Monsters, Inc.

With the voices of John Goodman and Billy…

Monsters, Inc.

With the voices of John Goodman and Billy Crystal

Directed by Pete Docter and David Silverman

Monstropolis. A bustling city like any other, with problems like any other, including an energy crisis and a population struggling to change with the times.

Monstropolis is a city that exists on the other side of the closet door, populated by the monsters that go bump in the night. The city is fueled by the screams of the kids in our world. The monsters scare to survive. Now, the kids aren’t being scared as easily because of the images they see on TV.

Pete Docter and David Silverman, the makers of “Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life,” directed “Monsters, Inc.” Like every Pixar movie, a memorable and motley crew of characters make up the cast, but James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the two big characters – though Mike is small, green and has only one eye.

While the “Toy Story” movies and “A Bug’s Life” were child-oriented with adult undertones, “Monsters, Inc.” takes the opposite approach. It is much more serious, but also very playful.

A kid gets into Monstropolis via an unclosed opening into the monster world. This creates very funny situations because the monsters are more afraid of the kid than the kid is of the monsters. But there is a more serious side to it, dealing with corruption of the CEO of the scare factory, Henry J. Waternoose (James Coburn), who is struggling with the energy crisis and the changing times.

“Monsters, Inc.” isn’t all serious. There is an excellent scene with the Abominable Snowman (John Ratzenberger) – who, along with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, has been banished from Monstropolis into the human world. The Snowman is incredibly funny and his scene is apropos. Adding to this memorable scene is the funny and uncanny resemblance of the Snowman to the Bumble from “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

“Monsters, Inc.” is an excellent movie, showing off new heights in animation. And it doesn’t hurt that the story is told in an exciting way. Anyone going to see “Monsters, Inc.” expecting to see “Toy Story 3” will be disappointed. The movie is fun, but more adult-oriented than the “Toy Story” movies.

— Dante A. Ciampaglia, staff writer