Disney/Pixar's "Monsters University" Graduates Top of Its Animated Class

Mike Wasowski (Billy Crystal) prepares a year of scaring and partying at Monsters University.

With the exception of last summer's Brave, Pixar continues to capitalize on its most profitable franchises releasing sequel after sequel leaving the question whether or not the studio has much more originality left in the tank. But even if fresh new concepts aren't generating out of the reputable studio, Toy Story 3 and now Monsters University have undeniably proved that expanding upon beloved existing worlds reaps its own slew of successes.

Set many years before 2001's Monsters, Inc., Monsters University details the beginnings of  Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley's (John Goodman) relationship that started at the titular school where both strive to become professional scarers. The two enter campus completely different. Mike is overly ambitious, but isn't taken seriously for being a small green cyclops while Sulley rides the coattails of his family's legacy, under the impression that he doesn't need to put any effort in college to succeed.

Monsters University was everything the prequel to Monsters, Inc. should have been and more. Director Dan Scanlon reignites the magic of the 2001 film by simply transporting Mike and Sulley from the workplace confines of Monsters, Inc. to a wild college campus full of the stereotypes that go hand-in-hand with post-secondary education except that the students are swapped out for a variety of colorful monsters.

Even with some of the key players in Monsters, Inc. missing due to the shift in time, there a plenty of new characters from a misfit fraternity called Oozma Kappa (O.K.) which Mike and Sulley reluctantly join in order to take part in the campus' Scare Games. After losing favor with the cool kids on campus, Sulley has difficulty fitting into O.K. initially, but there's no mistaking that what appeared to be a setback, set in motion a lifelong friendship with Mike.

Helen Mirren's a delightful addition to the voice cast as Monsters University's strict headmistress, who ironically keeps the monster students on edge and always seems to be more out and about than the typical head of a university.

Crystal and Goodman carry over their spot-on chemistry from Monsters, Inc. rather quickly. Even when Mike is showing off in a scaring lecture as a book smart know-it-all and Sulley is painted as the complete opposite, the clashing personalities between the two comes together so naturally that when the two eventually become the best of friends, the payoff is well-deserved.

It's not imperative that Monsters, Inc. needs to be seen before diving into the college-bound Monsters University, but it is highly recommended when Scanlon pays reference to the original film time and time again. At the beginning of the film, a grade school version of Mike goes on a field trip to Monsters, Inc. and it's a very emotional scene understanding the little guy who everyone took for granted will one day work the floor and professionally scare children for a living.

Sure, Monsters University might slightly lack the same emotional heart that's come before, but there are still a handful of moments that turn this action-heavy animated feature centered around the Scare Games in the middle act into something much more. Scanlon pushes the envelope for the Scare Games past typical action. Instead, there's heartwarming messages about friendship, teamwork and overcoming adversity.

The film doesn't take any risks to jeopardize its family-friendly G-rating. Though Monsters University is littered with monsters of all shapes and sizes, there's nothing to worry about when it come to scaring the younger kids. There's college-related humor that  a few of the older kids will somewhat appreciate and especially those currently in college who grew up with the original, but to those being initiated into Pixar's sequel machine, there's no better place to start than Monsters University.

Monsters University is another brilliant addition to a long line of Pixar classics while being a colorful collegiate companion piece to Monsters, Inc. supplying a truckload of genuine nostalgia for long-time fans of the original film.

GRADE: A (10/10)