WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
I realised when writing this review that I hadn’t seen Monsters, Inc. since it was released back in 2001! I’ll be honest, no offense to Pixar but the animation really has not held up to the test of time. Now to the importance of this article, was it worth making a prequel?
Character Connections
This is something I always enjoy about prequels, and that’s the reveal of the fact that characters have more of a connection to each other than you realise from the first film. In this case, I’m talking specifically about Mike and Randall (well, Randy as he’s known in Monsters, Inc.). Now, I expected, based on their friendship in the original film, that Sully was going to be Mike’s room mate at university, but I was wrong (well you know what they say about assuming…) It actually turned out to be Randall – the bad guy from the Monsters, Inc. They start out as friends but, once Randy joins Roar Kappa Roar that’s all over.
Feud Findings
It turns out, thanks to Monsters University, that the animosity Randall has for Sully begins thanks to the Scare Games. We see throughout the first film that Randall is jealous of Sully’s success and it seems to be the reason he teams up with Waternoose to harness screams differently. To think that being beaten in a simple tournament can make someone hold on to a grudge for so long…
Confusing Changes
Now let’s talk about the one thing I hate about prequels. I think I’ve talked about this previously when I covered the Ouija films but it’s been a common trait of mine to repeat myself. Prequels have a habit of changing backstories and information about characters that we have found out in the first film – little bit of a flaw to being made afterwards I guess. In this case, I’m talking about the relationship between Mike and Sully. In Monsters, Inc. when the pair of them are heading to work, Mike says to Sully ‘You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the 4th grade’ which says they’ve known each other a long time, right? Well, Monsters University would beg to differ. According to the prequel, they meet for the first time in their Scare 101 class in their first year at university. You see my issue?
Clear Cameos
Maybe using the word clear is wrong, but I like the alliteration, OK! Out of the two I’m going to mention, one is pretty obvious (well, it was to me anyway) and the other was quite a nice realisation.
First, let’s talk about Roz. This one was the obvious one for me because, even though I hadn’t seen Monsters, Inc. for 20 years, her voice is so distinctive that I knew it was her in the CDA suit towards the end of Monsters University when Mike and Sully come back from the real world. Like I said, it may not be obvious to everyone as quickly but once you watch them back to back it definitely becomes clear. In all honesty, I had forgotten that Roz was still a member of CDA in Monsters, Inc.
Then there’s the Abominable Snowman. It is revealed at the end of Monsters University that the Abominable Snowman we meet in the first film when Sully and Mike are banished – was actually their boss when they started out in the mail room at Monsters, Inc. at the end of the prequel. Either that or it’s just a coincidence that John Ratzenberger voices them both. If they’re not the same character, why use the same actor?
In Conclusion
Truthfully, I have no issue with the fact that Monsters University was made. Weirdly, I slightly prefer the plot line. However, and this is really a statement about prequels in general – please, please if you’re making a prequel, stick to the same backstory because it just makes it a little confusing when you change it.
