Monsters University (2013)


The second of today's movies is the prequel to Monsters, Inc., Monsters University.

The Movie:

 Monsters University is the 14th film from Pixar.  Though it wasn't as highly acclaimed as the first movie, it received generally positive reviews and outperformed the first film at the box office.

Monster University begins with the childhood of Mike Wazowski, who commits himself to being accepted at the title school and becoming a scarer.  Mike succeeds in the first goal, and works hard to be the best student in the program.  However, Mike's work effort contrasts with that of his classmate, Sulley, who has all the physical makings of a scarer but not the grades.  When both Mike and Sulley are kicked out of the program by Dean Hardscrabble, they must find a way to prove themselves to her and their fellow students.

While the idea of a sequel to Monsters, Inc. has potential, this was once again not a movie people were necessarily asking for.  That being said, does it recapture the magic of the first movie?  No, not really.  It's not a bad movie by any means, and there's a good message in the story.  However, the plot is a fairly standard college movie.  While the first movie was very creative in drawing you into its world, this one just happens to exist in that world.  And although we do get to see the character development of Mike and Sulley into more of the personalities that they had in the first movie, their friendship was at the heart of the first movie.  Because they spend much of this movie as foils for one another, it doesn't quite have the same heart.

Randy Newman returns for this movie and provides another fine score.  The music has a very collegiate feel, and several tracks feature the drum line from the Blue Devils Drum Corps to help with the marching band sound.  Other tracks provide the grandeur of academia, befitting the movie's setting.

Presence in the Parks:

 When this movie came out, the WDW Monsters, Inc. attractions got some minor updates.  The now gone character meet at Hollywood Studios was revamped to feature the character looks from this movie, and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor added a few references to this movie.  But given how the first movie is more iconic, that one remains the bigger focus of the two in the parks.

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