Volume CXXXIII, Number 9 November 9, 2001 f

Disney's Monsters, Inc. scores with young folks
MONICA GUZMAN
STAFF WRITER

Courtesy of emovies.com

There are few things in life more impishly entertaining than sitting in the middle of a movie theater, crowded with restless toddlers and screaming babies, while watching cranky mothers fight a futile battle to keep their little kids quiet, seated, and constantly supplied with Gummi Bears. This, my fellow adults-in-training, is the chaos that is the kids' movie. More specifically, it was the scene at a Sunday afternoon showing of Disney's Monsters, Inc., and I couldn't have asked for a more lively viewing atmosphere.

Monsters, Inc. examines every child's fear of monsters in the closet from an enlightening new perspective: that of the hardworking monsters themselves--regular joes who are just as scared of children as they are of them. James Sullivan (voice of John Goodman), is the most renowned "scarer" at Monstropolis's largest "scare factory," Monsters, Inc. Assisted by his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), he saunters through teleporting doors into kids' bedrooms and scares up the "scream energy" that powers the city's electrical needs. When one brave little child trespasses into their world, panic strikes as the two work to bring little "Boo" back to her bedroom, learning along the way that children really aren't as scary as they seem.

In the tradition of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, Pixar Animation Studios and Disney have again made me wish I was twelve years younger. Granted, this movie isn't quite as adult-friendly as the Toy Stories were; its theme is much more kid-geared, which means that more things do not make any sense. Kids don't care at all about this, but cynical seen-too-many-movies wanna-be critics like me do. Thankfully, the infantile atmosphere in the theater helped me revert to a more blissfully ignorant youth--I think I may have let out a few piercing little-kid giggles as a result….

John Goodman and Billy Crystal fit their voices to these monsters' personalities almost exactly. Kudos to the animators for their precision--and to Billy Crystal for agreeing to appear as a green one-eyed walking ball.

This fantastical story is truly delightful and fun to follow, even for grown ups who know better. There was never a dull moment, which became painfully obvious when a little girl near me started jumping up and down with anticipation at the fast-paced ending. Or maybe she just had to go to the bathroom….