Monsters, Inc. (also known as Monsters, Incorporated)[1] is a media franchise produced by Pixar and owned by the Walt Disney Company.[2] The franchise takes place in a universe parallel to the real world where monsters are the citizens of society and harness the energy of human children to power their cities. The company known as Monsters, Inc. accomplishes this with portal doors which lead to their bedrooms.
| Monsters, Inc. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | |
| Original work | Monsters, Inc. (2001) |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Years | 2001–present |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
|
| Short film(s) |
|
| Animated series | Monsters at Work (2021–present) |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | List of video games |
| Audio | |
| Soundtrack(s) |
|
| Original music | Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites (2002) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Theme park attraction(s) |
|
Feature films
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. introduces the monster world, where Monstropolis is powered by the screams of human children as monsters enter the human world at night and scare children through their bedroom closets. One evening when a little girl called "Boo" accidentally enters the monster world, friends James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski must find a way to hide her from the authorities and return her to her world and, in the process, they learn that not everything they have been led to believe about humans is true.
The film was released on November 2, 2001, in the United States, surpassing Toy Story 2 (1999) and peaked as the second highest-grossing animated film of all time, behind 1994's The Lion King at the time.[3] It was one of the first animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature but lost to Shrek.
Monsters University (2013)
A prequel to the first film, Monsters University tells Sulley and Mike's backstory. The future friends meet at college and initially start off as enemies, but end up on the same team in the university's "Scare Games", where they and their team of misfits must beat the odds and win the competition, or be expelled from school. As the team struggles, the two learn to work together, and slowly become best friends. The film was released in the United States on June 21, 2013.
Television series
Monsters at Work is a sequel television series to Monsters, Inc. produced by Disney Television Animation for Disney+. It was announced in a Disney press release on November 9, 2017, as part of a list of in development series for The Walt Disney Company's then-upcoming streaming service.[4] On April 9, 2019, it was revealed that the show would be titled Monsters at Work and premiere in spring 2021.[5] Seven of the original cast would return, including John Goodman and Billy Crystal reprising their roles as Sulley and Mike, respectively.[6] On February 24, 2021, it was announced that it would be released on July 2,[7] followed by a delay to July 7.[8] In September 2021, it was indicated that a second season is in development. It was later officially announced at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022, with Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers replacing Bobs Gannaway and Stephen J. Anderson as showrunner and supervising director for season 2.[9] The second season was released on April 5, 2024, on Disney Channel and was released on Disney+ on May 5, 2024.[10]
The series begins the day after Monsters, Incorporated has switched to laugh power and follows Tylor Tuskmon (Ben Feldman), who hopes to be promoted to the Laugh Floor alongside Mike and Sulley.[11]
Short films
Mike's New Car (2002)
Party Central (2013)
Party Central is a six-minute[12] short animated film, featuring characters from Monsters University. It premiered on August 9, 2013, at the D23 Expo. The short was set to be released theatrically with The Good Dinosaur in 2014,[13] before the film was pushed back to 2015. Instead, it was theatrically released on March 21, 2014, with Muppets Most Wanted.[12] The short was written and directed by Kelsey Mann, story supervisor on Monsters University.[12] The cast consists of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Peter Sohn, Julia Sweeney, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Bobby Moynihan, and Joel Murray.[14]
Set shortly after the events of Monsters University, the Oozma Kappa fraternity organizes a party, but no one shows up. Mike and Sulley arrive and use door stations to steal visitors from another party going on at the Roar Omega Roar fraternity.[13]
Reception
Box office performance
The film series has grossed a total of $1,306,110,769, making the Monsters, Inc. franchise the 15th highest-grossing animated film franchise.
