Monsters, Inc. (2001) ft. Myke Emal
Guest:
Myke Emal
Host and Creator of the Cinemusts podcast
@cinemusts on Twitter, Letterboxd, Facebook, and IG
Previously on Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Sabotage (1936), Yojimbo (1961)
Cast:
Pete Docter, Director
Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson, Writers
Randy Newman, Music
Robert Grahamjones and Jim Stewart, Editing
John Goodman as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan
Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski
Mary Gibbs as Boo
Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs
James Coburn as Henry J. Waternoose
Jennifer Tilly as Celia Mae
Bob Peterson as Roz
John Ratzenberger as Yeti a.k.a. The Abominable Snowman
Frank Oz as Fungus
Daniel Gerson as Needleman and Smitty
Background:
Monsters, Inc. was released on November 2, 2001.
On a budget of $115 million, Monsters, Inc. grossed roughly $579.7 million to finish #3 at the worldwide box office for 2001.
Critics were generally positive on the film at the time, and it would go on to be nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Original Score, Sound Editing, and Animated Feature. Monsters, Inc. did win Best Original Song for "If I Didn't Have You."
In 2013, Monsters University - a prequel film - was released, and there is a third film in the works currently at Pixar.
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 242.
Monsters, Inc. currently holds a 96% among critics on RT, a 79 score on Metacritic, and 4.1/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: In Monsters, Inc., monsters power their world using children's screams. The top scarer, Sulley (John Goodman) and his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) accidentally let a little girl named Boo into their world. As they hide her, they uncover a sinister plot by the scheming Randall (Steve Buscemi) and their boss, Mr. Waternoose (James Coburn). In the end, they discover that laughter is far more powerful than screams.
Did You Know:
Mary Gibbs was so young that it proved difficult to get her to stand in the recording studio and act her lines. Instead, they simply followed her around with a microphone and cut Boo's lines together from the things she said while she played.
When Sulley greets Ted (the monster so big we only see the lower half of his body), Ted was originally supposed to roar like Godzilla. The filmmakers asked permission from Toho (Godzilla's film studio) to use a Godzilla roar, but Toho turned them down, so Ted responds with a chicken cluck instead. In one of the credit bloopers, though, he was revealed to be a dinosaur - Rex, from Toy Story (1995) - auditioning for a role in the movie.
Bob Peterson, the movie's story supervisor, provided the temporary voice of Roz, the green secretary, during production. The nasal, sing-song voice proved to be such a success that they kept it in the final film.
The restaurant that Mike and Celia are at is called Harryhausen's. This is an homage to Ray Harryhausen, the man who is one of the earliest practitioners of stop-motion photography and claymation and made the stop-motion animation (and now iconic) monsters for films like Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), and Clash of the Titans (1981). Also, the octopus behind the bar in the restaurant with only six legs is a reference to It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), a film in which Harryhausen created an octopus with six arms due to budget restrictions.
Jennifer Tilly, who plays Celia Mae, was married to Sam Simon who was one of the creators of The Simpsons (1989). She raved to the Pixar crew about a script she read written by a Simpsons director for an animated film. The director was Brad Bird and the script was for The Incredibles (2004) which became a Pixar film 3 years later.
To get Mary Gibbs to laugh on cue, Peter Docter would entertain her with sock puppets in the recording booth.
Best Performance: Pete Docter (Director)/Billy Crystal (Mike)
Best Secondary Performance: John Goodman (Sully)/Steve Buscemi (Randall)
Most Charismatic Award: Steve Buscemi (Randall)/Billy Crystal (Mike)
Best Scene:
After Hours
Boo at Sully's
Scream Extractor
Door Chase
Waternoose Fooled
Door Rebuilt
Favorite Scene: Boo at Sully's/Door Chase
Most Indelible Moment: Waternoose Fooled/Door Rebuilt
In Memorium:
Betty McGuire, 100, American actress (Growing Pains, Up in Smoke)
Richard Riehle, 78, American actor (Casino, Grounded for Life, Office Space, Bridesmaids, The Man from Earth)
Noah Adams, 84, American radio journalist (NPR)
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Mike: Can I borrow your odorant?
Sulley: Yeah, I got, uh, Smelly Garbage or Old Dumpster.
Mike: You got, uh, Low Tide?
Sulley: No.
Mike: How about Wet Dog?
Sulley: Yep. Stink it up.
Yeti: [Referring to despondent Sullivan] Aw, poor guy. I understand. It ain't easy being banished. Take my buddy Bigfoot. When he was banished he fashioned an enormous diaper out of poison ivy. Wore it on his head like a tiara. Called himself "King Itchy".
Waternoose: Kids these days. They just don't get scared like they used to.
Mike: I'm telling you, Big Daddy. You're gonna be seeing this face on TV more often.
Sulley: Yeah, like on "Monstropolis' Most Wanted"?
Mike: Ha, ha, ha. You've been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade, pal.
Boo: Kitty!
Roz: None of this ever happened, gentlemen. And I don't want to see any paperwork on it.
Needleman: So I said, "If you talk to me like that again, we're through."
Smitty: Oh! What did she say?
Needleman: You know my mom. She sent me to my room.
Charlie: Twenty-three nineteen! We have a Twenty-three nineteen!
Red Alert Computer Voice: Red alert. Red alert. Red alert. Red alert. Red alert.
Sulley: What was that?
Mike Wazowski: I have no idea. But it would be a really good idea if it didn't do it again.
Mike: What is that thing? [pause] It's big and it's moving. I don't like big moving things that are moving towards me.
Sulley: Ah, actually that's my uh, cousin's sister's daughter, sir.
Mike: Yeah, it's uh, "Bring an Obscure Relative to Work Day".
Henry J. Waternoose: Hmm, must have missed the memo.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 8.17
Impact/Significance: 9
Novelty: 8.67
Classic-ness: 8.17
Rewatchability: 7.17
Audience Score: 8.55 (8.1 IMDB, 90% RT)
Total: 49.73
Remaining Questions:
Does Sully maintain his relationship with Boo?
Does Mike marry Celia and what do their kids look like?
Does Randall ever find his way back to Monstropolis?
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