10 Things You May Not Know About Monsters, Inc.

1. Monsters In the Closet

The concept for the film grew out of early story sessions for Toy Story. As everyone involved confided in believing they always thought their toys came to life, director Pete Docter hit upon the idea of creating a movie based on a similar childhood belief, monsters hiding in the closet. What if they were real? Why were the monsters there? Did they have a whole other separate life? What would their world be like? The story underwent several changes in its early development but always focused on the monsters living in their own world. The original concept focused on a 30-year-old man who, as a child, drew pictures of the monsters that would visit him. As an adult, the monsters were coming back to bother him. The man realized that each monster represented a specific fear he had, and if he conquered those fears, he could make the monsters disappear.

2. A Buddy Story

The next version of the script was that of a buddy story between a monster (named Johnson) and a child and was, at this point, simply called Monsters. Instead of being the best scarer on the floor, Johnson was among the worst. He actually bungled so many “scares” that he was given one week to prove himself before being benched. On one such probationary attempt, he entered the room of a young girl named Mary, the youngest and only girl of ten siblings, whose older brothers constantly tormented her. Mary was convinced that Johnson was one of her brothers in disguise and was unfazed by his efforts to frighten her.

3. Snow White?

The name Monsters, Inc. was the brainchild of Disney Legend Joe Grant, whose work with Disney dates back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

4. New Animation Challenges

One of the most challenging aspects of the animation process was creating the realistic movement of Sulley’s fur and Boo’s shirt. Animators studied a variety of fabrics and animal furs to accurately capture their movements under different conditions. Sulley was first modeled in clay, and then his three-dimensional image was transferred to the computer screen. After animating computer models of a hairless Sulley, each of his over two million hairs had to be programmed into the design.

5. FIZT

In order to make this possible, the Pixar team created FIZT (“fizz-tee,” abbreviated from “physics tool”) simulation software. FIZT assisted the animators in placing the hairs on Sulley and adjusting the hairs to his movements. Using a software program called Deep Shadowing, Sulley’s fur would take on different shades according to his movements and interactions with other characters or objects, just as it would in the “real” world. A similar process was used to animate Boo’s hair and shirt.

6. The Door Vault

Software was also developed to create the Door Vault, one of the most technologically sophisticated scenes in the film. A program was created to show the doors moving along the track of the vault and to give the illusion that over twenty million closet doors were inventoried there.

7. Factory Research

More than twenty individual sets were created for the film, each with a high level of detail, and the team traveled to many factories, some as far away as Pittsburgh, for inspiration.

8. Boo

To accurately animate Boo, the designers observed their children, as well as Boo’s voice actress Mary Gibbs. One of the drawings on Boo’s wall was colored by the two-year-old actress herself. When she signed her name, she unintentionally provided us with Boo’s identity (Mary).

9. Tiny, But Monstrous, Details

All the artwork in the children’s rooms was created specifically for the film, including a Paul Bunyan poster also seen in Toy Story. Each piece of paperwork in the Scare Factory is labeled according to its purpose. Even the cereal boxes in Mike and Sulley’s apartment list their ingredients, though they are too small to be seen while viewing the film. (Are you curious? Their breakfast treats of Dirt Clods, Kreature Krisp, and Prickly Puffs contain such delectable morsels as mercury, deadly puffer fish, and depleted uranium!)

10. Pixar References

As is tradition with Pixar films, hints of other movies can be seen in Monsters, Inc. Among her toys, Boo has the “Luxo ball” from Luxo Jr., a Jessie doll from Toy Story 2, and a Nemo stuffed animal, foreshadowing the 2003 blockbuster. Additionally, the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story, which makes a cameo appearance in nearly every Pixar film, can be spotted next to the trailer where Randall is sent, a trailer that was first seen in A Bug’s Life!

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