Monsters, Inc. ranked No. 1 at the box office its opening weekend, grossing $62,577,067 in North America alone. The film had a small drop-off of 27.2% over its second weekend, earning another $45,551,028. In its third weekend, the film experienced a larger decline of 50.1%, placing itself in the second position just after Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In its fourth weekend, however, there was an increase of 5.9%. Making $24,055,001 that weekend for a combined total of over $562 million. It is the seventh biggest (in US$) fourth weekend ever for a film.[15][16]
Monsters University has earned $268,227,670 in North America, and $475,066,843 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $743,294,513.[17] The film earned $136.9 million on its opening weekend worldwide. For unknown reasons, Disney declined to provide a budget for the film, although Boxoffice.com cites a budget of a total of $270 million.[18] Entertainment Weekly speculated that it was higher than that of Brave ($185 million), mostly due to high cost of John Goodman and Billy Crystal reprising their roles.[19] Shockya, a subsidiary website of CraveOnline, estimated the budget to be $200 million, on par with Toy Story 3 (2010) and Cars 2 (2011).[20]
| Film | U.S. release date | Box office gross | All-time ranking[21] | Budget | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. and Canada | Other territories | Worldwide | U.S. and Canada | Worldwide | ||||
| Monsters, Inc. | November 2, 2001 | $289,916,256 | $272,900,000 | $562,816,256 | #114 | #196 | $115,000,000 | [22] |
| Monsters University | June 21, 2013 | $268,492,764 | $475,066,843 | $743,559,607 | #125 | #123 | $200,000,000 | [17] |
| Total | $558,143,926 | $747,966,843 | $1,306,110,769 | $315,000,000 | ||||
Critical and public response
| Film | Critical | Public | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore | |
| Monsters, Inc. | 96% (199 reviews)[23] | 79 (35 reviews)[24] | A+[25] |
| Monsters University | 80% (203 reviews)[26] | 65 (41 reviews)[27] | A[28] |
| Monsters at Work | 65% (26 reviews)[29] | 55 (9 reviews)[30] | — |
Cast and characters
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the Monsters, Inc. franchise.
- An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- Y indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Feature films | Short films | Television series | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monsters, Inc. | Monsters University | Mike's New Car | Party Central | Monsters at Work | |
| James P. "Sulley" Sullivan | John Goodman | ||||
| Michael "Mike" Wazowski | Billy Crystal | Billy Crystal Noah JohnstonY |
Billy Crystal | ||
| Boo | Mary Gibbs | Drawing | |||
| Randall "Randy" Boggs | Steve Buscemi | Steve Buscemi | |||
| Henry J. Waternoose III | James Coburn | Photograph | Photograph | ||
| Celia Mae | Jennifer Tilly | Jennifer TillyS1 Roxana OrtegaS2 | |||
| Roz CDA Agent #001 |
Bob Peterson | Bob Peterson | |||
| Jeff Fungus | Frank Oz | Christopher Swindle | |||
| Smitty | Daniel Gerson | Stephen Stanton | |||
| Needleman | |||||
| Jerry Slugworth | Steve Susskind | Silent cameo | |||
| Yeti Abominable / Adorable Snowman |
John Ratzenberger | John Ratzenberger | |||
| Mrs. Flint | Bonnie Hunt | Photograph | Bonnie Hunt | ||
| Thaddeus "Phlegm" Bile | Jeff Pidgeon | Christopher Swindle | |||
| George Sanderson | Sam Black | Silent role | Silent cameo | Stephen Stanton | |
| Charlie | Philip Proctor | Silent cameo | Christopher Swindle | ||
| Peter "Claws" Ward | Joe Ranft | Silent cameo in end credits | Silent cameo | ||
| Dean Abigail Hardscrabble | Helen Mirren | ||||
| Professor Derek Knight | Alfred Molina | Alfred Molina | |||
| Scott "Squishy" Squibbles | Peter Sohn | Peter Sohn | |||
| Don Carlton | Joel Murray | Joel Murray | |||
| Terry Perry | Dave Foley | Dave Foley | |||
| Terri Perry | Sean P. Hayes | Sean P. Hayes | |||
| Art | Charlie Day | Charlie Day | |||
| Sherri Squibbles | Julia Sweeney | Julia Sweeney | |||
| Johnny J. Worthington III | Nathan Fillion | Nathan Fillion | |||
| Chet Alexander | Bobby Moynihan | Bobby Moynihan | |||
| Carrie Williams | Beth Behrs | Unspecified voice actress | |||
| Brock Pearson | Tyler Labine | ||||
| Claire Wheeler | Aubrey Plaza | Aubrey Plaza | |||
| Mrs. Karen Graves | Bonnie Hunt | ||||
| "Frightening" Frank McCay | John Krasinski | Silent cameo | |||
| Rosie Levin | Colleen O'Shaughnessey | Alanna Ubach | |||
| Referee | Bill Hader | ||||
| Slug | Silent cameo | ||||
| Carla "Killer Claws" Benitez | Silent cameo | Alanna Ubach | |||
| Mom | Colleen O'Shaughnessey | ||||
| Dad / Henry | Jim Ward | ||||
| Timmy | Cristina Pucelli | ||||
| Tylor Tuskmon | Ben Feldman | ||||
| Fritz | Henry Winkler | ||||
| Val Little | Mindy Kaling | ||||
| Duncan P. Anderson | Lucas Neff | ||||
| Katherine "Cutter" Sterns | Alanna Ubach | ||||
| Roze | Bob Peterson | ||||
| Roto | Bobs Gannaway | ||||
| Winchester "Banana Bread" | Dee Bradley Baker | ||||
| Gary Gibbs | Gabriel Iglesias | ||||
| Otis | Bobs Gannaway | ||||
| Millie Tuskmon | Aisha Tyler | ||||
| Bernard Tuskmon | John Ratzenberger | ||||
| Mr. Crummyham | Curtis Armstrong | ||||
| Virginia Tuskmon Grandma Tuskmon |
Jenifer Lewis | ||||
| Jack and Jill | Joe Lo Truglio Ali Wong | ||||
| Roger Rogers Henry J. Waternoose IV |
Rhys Darby | ||||
Crew
| Film | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Executive Producer(s) | Composer | Editor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monsters, Inc. | Pete Docter co-directed by: Lee Unkrich and David Silverman |
