All very good points! I’m really anticipating whatever it is that turns out to be the DVD short. [spoil]Revealing how the abominable snowman wound up tampering with the mail[/spoil] is what I’m hoping the subject is now. 
[spoil]Or maybe how Sherry got into death metal…[/spoil]
That part was hilarious! My dad and I loved that part!
Agreed. I think it was very great writing. Probably one of the best quotes in the film.
Yeah, that was a funny touch.
With me fresh from seeing the movie, I’m just gonna toss out some speculation about the possible Pixar shorts… and mix in some fanfiction ideas. Feel free to steal these ideas. But let me know, because I do want to see these ideas developed.
of course, Mike’s courtship of Celia
how the Yeti was banished and settled in his exile.
The POV of the poor humans traumatized at the horrible event when what looked like a bear like creature and a little goblin frightened them. And how they coped with it in the mental institution and search for proof of the a legendary dimension that exists in closets.
Art confiding in his past with his friends, telling a backstory so ridiculous and tragic and it would outdo a Randall fan’s idea of Randalls somewhat non-existent tragic backstory. How Art’s real name was actually… Brad Stanton, and he committed the horrible crime that put him in jail. He escaped, and changed his identity to Art and started anew at Monsters University and came to terms with his past.
How Don came to start OK.
Terry and Terri attempting a magic show.
As someone brought up, how Sherri got into Death Metal. If I’m to add to that, how Heavy Metal somehow tied into the conception of Squishy.
The Oozma Kappa anticipating and reacting to the arrival of Don’s and Sherri’s child. (Complete with Art saying, “hey, I wanna to see the birth!”). And leading up to an initiation ceremony to what Squishy declares the first ever sister to the OK fraternity.
While I’m not one for shorts in this instance, I prefer movie/series…
Mike’s courtship with Celia…would seem long to me. Maybe their first meeting perhaps, leading to a first date.
AB’s banishment…that would be quite…quite dark to me.
While I might not think that could be a full-on short, that would be a pretty funny thing. But I guess…yeah, maybe from the time they went into the cabin to some time after ward. Yeah would seem funny.
I’m guessing a LOT of people would want to know just what that “I can’t go back to jail!” bit came from heh.
Randall’s non-existent tragic back-story? A Randall fan’s idea? Sorry, but that seems like some derogatory addition…
Ahem, anyway…Don? Yeah that would be interesting I suppose. See the first interaction between him and Ms. Squibbles too, much to Squishy’s chagrin.
Magic show…probably.
blinks You know…that brings into question about Squishy’s father actually. Oh know…don’t tell me Squishy was…oh man. If Sherri told him THAT story, he’d need therapy.
The deep focus on Sully-Mike arcs are great. At first, I thought, oh god, going for the easy-route by making Sully a straight-on jerk from the start. Still, the 1st Act has a subtlety to Sully’s act. There’s a sense of that he’s intimidated by Mike’s superiority in technical knowledge and he really hungers to fit the expectations of everyone around him, particularly ROR.
Then, with the straightforward pacing of Mike and Sully (so beautifully conveyed by a moment in a training montage where they prepare for the day in sync like choreography) the film has a fair focus on his side elements, such as Oozma Kappa. O.K. and the protagonist do share heartwarming moments and go through a development, but I observed there wasn’t quite an initial bonding scene with Mike and seem like the tag-along factor for Mike-Sully story, a means to make clear that O.K. can overcome the odds for their career, making Mike’s story a unique one because Mike tragically never has this chance. O.K. story was almost as fleeting as the cameo appearances.
Randall’s arc I can’t criticize, but I can’t praise either because it is played safe. Not a bad thing, but not much to gain. Mike & Randall do roommates things together, to the point where I actually did not feel a tragedy when Randall abandons Mike. In fact, Randall’s abandonment isn’t even treated as a hostile, mean-spirited moment, just, well, found my place, bye, a setback for Mike (and even Mike feels no ill-feelings until Randall participates in the prank). Randall is not a waste of a character in Monsters University, but a walking missed opportunity to develop him as a foil to Sully. The kid who wants acceptance and to fit expectations much like Sully, but fails to understand that a sole ambition to be glorified by others will only degrade his well-being.
