Monsters University
Year: 2013
Rating: G
Length: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours
When Pixar made Monsters, Inc. (2001) and created this unique universe full of monsters that use screams as part of their economy, they also brought forth a few questions derived from their world-building. For instance, could monster screams also power their society? If screams are energy like electricity, are all their cars electric? Do you have to go to college to get a job as a scarer? The prequel, Monsters University (2013) answers this last question. Since Pixar films are usually appropriate for children, this movie is likely to be the most family-friendly college film ever made.
The core of Monsters University plays off the idea that hard work and grit can lead to success almost as much as natural talent and nepotism can. It’s a little disheartening that the final result of this dichotomy is that sometimes you will still fail after all that hard work. However, this is an important lesson for those who fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy and don’t realize their talents lie elsewhere. At least the standard “found family” and community-building aspects usually found in college movies are present here as well.
And while this prequel has the issue of the audience knowing what the end state will be (albeit without knowledge of how that happens), Monsters University does a good job of developing the characters enough to get them there. Of course, with much better visuals than its predecessor, this movie is quite a bit scarier for kids than the one that was released in 2001. Still, Pixar once again shows how creative they can be within the world they’ve created, and one wonders what other aspects of the Monsters’ universe they might tackle in the future.
The most family-friendly college film ever made, I give Monsters University 4.0 stars out of 5.
