Monsters University

Last week I finally saw Monsters University, Pixar's prequel to Monsters Inc. Sulley & Mike meet as antagonistic college freshmen in the Scare Program of MU. Their rivalry gets them kicked out of the program, & they attempt to redeem themselves by winning the college Scare Games. The movie is mild & aimed at very young children. The brightly colored monsters make MU look like a cross between an Ivy League campus & a candy store. For some reason I thought the funniest part was when a monster mom loads a washing machine in the background of one of the scenes.

Though I saw it in 2D, the movie is also in 3D, & there is an emphasis on the film's detailed environments. It was preceded by a wordless short, The Blue Umbrella, which uses convincingly photorealistic CGI to recreate the glistening light of a rainy street at nighttime.

§ Monsters University (2013)
Dir. Dan Scanlon, USA, 104 mins.

§ The Blue Umbrella (2013)
Dir. Saschka Unseld, USA, 7 mins.