Monsters, Inc. (2001)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2001
	Director: Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out), David Silverman (The Simpsons Movie), Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2-3, Finding Nemo)
	Actors (voices): Billy Crystal, John Goodman (The Big Lebowski), Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi (Con Air, Armageddon), James Coburn (The Great Escape), Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky), Frank Oz (The Empire Strikes Back)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 08.11.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Mike (Crystal) and Sullivan (Goodman) work for a Monsters company that produces energy from the screams of children awaken at night by them coming out from under the bed or in the closet.
Review: Already 14 years ago, Pixar was producing this movie with a digital technology that was evolving incredibly fast. This allowed them to do something far more complex than before, but at the same time I can now see the limitations in the animation of that time. For example a lot of attention was paid to reproduce a good-looking fur for Sullivan, but in contrast I find that the characters and the sets around them lack of detail. For more on the evolution of Pixar one can watch the interesting 2007 documentary The Pixar Story. I can critisize the visual quality with today's eye, but it doesn't really matter because what is great in Monsters Inc. is the original idea (who thought of that?!?) and the way the story unfolds. In a nutshell, the movie manages to provide an all-too-rare quasi-perfect mix of comedy (mainly around Mike), emotion (around Sullivan and Boo) and a little bit of romance (Celia) and drama (with Randall). This is a goal most american computer-animated movied aim at, but very few actually reach it. For more of Mike and Sullivan you can also watch the "prequel" Monsters University from 2013.
Rating: 7 /10