Monsters University

Sequels, or in this case, prequels abound. So many films have gone the round of sequels and a handful of prequels, that with Pixar's "Monsters University", a prequel, at least it is still well written, directed and presented. Hey, it's Pixar!

Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. 'Sulley' Sullivan (John Goodman) are an inseparable pair, but that wasn't always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. This prequel to '01's "Monsters Inc." unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and in the end, became the best of friends.
As Professor Knight (Alfred Molina) teaches the new 'frosh', Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) makes her scene in order to give a little motivation to the new students: if you don't pass the simulation exam, you are out! Since she used the 'fear of God' tactic on them, they all split up into different groups leaving Mike to be with the geek monsters including Squishy (Peter Sohn), Don (Joel Murray), Terri (Sean Hayes), Terry (Dave Foley), and Art (Charlie Day). Let the games begin...

Others to round out the cast are Steve Buscemi as Randy, Tyler Labine as Greek Council VP, Nathan Fillion as Johnny, Aubrey Plaza as Claire Wheeler, Bobby Moynihan as Chet, Noah Johnston as Young Mike, Julia Sweeney as Ms. Squibbles, Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Graves, Bob Peterson as Roz, and John Ratzenberger as Yeti.

This was effectively directed by virtual newcomer to the director's chair, Dan Scanlon ("Tracy" '09). This guy co-wrote this, and he's done other duties in other Disney films, so be rest assured, Disney is grooming this guy, and with good reason. It was well written by Scanlon, Daniel Gerson, and Robert L. Baird based on a story by these three writers.
And I also realized that the end crawl title design was created by Susan Mason Bradley who has designed every other Pixar film's end credits. As the old adage says, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" sums up why Bradley is used so much from film to film. The feel of her design simply fits the concept of the film incredibly well, so why use anyone else?

Since every Pixar film is incredibly well done, I tried to find something amiss with this next installment of the Pixar stable, but the more I looked, the more I came to realize that this was every bit as creative and entertaining as its predecessor, as with all other Pixar projects. As I've stated before: How do those guys at Pixar Studios do it?

Out of 4 Stars: 4                       Rated: G                        104mins.