Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Image: Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios. Image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Image: Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios. Image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Image: Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios. Image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Image: Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios. Image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
Dutch postcard by Interstat, Amsterdam. Image: Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios. Image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
A lovable, confident, tough, furry blue behemoth-like giant monster named James P. Sullivan
The story of Monsters, Inc. (Peter Docter, Lee Unkrich, David Silverman, 2001) begins in a city of monsters with no humans called Monstropolis. Central to this world is the Monsters and Co. factory, where energy is generated to keep everything in the monster world running. This energy is obtained from the cries of fear of children.
The employees of the factory aim to scare children in order to collect these fear cries. To do this, they travel to children's bedrooms through special doors. The monsters themselves regard this work as very dangerous, as they believe that children are a danger to them. Therefore, any contact with children is avoided as much as possible.
A special unit, the Child Detection Agency (CDA), keeps a strict watch on all doors. However, things are not going well for the company because many children nowadays are not so easily frightened. The CEO of Monsters and Co., Henry J. Waternoose, has more and more trouble keeping the factory running.
The best employee of the company is a lovable, confident, tough, furry blue behemoth-like giant monster named James P. Sullivan (better known as Sulley). One day a little girl accidentally follows him into the monster world. Before he can send her back, the door to her room is returned to the storeroom.
Sulley is now forced to keep her hidden. He does this with the help of his wisecracking best friend and colleague, short, green cyclops monster Mike Wazowski. The two soon discover that all the stories about children being poisonous are false. The two give the girl the name Boo and try to find a way to send her back home. Until then, they disguise her as a monster.
French postcard by Cartoon Collection, Paris, no. 24357. Image: Disney / Pixar. Publicity still for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001).
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by J. Otto Seibold for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Dominique Louis and Albert Lozano for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Bob Pauley for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Harley Jessup for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
A monster-sized hit
Monsters, Inc. (2001) marks the first Pixar feature to not be directed by John Lasseter instead being helmed by Pete Docter, as well as Lee Unkrich and David Silverman who served as co-directors. It was Pete Docter's debut. The film was executive produced by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton.
The idea for Monsters, Inc. was conceived in a lunch in 1994 attended by Lasseter, Docter, Stanton, and Joe Ranft during the production of Toy Story. One of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming session was a film about monsters. Docter began developing the film in 1996 and wrote the story with Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, and Ralph Eggleston. Stanton wrote the screenplay with screenwriter Daniel Gerson.
The characters went through many incarnations over the film's five-year production process. The technical team and animators found new ways to simulate fur and cloth realistically for the film. Randy Newman, who composed the music for Pixar's three prior films, returned to compose for its fourth.
Upon its release, Monsters, Inc. received critical acclaim. At AllMovie, Derek Armstrong wrote: "Even with a pastel universe of computer tricks at their disposal, the story is what really pushes a Pixar movie over the top - what made the Toy Story movies so grand, and what left A Bug's Life short of greatness. Monsters, Inc. may burst at the seams with visual stimulants, but it's the delightful premise, fleshed out through a superior script, that helped scare up one of the largest opening weekends ever, paving the way for a monster-sized hit."
The film grossed over $577 million worldwide and became the third highest-grossing film of 2001. Monsters, Inc. was nominated for the first Best Animated Feature Oscar but lost to DreamWorks' Shrek (Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, 2001). The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'If I Didn't Have You' and was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing.
Monsters, Inc. saw a 3D re-release in theatres in 2012. A prequel titled Monsters University, which was directed by Dan Scanlon was released in 2013. A television series/sequel titled Monsters at Work premiered on Disney+ in 2021. Oh yes, and not to forget to mention: No monsters were harmed in the making of this motion picture.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Japanese poster for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Harley Jessup for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Jill Culton for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Harley Jessup for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Geefwee Boedoe for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Geefwee Boedoe for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Film image for Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards, published by Chronicle Books.
Sources: Derek Armstrong (AllMovie), Karl Williams (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.
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