Monsters, Inc.

if you were thinking that monsters, inc. [release date: 8/2/02] would be another slice of pixar genius, a la toy story, think again.

the best bit? when some little kid, hopped up on sugary snacks, led a one-child stage invasion and ran back and forth in front of the screen wiggling his little arms about in the spazzy way excited infants are wont to do, managing to evade capture for approx. two minutes. unfortunately, i can’t guarantee that this will happen at every screening. on the plus side, the outtakeswere great, so it might be worth sneaking in at the very end.

trilby and i decided that the film is pitched squarely at divorced fathers and their offspring. without wishing to spoil the flimsy plot, an ultramasculine middle-aged hero-monster overcomes his crippling fear of little children/emotional contact, learns to love them and their gift of innocent laughter, then, in a moving finale, ends up keeping his job and pre-child lifestyle, but gets to see the little tyke he just bonded with on an occasional basis. the two female characters are a curmudgeonly battleaxe (first wife) and a ditzy bint with a challenging haircut (embarrassingly youthful new girlfriend.) in short, the whole thing sends the message to young minds that the bloke sitting next to you who bought all the popcorn might only show up for one weekend a month, but he still loves you loads (and, while we’re here, request that he prove this by purchasing some glittery merchandise?). seems that disney has reconfigured policy on family values to account for current mores.

oh, and look what i got in the first ever fortune cookie i have ever had the good fortune to open:

“the night life is for you” - nothing if not accurate these fortune cookies.

Posted at 7pm on 13/01/02 by Jack Mottram to the art and culture, misc. category.
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