First of all, it’s not the intent of this thread to have a debate about whether Randall was a “villain” or a “henchman” or whatever, nor to debate whether he or Waternoose was the main driving force behind the plot to build a machine to obtain Scream Energy from human children, to kidnap human children, or whatever. We’ve already had those discussions elsewhere in this forum. This thread is primarily for his fans, especially those who believe in the concepts of forgiveness and second chances, and would like to see Randall be given a second chance in the up-coming sequel, which is now all but official, IF he’s in it at all. It’s also for anyone else who is willing to be open-minded and who feels that Pixar does not NEED to have a “Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys” plot to succeed with a movie.
Now, it’s pretty much established that Pixar IS working on a Monsters, Inc. 2, which will likely be released in 2013, possibly 2012. Again, we’ve had the debate as to whether or not there should BE a sequel, but now that we can be reasonably sure that there IS going to be one, that’s a moot point. What we, as Randall’s fans, are concerned about now is this: what role, if any, will HE have in the sequel?
Well, there are three likely possibilities.
One, he won’t be in the sequel at all, and Pixar will either have a new “bad guy” to threaten Mike and Sulley(who almost certainly WILL be in it), or they’ll do away with the notion of a “bad guy” completely in this one.
Two, he’ll be in it, again, as an unrepentant “bad guy” who’s out to get Mike and Sulley, and who will have to be dealt with once again, which will almost certainly mean that this time around, Randall will most certainly die at the end, leaving no doubts as to whether he did or did not survive whatever punishment the “good guys” can met out.
Three, he’ll be back, perhaps starting out on a “sour note”, but due to some other character, or some events that take place in the movie, he will get a chance to show that there IS another side to him, as there is to most people, and he will undergo a gradual character arc towards the positive, as Stitch did in Lilo and Stitch.
Of the three, that last one is, admittedly, the most difficult to pull off and still have it be both believable AND interesting for the various age groups, but it IS “do-able”, and I would like to have faith that if anyone can pull it off, successfully, it would be the creative team at Pixar. It would also be a way for Pixar to really explore the themes of second chances and forgiveness, subjects they’ve touched on briefly here and there in their films, but have not REALLY undertaken as the main theme of a movie, not yet. It would certainly send a far more positive message to the audience, the younger members especially, than “violence conquers fear” or “getting even is the way to solve problems and achieve success”, which unfortunately, are two messages that DID come across in the first movie, to many of us.
MY personal choice, as a long-time Randall fan, and as a believer in second chances and in people being able to change, for the better, would be the third choice, and I would hope that many of you other Randall fans would be with me on this, IF he’s going to be in the sequel at all, that is. As for what we can do to perhaps increase the chances of that happening, we can start with letters. Write a letter, not an email, to Pixar Animation Studios, perhaps in care of Peter Docter, since he will be directing the sequel, too. That address is on Pixar’s website, if you click “Contact Us”, but in case you have trouble finding it, here it is: Pixar Animation Studios, 1200 Park Avenue, Emeryville, CA 94608. If there’s anyone who has any other address, where mail might have a better chance of being read, I’d appreciate you either posting it here, or PM’ing me with it. We can also get the word out through other means, other sites, including Face Book, MySpace, Twitter, Deviant Art, and other personal blogs and pages on the 'net. If you’re able to make videos, make videos-just be careful of YouTube’s rabid copy-written materials policy! If you’ve got a DA account, create some artwork-don’t worry if it’s a masterpiece or not, since the message is what counts. If you can’t draw or create visual pieces, then write something, anything that will reach other Randall fans who aren’t here, and who aren’t on the Boggs Board,and let them know what is happening and that they can hopefully have some say, as fans of both this character AND of Pixar, in his role in the sequel.
As for those who are still thinking, “but wait, I’m pretty sure that Randall was killed in the first movie, so how could he possibly be in the sequel?”, I do have it from reliable information, one of the BOOM! comic artists, that this is not the case, however, even though he will appear in at least one of the BOOM! Monsters, Inc.-based comics, it will once more be in the role of a “bad guy”. I don’t know anything more than that, only that I was told that the comics WERE considered “extended canon” and that the comics’ writers were not going to change the characters that Pixar had created, in case Pixar wished to do so themselves in a sequel.
Now, let’s make those “Winds of Change” be positive Winds of Change, for once, and don’t just take a “wait and see” attitude here! Get those letters out, do whatever else you can to let other fans know, and let’s get the ball rolling!
pitbulllady
