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Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

List Price: $29.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My all-time favorite Disney Movie
Review: My kids are 13 and 17, and we've been going to Disney movies together since they were babies--with no end in sight, thanks to Pixar. Of all the Disney movies, the Pixars are our favorite, and this is the best of all of them, in our opinion. I can see why Disney will make a fortune on this movie as they did with all the other Pixar movies--they appeal to the whole family, so it is no hardship to the parents to sit through the show multiple times with their eager kids, and, of course, we all want to own the DVD!

Speaking of which, this DVD is a 2-disc collector's edition with many bonus features, including several short animated films, the filmmakers' audio commentary, and hilarious outtakes. You also have a chance to tour and become an employee at the Monsters, Inc. Factory and also take a tour of the real-live Pixar Animation Studios.

As for Monsters, Inc., itself, what I personally love most of all in the Pixar movies is the great humor, and this movie is a scream. Billy Crystal (When Harry Met Sally) is one of my favorite comedians, and he is wonderful as the voice of Mike Wizowski, a small, one-eyed, monster who is full of hilarious neuroses. John Goodman (The Flintstones) is a favorite comedian of mine, too. The character he voices, the large, loveable, fuzzy monster named James P Sullivan, melds in a perfect, comic team with Billy Crystal's character. Steven Bucemi (Con Air) always does a great job as a scary villain, and he is super as the voice of the slimy Randall Boggs. The actor voicing the tiny girl in the movie is fabulous, too, and the character herself is adorable.

As usual, the Pixar animation is mind-bogglingly gorgeous. My favorite scene in the whole movie is when James P is going through multiple, magical doors into child's room after child's room, all around the world. Some of the animation art in those rooms is so stunning, it could hang in a museum. I particularly liked the Paris bedroom.

Finally, one of the most important parts of a movie is the ending, and I found the closing in this one both funny and very moving.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great animation; fun for kids and parents
Review: You know how a dressing gown hanging on the back of your door can look like someone standing there? Or how a noise in the night sounds like a monster tip-toeing down the hall? Kids get scared and call in their parents: there's something in the closet, Daddy! But what if there really were?

"Monsters, Inc." is a look at the other side of the closet door, in Pixar's finest animation. What you'll find through that door is a whole civilization of monsters, who scare children for a living; and one particular monster, James P. Sullivan, brilliantly voiced by John Goodman, who has a run-in with a little girl. Billy Crystal plays Mike Wazowski, the comic sidekick -- the guy who looks like a one-eyed green soccer ball with arms and legs on the DVD cover; Sullivan is the purplish hairy thing behind him. They work in a scream factory -- hey, what do you think monsters do all day? The girl is a toddler, barely verbal, and cute as a bug, and she's the center of some of the funniest action scenes in the movie.

There's not a lot to say about the plot, except that it supports some great action and some pretty good comedy work. Crystal does a fine job, but Goodman's deadpan delivery is even better -- his "slumber party" line was my favourite of the movie. The slapstick is up to the standard you'd expect, and there are even a couple of lines aimed at the adults that the kids may not quite catch.

In many ways the movie is designed to appeal to a Daddy/daughter combination more than anything else; there's a definite tinge of "what will I do when my little girl grows up and leaves me?" to the movie. I don't want to give anything away, but Dads should watch this with their six year old girls snuggled up next to them.

The only reason I haven't given it five stars is that although it's fun, beautifully-animated, and very well voiced, I don't think it quite has that spark that makes an animated feature a long-term classic, the way some of the best Disney movies are. It's not a musical, by the way -- there's not a song in it. But if it isn't the best Disney have ever produced, it does have panache, style, and a sense of humour. You'll enjoy it, and so will your kid.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Not-Half-Bad Waste of Several Hours
Review: While I'm not the biggest fan of Disney flicks, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to check out an advance copy of Monsters Inc's deluxe 2-DVD set. Aside from the amazing CGI work that has made Pixar a pre-eminent production company in the field, I found M-Eye to be a decent presentation that makes little effort to break the hackneyed Disney character format of the strong-yet-gentle hero, his cynical motormouth of a sidekick who always has plenty of snide remarks to lay out, and the slimy, underhanded villain. Interestingly enough, I found the guys who voiced these roles-- John Goodman, Billy Crystal, and Steve Buscemi, respectively-- to fit their characters perfectly. And the usual silly moments that you'd expect from a Disney toon-film also pop up from time to time. Otherwise, it's a fairly charming and safe movie for the young'uns-- well, except perhaps for the Abominable Snowman's lemon snow cones and the deep belch gag-- and a not-half-bad diversion for the young at heart.

The secondary commentary track, covered by four of the picture's producers and/or directors, discusses the talents of the voice actors and some of the original concepts for the film to a small degree. But for the most part their coverage is on the technical aspects of the flick, such as the difficulties of trying to imitate certain surfaces, textures, and shading in CGI (like Sully's "fur", for example). I was especially amused by their discussion of how incredibly cavernous the door-storage facility "set" was, which allegedly could fit the Statue of Liberty on each "floor", were it a real set. The THX-mastered picture and sound were top-notch in the way of sharpness and clarity.