I feel that even within the 2 hour running time, somewhere in Mike-Sully’s story, more of the side-elements (particularly O.K. story arc) could be integrated. There’s shades of a developed backstory for each OK member, but they are inevitably passed over for a straight on focus on Mike-Sully. They still serve their story well and remain quite likable. I give the film props. It throws its angsty moments at the OK, as typical in an underdog story, but it does not mope on those moments and quickly find ways to lift their spirits.
Oh ooo, to add to my premise. Art killed a monster… with his toe, the very “extra” toe he removed from his body so he could forget his tragic, angsty past.
I don’t mean it at all in a derogatory way, and I’m sure Carol didn’t either, but I laughed a lot at her commentary on “Randall’s non-existent tragic backstory”, because I kind of feel the same way.
I understand a lot of people love him to death, and I love you guys in turn, but I don’t feel his arc is particularly tragic.
Sullivan and Wazowski’s arcs ARE good. As I have said even before MU, Sullivan was a jerk-that-cleaned-up. He’s overconfident, egotistical, and feels his family name carries weight to assure him a future.
Wazowski, while obsessed (not his fault. People have doubted him for years, which cinched some mental effect on him), has the knowledge and the determination to prove himself. Sullivan’s…kind of similar. He believes he KNOWS he has what it takes (inwardly, we learn, that’s not true), and Wazowski BELIEVES he knows he has what it takes.
They both come with their differences, and have a different way to approach things. And that, in part, is what caused their rivalry.
Wazowski seems to think he’s what OK needs and…while he comes off egotistical himself (we have what we need! heart? No! Me!), his “trainer mode” to put them into shape is what really brings out what he IS good at. He’s not a scarer…he doesn’t have something to “bring the monster out”…but, at least for some monsters, he has the ability to “bring the monster out of OTHERS”.
We see this during the various…umm…well actually it’s mostly best portrayed with Don, showing how their abilities can be used to become scarers.
Over all their arcs WERE good. We see their growth, we see them break down (near the end), and come out better for it.
I actually commend Pixar in this regard. They did a fine job of handling his arc. Why? Because, while he was not in it as much as Sullivan and Wazowski (it’s Wazowski’s story after all, mainly), the bits he IS in speak volumes.
shrugs Randall didn’t “abandon” Wazowski, that’s a growing misconception. Wazowski was so focused on his studying that, even though Randall helped, he practically ignored his roommate.
After all, being as considerate as he was, he would share the good news that he had been accepted to the most popular fraternity on campus. You’d think that if Wazowski cared what was going on in Randall’s college life, that he’d have learned he was in (at least pledging) ROR. But for that, sure Wazowski was in a depressed state for being thrown out of the scareing program, and enraged at Sullivan for doing it (even though it was the both of them). shrugs Randall probably had to keep balancing, being a considerate shoulder to lean on for Wazowski’s sake, and eventually dropped the ball.
You can see it on Randall’s face, that his initial, actual, feeling was disappointment when Wazowski asked him to join. Wazowski aimed to join OK on the fly, right then and there. There was no way he could have known about it, putting him in quite an awkward position. He was already in ROR, and was already signed on in the Games (and, without six members, you can’t compete). Though Randall was also riding the “high of being popular”, something he hadn’t experienced before, so much to the point that he demeaned himself by performing “the trick” to turn invisible on-command from Johnny (granted, Johnny is scarey, not just for his career choice.)
I feel that IF Wazowski had done this earlier…Randall may have joined. I say “may have”, because likely that would have been after the incident with Hardscrabble. It’s a tough choice for someone like him. A “friend” or a “popular group”. But as said, this didn’t end up being a choice.
Randall’s ambition was to have friends and fit in, not be glorified 0_0 Take a look at the first Scare Game, he’s looking around so nervous and unexpected. The feeling was new to him. He was getting respect (albiet, he may have thought he was personally getting it, but really it was because of the ROR reputation, he was the new guy) that he’d never really had.
“Tragedy” is in the eye of the beholder…and humanity is no poster-race for understanding…
Tragic is not always “oh that person died, no wonder the other person is angry” or “they lost their family in a fire, oh how tragic”.
I ask, just LOOK at him. Think of what HE is feeling at the time, you can see it on his face. It wasn’t necessarily tragic with ALL that happened to him…it’s just…life’s punch in your gut.
“I can tell we’re going to be best chums Mike!”
Nice call there Randall. Nope, Wazowski was interested in just his obsession to be a scarer, not be an actual friend to you. Should have caught him later on when he realized everyone was right about him.
