With all the talk about “Finding Nemo 2,” people have quieted down about Pixar’s other upcoming, wholly unnecessary follow-up, “Monsters University,” a prequel to 2001’s mischievous and heartwarming “Monsters, Inc.,” which illuminates the collegiate background of monsters James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). Yes, it is the story we were all dying for. While talking to Entertainment Weekly about some movie we’ve never heard of, Crystal gave some tantalizing details about what to expect from the prequel (due in theaters next summer).
“[Mike and Sully] end up in the same fraternity where they have this scare competition — like Greek Games in college,” Crystal told EW. “They have to mobilize a group, sort of like ‘Revenge of the Nerds’-monsters, and get them ready to be scary.” So, while the goofy teaser trailer (and the mere fact that they are monsters in college) suggested a riff on “Animal House,” it looks like it’s going for a more “Revenge of the Nerds”/”Midnight Madness” vibe, which kind of sounds just as boring. This is a universe where literally anything could happen? And you could push the visuals to even weirder places given the advancements in technology (the original “Monsters, Inc.” famously went over budget due to the money-intensive research and development associated with creating the monsters’ fur and skin) but making a college-based movie just seems….uninventive.
Crystal also revealed a tiny detail about the approximate age of his monstrous character in the new film. “They’re 17 and 18 years old in the script,” Crystal told the site. “My guy has a retainer, even.” Breaking: even monsters have to wear corrective headgear. On a serious tip, we wonder if that design element will make it into the final film – will Disney Consumer Products be down for toys with braces?
While we’re avowed fans of the original film (and just rode the great “Monsters, Inc.”-themed ride at Disney California Adventure – love the room with all the doors), we’re pretty skeptical about this new film. Especially since the first movie was one of the more self-contained Pixar efforts. Plus there’s the whole switch at the end of the first movie to the monsters not scaring kids but making them laugh, and now this prequel has to double back on that but (clearly) isn’t going to go darker. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Anyway… We hope to get excited about this thing sometime between now and the June 21st, 2013.
