Monsters, Inc. (2001)
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Two monsters must protect a human toddler who accidentally enters their world of scream-harvesting energy.
The story
In a world where monsters harvest screams from human children to power their city, a top scarer and his neurotic assistant face an unexpected crisis. When a toddler girl named Boo accidentally wanders into the factory, the pair must navigate the dangerous monster world to return her home. They soon discover that the girl's laughter is even more powerful than screams, but they must keep her hidden from the authorities while dealing with a conspiracy within the company.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the city of Monstropolis, monsters use 'scarers' to enter the human world and harvest screams for energy. James P. 'Sulley' Sullivan and his friend Mike Wazowski work at the factory until Sulley accidentally lets a human toddler, Boo, into the facility. While trying to hide her from the Child Detection Agency, they discover her laughter generates massive amounts of energy. The plot thickens as they learn that the CEO, Henry J. Waternoose, is conspiring with a villainous scarer, Randall Boggs, to use a machine to forcibly extract screams. After being separated and sent to the Himalayas, Sulley rescues Boo from the machine. They eventually defeat Randall and expose Waternoose's plot to the authorities. The film ends with Sulley becoming the new CEO and retooling the factory to harvest laughter, while Mike becomes the top comedian and reunites with Boo.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Pete Docter
- Writers
- Andrew Stanton · screenplay; Daniel Gerson · screenplay; Pete Docter · story; Jill Culton · story; Jeff Pidgeon · story; Ralph Eggleston · story
- Cast and characters
- John Goodman · James P. "Sulley" Sullivan; Billy Crystal · Mike Wazowski; Steve Buscemi · Randall Boggs; James Coburn · Henry J. Waternoose; Jennifer Tilly · Celia Mae; Mary Gibbs · Boo; Bob Peterson · Roz; John Ratzenberger · Yeti a.k.a. The Abominable Snowman
- Genres
- animated; fantasy; comedy
- Themes
- friendship; discovery
- Tone and mood
- cheerful; high-energy
- Premise and plot tags
- buddy comedy; fantasy; animation
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2001.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 96% · scale: percentage · review count: 191; Metacritic · score: 79 · scale: 100 · review count: 35
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Song · win
- Production trivia
- The film's title is a play on the title of the gangster film Murder, Inc.; The technical team developed a new fur simulation program called 'Fizt'.; The scene involving a restaurant was changed from an explosion to a plasma dome due to the September 11 attacks.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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