Original Story by: Pete Docter, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon and Ralph Eggleston Screenplay by: Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson |
Darla K. Anderson | John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton | Randy Newman | Robert Grahamjones & Jim Stewart |
| Monsters University | Dan Scanlon | Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird and Dan Scanlon | Kori Rae | John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich | Greg Snyder |
Video games
- Monsters, Inc. (Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2)
- Monsters, Inc. Scream Team (PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2)
- Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena (GameCube)
- Monsters, Inc. Scream Team Training (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Monsters, Inc. Bowling for Screams (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Monsters, Inc. Eight Ball Chaos (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Monsters, Inc. Monster Tag (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Monsters, Inc. Pinball Panic (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Mike's Monstrous Adventure (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)
- Cars Mater-National Championship (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Wii)
- Cars Race-O-Rama (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable)
- Monsters, Inc. Run (iOS)
- Monsters University: Catch Archie (Android, iOS)
- Disney Infinity (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS)
- Disney Magic Kingdoms (Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows)
- Lego The Incredibles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS)
- Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows)
- Disney Heroes: Battle Mode (Android, iOS)
- Disney Mirrorverse (Android, iOS)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS)
Theme park attractions
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is an interactive animated comedy club show attraction based on the Monsters, Inc. franchise in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.[31]
It opened on April 2, 2007, replacing the Circle-Vision attraction The Timekeeper. The characters from the 2001 and 2013 Disney/Pixar animated films Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University that appear in the attraction are Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and Roz (Bob Peterson). By November 2006, the attraction as Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club was going through a testing phase, expecting regular operation in January 2007.[31] The attraction was nominated for the 6th Annual VES Awards – Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project in 2008, but lost to Dinosaurs – Giants of Patagonia.[32]
Subsequent to the 2013 release of Monsters University, a new "commercial" sequence was added during the pre-show which has Monsters University student Art (Charlie Day) advertise the "Monsters University School of Laughter", replacing the "Comedy Detection Agency" sequence that Wazowski introduces.
On October 27, 2020, following Walt Disney World's reopening after its temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the resort announced the layoff of several entertainment shows, including the Citizens of Hollywood at Disney's Hollywood Studios. These layoffs were the result of a dispute between the Actors' Equity Association and Walt Disney World, which also affected the cast providing live voices for Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. The attraction has since reopened.[33]
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! is a dark ride attraction in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is based on the 2001 Disney/Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. It opened on January 22, 2006.[34] The audio animatronic of Roz is the only figure in the ride that is fully animated, complete with a moving mouth and interactivity. The attraction replaced the short-lived Superstar Limo dark ride.[35]
This attraction had two major closures: on April 15, 2012 before, during, and after the deresolution (derezzolution) of ElecTRONica (albeit with scaffolding, yellow/brown canvas, and scrims covering the building alongside blue construction walls) and in August–September 2022 with scaffolding, blue canvas, and scrims covering the building alongside large yellow construction walls.
Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek
Similar to Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, Ride & Go Seek is an interactive dark ride attraction in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Monstropolis
In August 2024 at the D23 expo event, it was announced that a Monsters, Inc. themed land, which is under the name Monstropolis, will be built at Disney's Hollywood Studios beginning in 2025, which will include Disney’s first ever suspended roller coaster themed to the door factory in the film.[36][37][38] In November 2024, Disney announced that the land would replace Muppet*Vision 3D and the Muppet Courtyard area as Grand Avenue.[39]
Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster
It was announced on August 10, 2024, that a suspended roller coaster attraction would be built in the Monsters Inc. land as Monstropolis at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. This coaster will be Disney's first in-park use of a suspended roller coaster.
References
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