Docter began developing the film in 1996 and wrote the story with Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, and Ralph Eggleston. Fellow Pixar director Andrew Stanton wrote the screenplay with screenwriter Daniel Gerson. The characters went through many incarnations over the film's five-year production process. The technical team and animators found new ways to render fur and cloth realistically for the film. Randy Newman, who composed Pixar's three prior films, returned to compose their fourth.
Although the film suffered negative publicity in the form of two lawsuits against the filmmakers, filed by Lori Madrid and Stanley Mouse respectively, that were ultimately dismissed, Monsters, Inc. proved to be a major box office success from its release on November 2, 2001, generating over $562 million worldwide. In addition, Monsters, Inc. received highly positive reviews from critics and audiences, who praised both the humor and heart of the film.
Monsters, Inc. saw a 3D re-release in theaters on December 19, 2012. Its prequel, Monsters University, directed by Dan Scanlon, is scheduled to be released on June 21, 2013.
Plot
The parallel city of Monstropolis is inhabited by monsters and powered by the screams of children in the human world. At the Monsters, Inc. factory, employees called "Scarers" venture into children's bedrooms to scare them and collect their screams, using closet doors as portals. This is considered a dangerous task since the monsters believe children to be toxic and that touching them would be fatal. However, production is falling as children are becoming harder to scare and the company chairman Henry J. Waternoose III is determined to find a solution. The top Scarer is James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, who lives with his assistant and best friend Mike Wazowski and has a rivalry with the ever-determined chameleon-like monster Randall Boggs. During an ordinary day's work on the "Scarefloor", fellow Scarer George Sanderson accidentally brings a child's sock into the factory, causing the Child Detection Agency (CDA) to arrive and cleanse him. Mike is harassed by Roz the clerk for never completing his paperwork on time.
While going to file Mike's paperwork, Sulley discovers that Randall left an activated door on the Scarefloor in an attempt of cheating and a young girl has entered the factory, much to Sulley's horror. After a few failed attempts to put her back, he places her in a bag and hides when Randall arrives and returns the door to storage. Mike and his girlfriend Celia are on a date at Harryhausen's when Sulley comes to him for help, but chaos erupts when the girl is discovered in the restaurant, and the CDA is called. Sulley and Mike escape the CDA and take the girl home, discovering that she is not toxic after all. Sulley quickly grows attached to the girl and names her "Boo". The next day, they smuggle her into the factory and Mike attempts to return her through her door. Randall tries to kidnap Boo, but kidnaps Mike by mistake.
In the basement, Randall reveals to Mike he has built a torture machine, the "Scream Extractor", to extract children's screams, which would make the company's current tactics redundant. Randall straps Mike to the chair for experimentation, but Sulley stops Randall from using the machine on Mike (replacing him with Fungus, Randall's assistant) and reports him to Waternoose, accidentally scaring Boo in the process. However, Waternoose is revealed to be in allegiance with Randall and he exiles Mike and Sulley to the Himalayas. The two are taken in by the Abominable Snowman, who tells them they can return to the factory through the nearby village. Sulley heads out, but Mike, thinking that their current situation to be Sulley's fault, refuses to follow him out of frustration. Sulley returns to the factory and rescues Boo from the Scream Extractor. Mike returns to apologize to Sulley and inadvertently helps him defeat Randall in a fight.
Randall pursues Mike and Sulley as they race to the factory and ride on the doors heading into storage, taking them into a giant vault where millions of closet doors are stored. Boo's laughter activates the doors and allows the chase to pass in and out of the human world. After Boo conquers her fear of Randall to stop him from pushing Sulley out of an open door, Sulley and Mike trap Randall in the human world using a door to a Southern trailer park, where he is mistaken for an alligator and beaten up by a pair of hillbillies.
They are finally able to access Boo's door, but Waternoose and the CDA send it back to the Scarefloor. Mike distracts the CDA, while Sulley escapes with Boo and her door while Waternoose follows. Waternoose is tricked into confessing his plan to kidnap children in the simulation bedroom and is arrested by the CDA, although Waternoose blames Sulley for destroying the company. The CDA's leader, #001, is revealed to be Roz, who has been undercover for two and a half years trying to prove there was a scandal at Monsters Inc. Sulley and Mike say goodbye to Boo and return her home, and on Roz’s orders Boo’s door is then destroyed. Sulley becomes the new chairman of Monsters Inc., and thanks to his experience with Boo, he comes up with a plan to end the company's energy crisis.
Months later, Sulley's leadership has changed the company's workload. The monsters now enter children's bedrooms to entertain them, since laughter is ten times more powerful than screams. Mike takes Sulley aside, revealing he has almost rebuilt Boo's door, requiring only one more piece which Sulley took as a memento. Sulley enters to find Boo there.
