Pixar studios.
In the monsters section, you'll find the outtakes,
and two short films, For the Birds and Mike's New Car. Mike's New
Car is a cute film, but For the Birds is a masterpiece almost worth
the price of the disc all by itself. These three supplements are
also available through the main menu.
Also in the monsters section are a couple of games
and several pages of "history" of Monstropolis and Monsters,
Inc. You'll also find an "employee handbook" to guide
you through your first day of employment at Monsters., Inc. The
company play Mike refers to in the film can be found and rounding
things out are several TV and promotional spots.
The humans only section is where things really
heat up for movie and animation fans. You'll be treated to tours
of the Pixar studio as well as footage from their first annual paper
airplane flying contest.
It's not just all fun and games in the Pixar studios,
however, there is also a plethora [a little known secret of movie
reviews is that every reviewer is required to use the word "plethora"
at least once a year in a review] of featurettes on the evolution
of the story. There are also features on set design, the animation,
music and sound and the release of the film. A guide to the in jokes
is also included, for those who didn't catch them or didn't get
the some of the jokes the first time around.
One of my favorite extras is the 3D flyarounds.
This section displays a simple look at some of the "sets"
used in the film. The best is the look at the Monsters, Inc. factory,
which not only shows off the amazing attention to detail, but also
some of the subtle sound design.
There is a lot more available on in this set,
all of which is worthwhile. This isn't like some special editions,
that cram anything and everything (including the kitchen sink) in
an effort to "pad" the content. Rather, everything on
these two discs is quality content and although it may be overwhelming
to try to go through it all at once, it's certainly worth taking
it in a bit at a time.
:::back to top |
Pixar has a successfully added another classic
film to the animation genre. As with any good family film, this
one is equally as appealing to the adults as the kids. In other
words, if you don't have kids, you won't have to feel embarrassed
in the check out line and if you do have kids, well, this is must
have.
:::back to top |
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| Sit the kids down, fill
a bowl with popcorn and fire this one up. Family films don't get much
better than this. |
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| -- By Robert Wurth. Copyright
© 2003. |
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