Monsters, Inc. (Collector's Edition 2 Disc Set) 2002 Buena Vista Home Entertainment Official Website Buy It Now

Well, it has been officially 24 hours since the release of Monsters Inc., and from the look of it, this review might be in vain!  Monsters Inc. set a new record for first day sales today by selling 5 million copies (beating out former #1, Lion King, at 4.5 million).  But just in case you were number 5,000,001 in line and are now rethinking your purchase....lemme just say:  this is the first time that me and 5 million people ever agreed on ANYTHING.  Go get this DVD.

I am not even gonna bother with the whole, "this movie is really great, and here are the reasons why" stuff, because that much is obvious; and if you didn't go see it in the theatres, you missed out.  Instead, I am gonna tell you all the reasons why this is one of the best DVD releases since the inception of the DVD format. 

There is of course the wonderful film (Disc 1) about two monsters who harvest the screams of young children for energy.  This scream energy powers their home city of Monstropolis, and is gathered by accessing the bedrooms of human children through a sort of inter-dimensional system of closet doors!  This work is fairly safe, with one exception; don't ever let a child touch you!  it seems, you see, that human children are toxic to monsters.  The system seems to be working until Sully (Goodman, playing the top scarer at Monsters Inc.) and his assistant Mike (Crystal, in his most hilarious role EVER), accidentally allow a human child access through the closet door and into Monstropolis.  Hilarity and slapstick ensue, and the humor is matched only by the tenderness of the relationship between child and monster.

Disc 2.  Geez, where to start.  This disc has so many extras on it, it is worth the purchase price alone (I know, I've heard that before too, but seriously...it is).  I spent over an hour more exploring this disc than I did watching the film, and I am not sure I have seen it all.  I have yet to begin the Easter-egg searching.  There is gobs of bonuses on this second disc, and a few of them were created especially for this release; so many bonuses in fact that there is a four page foldout included to help you navigate through them!

First, there are a few straight-forward inclusions: Outakes, Mike's New Car animated short, and For the Birds animated short.  The outtakes are some of the best that have been created since Pixar started including them in releases and at the end of theatrical engagements.  Included in the outtakes is the Monsters Inc. company play which is referenced in the film itself.  Mike's New Car is a funny sketch about the trials and tribulations of technologically advanced vehicles, and was created specifically for this DVD.  For the Birds, of course, is the Academy Award winning short that accompanied Monsters Inc. in theatres.

Delving further into the second disc, we find two distinct sections: Humans Only and Monsters Only.  In the Humans Only section we get a 20 minute tour of the production of Monsters Inc.  Next stop is a tour of the Pixar facilities, and then on to another 20 minutes or so of the story's development; from treatments to unused concepts to storyboarding.  Also for Humans are in-depth looks into how the monsters were created and designed, how the city of Monstropolis was dreamt up, art galleries, and also a guide to the in-jokes included in the film by the Pixar staff.  There is still more for us humans to experience, like an inside peek at the animation process, the sound engineering and song recording, and then a look at trailers, ads, toys, posters, etc. that were used in the marketing of this wonderful film.  

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!  We still haven't visited the Monsters Only section (my personal favorite!).  There are games to play, appearances of Sully and Mike on Japanese T.V., a music video, and DVD-Rom game.  We also get to experience the first day on the job for a Monsters Inc. employee!  From orientation to the company's history to receiving our employee handbook (very pleasing read! I laughed out loud).  Check out the Monster of the Month gallery as well as the collectible Scarer Cards, and finish it all off by perusing the company play's program!

WOW.  Seriously people, I can't tell you how much fun I had going through this disc and every time I thought I had seen it all, I realized I was on page 1 of 4, and the fun kept going!  There is SO much stuff included in this DVD that you simply MUST own it; if for no other reason than to judge all other "Collector's Edition" DVDs you will own. And let's not forget that you also get the funniest movie of 2001 in with all these extras.  This one is for the whole family and can provide many an evening of repeat viewing and browsing.  If I ever had the desire to tag on some cheesy rating system to a review, it would be now...this one gets 10 out of 10!  Bravo to Buena Vista, Disney and the wizards of Pixar!

-aaron-