Monsters, Inc.

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Pixar Animation team has certainly earned its keep. The group broke ground with Toy Story and A Bug's Life and continued to raise the standard with Toy Story 2. Monsters, Inc. maintains the high level of craft that parents and kids have come to expect.

The concept is a clever one: monsters live in Monstropolis, a thriving urban center whose primary energy source is children's screams. They're running out because it's harder and harder to frighten kids these days. Monstropolis's workers enter the kids' world via portals that lead to Earth closets. Once there, they need to scare the kid and get out. Monsters, you see, are terrified of children and must be decontaminated if they bring back so much as a sock.

John Goodman and Billy Crystal voice the main monster duo with pizzazz. What Goodman's character lacks in visual uniqueness he makes up for in voice. Trouble comes when a little girl slips back into Monstropolis with them.

With its snappy animation and gently clever script, Monsters, Inc. marks another success for the Pixar animators.