One of the most beautiful CG animated films of the year, Monsters University, is now available on Blu-ray 3D and other home video/digital formats.
Movie
Like all good prequels Monsters University goes back to the very beginning where Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal) first met. Of course they weren’t friends at first, that’d be too easy. Sully was the BMOC and legacy recruit while Mike was well, Mike. The fun twist was the evil Randal that we all know and love was actually Mike’s shy roommate Randy (Steve Buscemi). Director (Dan Scanlon) basically pays homage to every college comedy ever made, but mainly Revenge of the Nerds and Animal House.
I do find the voices annoying and hard to take especially Billy Crystal, but somehow the characters and story did suck me in. Life’s imperfections and vibrancy are hard to duplicate with CGI, especially when it is so flawlessly vibrant and sharp. It’s a Pixar movie, so it goes without saying that the 3D in this is astonishing good.
While I find Mike to be a really irritating character, there’s no denying that he does grow on me as the movie goes along and it the movie has so much earnestness that it is impossible not like this movie.
Bonus
- The Blue Umbrella. Wow! This six-minute short is STUNNING. This is truly the next step in computer based animation and looks revolutionary taking photorealism to a whole new level. This actually makes me excited for next generation gaming.
- Campus Life (HD 15 Min) – Man, I’d love to work at a place like Pixar. How cool would that be? I always find these featurettes discouraging because I almost NEVER see any black people or other minorities (other than Asian or Indian) in these behind the scenes looks. It’s pretty amazing how insular these companies are. The total lack of diversity is shameful. I’ve seen a LOT of black folks at various Art Schools, you can’t tell me there are no qualified black animators.
- Story School (HD, 8 Min)
- Scare Games (HD, 4 Min)
- Monthropology (HD, 6 Min) – Kind of ironic that this opens with Director Dan Scanlon talking about how college is all about “diversity.” What a joke.
- Welcome to MU (HD, 6 Min)
- Music Appreciation (HD, 7 Min)
- Scare Tactics (HD, 5 Min)
- Color and Light (HD, 5 Min)
- Paths to Pixar: MU Edition (HD, 8 Min)
Conclusion
While the almost total lack of “Diversity” behind the scenes at Pixar irritates the heck out of me. It isn’t like my ranting and raving about it is going to change their shady corporate culture. So great video, audio, and extras combine to make Monsters University another must own Blu-ray/DVD set. Once again reference quality work.
Grades
- Movie – B
- Audio/Video – A
- 3D Quality – A
- Extras – A-
Final Overall Grade – A-