Much like its other deluxe 2-Disc Disney cinematic brethren (Snow White, Tron, et. al.), The House of The Mouse and Pixar threw in everything but the kitchen sink onto the second platter. There's an entire behind-the-scenes tour of Pixar Studios that outlines the production of Monsters Inc from the voice acting to storyboarding and many other phases of production. There's also an M-Eye 'blooper reel', company play program, deleted scenes, a couple of bonus Pixar shorts (both with commentary tracks), storyboard & concept art galleries, the Monsters, Inc training guide, games for the kids, and lotsa other tchotchkes that'll likely take many hours for you to go through. If you don't find one part of interest, simply check something else out!

Then there's the 'practical' special features. The English subtitles match up very well with the spoken dialogue, and even describe some of the sounds being made in each scene. You can also select between widescreen and standard pan-and-scan presentations! You know, just in case your TV screen isn't big enough for you to fully appreciate the widescreen format, or something of the like...

'Late

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bring out the kid in you -- or the kid with you
Review: Pixar, Inc. must have the exclusive drilling rights to childhood joy. Given that they have now made not one, not two, but FOUR movies in a row that are grand fun for kids and adults everywhere, I can't think of any other explanation. Like Disney in the early part of the 20th century, they are taking a medium -- in this case, computer-generated rather than hand-drawn animation -- exploring it vigorously and joyfully, and putting this new technology in the service of some terrific storytelling.

Rather than rehash fairy tales or rework legends, Pixar are trying something a little daring: creating movies that are totally new, not based on any existing material, but have the timelessness of children's stories. "Monsters, Inc." is their newest movie and it's a beaut -- at least as good as "Toy Story" was, if not better.

The premise is a tad more sophisticated this time: A parallel world much like ours, except populated by closet-monsters, who depend on childhood nightmares to fuel their machines and gadgets. The actual "mining" is done by an outfit named Monsters, Inc., who teleport themselves into kid's closets and pop out, then capture the screams in special ampules. This is all terrifically clever, and the movie has great fun with the details of the process. I loved one shot where a monster pops back out of the closet with a whole armful of ampules, and says "Slumber party."

As would be expected, something goes amiss, and soon enough a kid winds up crossing over into Monsterland. Kids themselves are treated like toxic waste -- or maybe Roswell aliens -- and soon the problem of an escaped kid mushrooms into one wildly funny situation after another. What's even better is the ultimate payoff, which comes from totally unexpected directions.

Technically the movie is outstanding. Pixar's animators aren't trying to make everything look photorealistic (think of the technically astounding but ill-fated "Final Fantasy"), but they make it convincing, and that's what matters. We see this universe and we accept it on its own terms instead of going "Oh, that's CGI" every five minutes.

This movie is proof that computer graphics are a medium, and that the medium is open-ended: we can make it into any kind of conveyor we want, provided we have the talent to tell a story that matters to people with it. Disney's recent decline seems to be due to them simply running out of ideas; Pixar is picking up where they left off and going into uncharted territory, and having a great time as well.

This is one of the very few DVDs that belongs in just about every collection. There isn't a soul out there that won't dig it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sweet film
Review: This movie has the wit and charm we have come to expect from Pixar, together with a dose of sentiment we expect from Disney. Does it work? Why, yes it does! The balance of funny vs. soppy works very well in this picture. A far superior effort to Finding Nemo, I would recommend this to anybody of any age

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BEST MOVIE EVER
Review: I go to the movies every Friday with my friends (I'm 13), and one of them said we should see Monsters Inc, because there was nothing playing, NO ONE ELSE wanted to see it. Especially me. But since there was nothing else playing, I went to see it, and it was the best movie I ever saw in my WHOLE LIFE. It was sooooooooooo good. At the end, I cried all 19 (yes 19) times I saw it. It WAS THE BESTTTTTTTT!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shrek Who?
Review: Disney/Pixar has made another classic. They are an unstoppable force of brilliant movies. They've done the impossible and topped "Toy Story 2" with this one. This was the best movie of last year. I can't wait to own the DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: This is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time! The computorazantion was amazing. It looks real almost. The textures, and espically Boo. She looks like a real 2 year old child. I was so happy when I heard it was coming out on video. I have been wanting and waititng for it to come out since the first time I saw it at the movies. If you haven't seen it yet, do not wait. It is a good heart filled movie with good laughs, wonderful and remeberable characters and cathchy lines. A MUST SEE!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best Disney Movie in 12 years.
Review: This is a great movie. Disney after Beauty and the Beast, movie wise was going down hill(for the exception of the Toy Stories)but this movie is bringing back the Disney magic. The story line follows two monsters, part of Monsters inc. Monsters inc. is a company in the monster world that collects childrens screams. Monsters really are afraid of children. But a little girl who the monsters find in the human world comes in to the monster world. It has the Disney Storyline that we have been missing for so long. The CGI makes it look really cool. A definite Must buy. A mesterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Disney fans, enjoy the cutest movie!
Review: This has got to be one of the best animated movies to come out for a few years. Disney had me worried with all of the sequels (some of which were shoddy and Disney should not have resorted to that extreme hehe) but then out came Monsters, Inc. I wandered into that movie by a chance date and came out so completely in love with it that I saw it another three times that week alone!

It's an incredibly cute movie about Monsters, Inc., a company that scares children and uses their screams to power the city. Through the use of wonderful characters and a unique plot, you will start to feel the emotions that are portrayed on screen. A must have for anyone with kids or any fan of Disney movies!


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