Monsters, Inc. Is 25, and Boo Is Still the Smartest Thing Pixar Ever Did

Illustration: AI-generated with Pollinations (FLUX), free to use

Monsters, Inc. reached cinemas on November 2, 2001, and that makes it 25 years old this week. It was Pixar's fourth feature, after Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2, and it was the first one directed by Pete Docter, who would go on to make Up and Inside Out.

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The idea is perfectly Pixar. Monsters in a city called Monstropolis power their world by collecting screams from children, and the monsters themselves are terrified of the kids they scare. Billy Crystal voices the fast-talking Mike Wazowski, John Goodman voices the big, gentle Sulley, and Steve Buscemi is the slippery Randall. Then a toddler nicknamed Boo ends up on the wrong side of the door.

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Boo is the reason it works. The animators gave her a real child's logic, and the voice work, which was built from recordings of a very young Mary Gibbs, feels natural in a way that scripted child dialogue rarely does. The chase through the door warehouse is also one of the most inventive action scenes in any animated film.

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Randy Newman wrote the music, and his song If I Didn't Have You won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the ceremony the following year. A prequel, Monsters University, followed in 2013, and I will be honest that I prefer the original by a long way.

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Which character do you like better, Mike or Sulley? And do you remember the final scene with the door? I still think it is the best ending in the studio's catalogue.