There is no denying that Disney and it’s affiliated animation offspring Pixar have always had their finger on the pulse of what appeals to the young, and the young at heart.  Just when it seemed that things were going flat for the Mouse House, here came Pixar with Toy Story to breathe new life into the newly created animation wars between studios.  Pixar’s presence has allowed exploration into new aspects of youthful curiosity.  With their first few efforts, successful or not, they have delved into the wondrous side of the innocence, secrecy and curiosity behind the unknown.  Now, with Monsters Inc. they have explored, exploited and attempted to explain the lives behind the things that go bump in the night.  While the effort is breathtaking to look at, and at times innovative intelligent and creative, it falls prey to the same fate of A Bug’s Life, in that it presents a sharp, intelligent, entertaining setup, and conclusion, but the in between tends to lag a bit.  Since this is aimed at children, I base this on not only my reaction, being a kid at heart, but also on the fidgeting and impatience that I sensed through the middle parts of the film.  The overall wonderment, magic and universal appeal still manages to shine through in true Disney fashion and deliver a message that is nice to look and marvel at, but also touches something deep inside.

I’ve often wondered, did movies create the fear in children, or vice versa.  Were horror movies just the exorcised manifestation of the filmmaker’s youthful fears, or did they create a sense of paranoia, caution and dread in a new generation.  Regardless, for decades, the monster movie and stigma has always maintained a frightening, yet irresistible appeal.  Who among us cannot say they were not curious about what came up, when the lights when out.  How many of us can plead innocent to peeking a few times under our beds when we heard a strange noise, or saw something unidentifiable in the darkness (which usually turned out to be a shirt draped over a chair or something).  Once we did those things, our imaginations usually ran rampant with the possibilities of monsters, or evil beings waiting to take our souls, or our teeth.  Monsters Inc. must have been written by a group of grown-ups trying to expunge or explain those mysteries of youth, and what a job they do.  Monstropolis is a city populated by those creatures that come out of our closet, and from under our bed.  The city is inhabited with every type, big and small, young and old, who have normal jobs and lives, mirroring our own society right down to work habits, media exploitation and governmental cover-ups.  Mike and Sully (Goodman and Crystal) are best friends, who also work at Monsters Inc., the power company for the city.  You see, it’s the screams of young children, scared by the monsters that is harnessed for power and drives the city.  But there is a crisis, as the head of Monsters Inc (Coburn) says “Kids just aren’t as scared of monsters as they used to be” The race is then on, to set a new “scream” record, between Sully, the current leader, and Randal (Buscemi).  Now here comes the best part, in a fitting bit of irony, it turns out the monsters are more scared of us, then we are of them.  One touch can be deadly, they believe.  Everything is thrown into turmoil when a little girl gets into the factory, and the city, and generates fear and paranoia that, at first, is downright laughable, yet ironic.  With all this established in a masterfully written fashion, Monsters Inc then really has nowhere to go, because the same scenarios are repeated, or the typical paths are taken, and this is when the movie sags and slows itself to a near standstill.  But thankfully, the ending, including the requisite breathtaking visual scene, and establishment of the next ride at Disneyland, carries the movie to its expected feel good conclusion.  The voiceovers, which have now become a status symbol in Hollywood, are effective, and entertaining, especially Crystal, but it’s getting more difficult not to try and spend most of the movie figuring out who’s doing whom.  The joy of Prince of Egypt was its ability to steal the focus away from the voices, and into the story.  Here, I could almost see Coburn, Buscemi and Tilly hamming in front of the microphone.  A slight annoyance, but in the grand scheme of entertainment, Monsters Inc’s faults are definitely forgivable.

Ultimately, Monsters Inc. is a joyful, successful, witty thrill ride, which explores and exploits that which affects most people.  The fear of the unknown is probably what fuels our curiosity to explore and explain why things are the way they are.  These explanations, when taken to a serious level, can frighten us with possibility and probability of truthfulness.  This is why the horror movies that work the best, are the ones that strikes the closest to reality, or our perception of it.  Monsters Inc turns this perspective to another side, offering a lighter, believable, yet still slight fantasy based, version of the other side of things.  While it doesn’t maintain the consistently entertaining spirit, heart and active nature of Toy Story, it still will touch nearly every emotion, from smiles, to fear, to visual satisfaction, in an intelligent, yet universally appealing manner  ($$$ out of $$$$$)

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