Monsters University (2013)
A prequel to Monsters, Inc.
As a young child, Michael "Mike" Wazowski visits the Monsters Inc. factory on a class field trip, to learn about how "scarers" harness human children's screams for energy to power the monster world. He secretly follows a scarer through a door to the human world to watch him work; initially upset, the scarer compliments Mike, prompting Mike to want to be a scarer himself (“Main Title”).
Twelve years later, Mike is enrolled in the scaring program at Monsters University as a scaring major, and is assigned Randall "Randy" Boggs as a roommate. He also encounters James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, the son of a famous scarer Bill Sullivan. On the first day of classes during Scaring 101 with Professor Knight, Dean Abigail Hardscrabble, the president of Monsters University, warns that students who fail the first semester's final exam will permanently leave the scaring program. During Rush Week, Sulley successfully steals rival school Fear Tech’s mascot, Archie the Scare Pig, to impress Johnny Worthington, president of ROR (Roar Omega Roar) which is the top fraternity on campus.
Over the next few months, Mike works and studies hard to improve himself, while Sulley teases him and slacks off, relying on his "Sullivan" name and natural talent. An intense rivalry begins to form between Mike and Sulley. On the day of the final exam the student’s are put to the test in the Scare Simulator. Sulley and Mike's rivalry gets out of control as they attempt to outdo each other. They inadvertently destroy Hardscrabble's prized scream canister. She personally tests and fails them both; Sulley for lack of technical knowledge, and Mike for not being physically “scary”. Both end up as can design majors.
Determined to prove his worth, Mike enters the Annual Scare Games with the misfit Oozma Kappa (OK) fraternity as his team, and makes a deal with Hardscrabble, the founder of the games; if OK wins, they and Mike will return to the scare program, but if they lose, Mike will be expelled. As OK needs one more member to be an official team, Mike asks Randy for help, but he has joined the RORs. Sulley volunteers, and Mike reluctantly accepts. OK fraternity consists of Don Carlton, Terry and Terri, Art, and Scott “Squishy” Squibbles. Mrs. Squibbles’ house is the OK frat house.
The other fraternities competing in the games include: Jaws Theta Chi (JOX), Python Nu Kappa (PNK), Slugma Slugma Kappa (EEK), Roar Omega Roar, and Eta Hiss Hiss (HSS).
Initially, due to Mike and Sulley's conflicting personalities, OK struggles in the games. They only pass the first round (The Toxicity Challenge with stinging glow urchins) due to another team's disqualification for cheating, and the second (Avoid The Parent Challenge using stealth to avoid the librarian) due to exploiting a loophole in the rules. The RORs invite OK to a party (“Roar”), then stage an embarrassing picture of them and post it all over campus. The team becomes discouraged, so Mike takes them to Monsters Inc., where they sneak in and watch the scarers (Earl “The Terror” Thompson, Carla “Killer Claws” Benitez, “Screaming” Bob Gunderson) using their differences as advantages. After being chased off by the guards, the rejuvenated team begins to work together under Mike's coaching (“Rise and Shine”), and passes the next two challenges (Don’t Scare The Teen Challenge & Hide & Sneak Challenge). In the final challenge (“Monsters University” & “The Scare Games”), members of OK and RΩR face off in the scare simulator, each trying to frighten a dummy child. OK wins after Mike racks up a lot of points with his scare, but Mike later discovers Sulley tampered with the simulator's settings. The OKs abandon Sulley and their trophy in shame.
Determined to prove he really can scare, Mike sneaks through a door to the human world, into a summer camp cabin full of children; however, he is shocked to discover none of them are frightened of him. Sulley, having admitted to Hardscrabble that he cheated, breaks in to rescue Mike, to whom he apologises and confesses that he just cheated because he was worried about disgracing the Sullivan name and letting the team down. The two avoid several park rangers and try to reenter the monster world, but find that Hardscrabble has deactivated the door to keep the other monsters safe. Working together, the duo manages to scare the rangers, creating enough energy to power the door from the other side, destroying the school's door lab in the process. The two are apprehended by the CDA.
Sulley and Mike are expelled from the university for their actions, but the other members of OK are allowed back into the scaring program. As Mike and Sulley leave, Hardscrabble admits they surprised her, and expresses her hope that they can continue to do so. The two go to work for Monsters Inc. in the mailroom with the Abominable Snowman as their supervisor, and over the years work their way up through the ranks of janitorial team, cafeteria workers, and can wranglers until Sulley at last becomes a scarer, with Mike as his coach/scare assistant.
TRIVIA
Visual Style
Each Greek House at Monsters University reflects the attitude of the fraternity or sorority members living in it. Roar Omega Roar has history, Eta Hiss Hiss is more gothic, and Jaws Theta Chi is as junky as possible without actually being disgusting.
For research, the filmmakers visited several colleges in the U.S., including Harvard University, Stanford University, Cornell University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, observing college architecture, student life, Greek organizations, and the teaching methods of professors and faculty. To research fraternity life, which is central to the film, many of the film's producers spent several weeks at a fraternity house. Researchers also attended a "Bonfire Rally" at Berkeley in anticipation of the Big Game, a rivalry football game between the university and Stanford.
Technology
To provide diversity in the types of monsters seen, 5 types of monsters were created and within each type, different controls were built in to get lots of variety. One example is the spif species which has 2 arms, 2 legs, but a very simple face. By changing the shapes of the limbs and the texture, they were able to create a variety of monsters. Other species include fungus, slug, charlies (tentacled creatures), block, and pill-body. Other characters were one-offs who were more unique.
Monsters University is the first Pixar film that used global illumination, a new lighting system introduced as part of the overhaul of the rendering system used since the first Toy Story. Before the new system, artists had to build reflections and shadows manually, which became increasingly complex as the models and the setups became more technologically advanced. The new lighting system uses path tracing, a technique that imitates the behavior of the light in the real world; this automatized the process, delivered more realism, produced soft shadows, and let the artist spend more time on models and complex scenes – some of which contained thousands of light sources.
Deleted Scene(s)
A deleted scene shows Mike and Sulley in a drama class who must do a midterm performance telling the history of Scream Energy and the Scream Transfer Effect.
A deleted scene shows monsters doing bedroom recon via camera’s that resemble flies.
Music
The songs "Main Title", "Rise and Shine", and "The Scare Games" feature the drum line from the Blue Devils group "BD Entertainment".
A 2014 Pixar short Party Central follows Mike and Sulley as they return to Monsters University to throw an epic party for Oozma Kappa.