"Monsters, Inc."-- A Monster of a Good Time

Whether we admit it or not, our whole lives we have always known that there are monsters in the closet. The moment our parents shut the door after tucking us into bed, they would come out of hiding and scare us. As quick as the came though, they would disappear even faster the moment we screamed and our parents ran back into the room. We always thought that they scared us because they were mean, evil and-- honestly-- wanted to eat us alive. However, with Pixar and Disney's latest film, "Monsters, Inc.," we learn that these monsters didn't scare us because they wanted to-- they scared us because they had to.

In "Monsters, Inc.," directors Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich and David Silverman take viewers behind the closet door for a look into the world of those same monsters we have been afraid of since we were kids. As we meet Monsters, Inc.'s top scarer James P. Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) and his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), we see how no matter how scared of them we were as kids, the truth of the matter is that they were even more scared of us.

While working in the lab late one night, Sullivan notices a bedroom door (the monsters' gateway to our bedrooms) left out and opens it to see if someone forgot to put the door away or if a monster is actually inside. Unknown to Sullivan, Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi), Monsters, Inc.'s top scarer behind Sullivan, has left the door out with the intention of working after hours to get in those few additional scares that will make him the new top scarer.

When Sullivan opens the door to check things out, Boo, a human child, walks into the his world and sends his life into utter chaos. For not only is a human crossing into the monsters' world unheard of, it is also thought to be quite dangerous since humans are considered toxic to monsters.

Afraid of being caught with the child by office security, Sullivan escapes with Boo. As he tries to figure out how to get Boo back home before he gets caught with her, Sullivan slowly grows to learn that kids aren't toxic to monsters at all-- in fact, they could even turn out to be something a monster could love.

As soon as Boo crosses into the monsters' world audiences will be unable to take their eyes off the screen-- something few Disney characters have been able to do since the days of Timon and Pumbaa. The heartwarming story between Boo and Sullivan will melt even the iciest of hearts and is definitely a story viewers will enjoy watching again and again. Screenwriters Andrew Stanton and Dan Gerson worked hard to give the fictitious characters in "Monsters, Inc." characteristics that will make them relatable to viewers, and this results in each character having a distinct personality. In fact, some even live up to those images of the monsters in our closets that we still carry with us.

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