“Sorry. If I do that in class I’ll be a joke…”
Oh if only you knew. Don’t worry Randy, it won’t be a class…it will be in front of practically the entire University, on wide screen. It won’t be your fault, but not like that matters. Oh, by the way, the RORs will show how they REALLY feel about ya. You’ll be a joke around campus, the RORs (most popular fraternity remember) will hate you (your out of their frat house by the way, find a new place to live, if you can), and seeing as how Wazowski was expelled, your unable to see your “friend” after you work up some courage to speak to’em.
What happens with HIM actually requires a person to LOOK and FEEL. I know, I know, film for entertainment. But hey, Pixar can be good at what they do if you take the time to notice. It’s like people who say animation is cartoons, when in actuality, it’s art.
I mean heck, between the three of them at the time…Randall was the better person. Sullivan was a jerk, Wazowski was obsessed, Randall was kind. Yet WHO, in the end, gets the whipping order? It’s just…NOT RIGHT…when GOOD people get kicked through life because of all it’s blasted intricacies.
Personally, Pixar did a great job…with ALL of them. I commend Dan for what he did.
Yes, but the thing with this tragedy of him is that he basically wished to be liked and be with “cool” people, which is something that has happened to pretty much everyone.
Then he gets slightly ridiculed at the Games, which doesn’t matter a lot, since pretty much everyone involved was ridiculed at these. His fail was relatively tame compared to those of others.
I’m not saying what happens to him is a tragedy, I haven’t claimed that. OTHER people have, not me. I’m unsure if tragedy is the right word to describe things.
Sure, it may seem common…but obviously not common enough that people don’t notice it. Then again, following your dream despite other’s doubting you and living up to a family name is common enough too in that thought.
He wanted to “get in good” with the cool kids, not necessarily BE with them. He admired Wazowski for his confidence and drive…and Wazowski didn’t come as “cool” to everyone, but that didn’t matter to Randall. Still helped him study, help him achieve his dream, and offer advice (at least once in regard that might have saved him from getting kicked out of the program).
Slightly? I’m…sorry…wow…I’m not sure how to proceed with such a perception…
Listen, I love Randall. As I mentioned before, he’s my favorite. He’s a well voiced character, given great dialogue, perfectly animated, and just interesting all around. But I’m not going to gloss by what a villain and jerk he is just because I like him. So I don’t sympathize with him. AT ALL. I think he’s an amazing character, but I am not going to excuse or justify what he does in Monsters Inc as a result of what happened to him in college.
NO matter how bad someone has been hurt in their past, does not mean they get to emotional abuse people. If college was a hard time or how if people bully you, that isn’t a free card to kidnap children with intentions to torture them. T O R T U R E.
And I watched MI the other day, and I counted multiple counts of emotional abuse from Randall. Especially to Fungus. He is a total prick, throughout all of Monsters Inc (not Monsters University, however). And I like that in a villain. That’s what makes Randall, Randall.
My relationship to Randall is different than you may think. I’m not just some regular fan that glorifies him as some saint or pawns over a tragic story to excuse EVERYTHING he’s done. I’ve been following him for a long time now, and I get him better than most people do.
But very well, if you do not wish to grant him some form of understanding…then the same should apply to Wazowski and Sullivan yes? After all, they planned, threw him away, regardless that he was pleading.
Randall’s no villain, and he didn’t end up a jerk by his choices alone. He got into a bad situation and snapped with all the crap he’s had to deal with. But if people wish to focus on his mistakes, very well. But if you want to be fair, you’d have to do so with the other two too.
Then you’re admitting than some people say it, which is what Carol and I were saying. We never said that Nexas in particular has.
blinks Little weird to be discussed in first/third…well some kind of POV there heheheh.
But, alright, just making sure…
With that though…most people who say it are, as referred to by a colleague of mine, Randall’s “fair-weather friends”. They believed something overly tragic happened to him to explain how he was, and when they felt unsatisfied that somebody didn’t die or something, they retracted any form of sympathy and started claiming he was a jerk from the start, which, as seen, isn’t true.
What’s upsetting about things is…he was a good guy that made decisions anybody else would, and they backfired.
SoA, said that he was slightly ridiculed? Well to a viewer, that may be so…but to Randall, it hit him a LOT harder. He says at the start that he worries about being a joke, about being laughed at and humiliated. And that fear comes out in the worst way. Through no fault of his own (it was somebody else’s unintentional action, but due to misunderstandings, he thought was intentional), he failed to perform for the RORs. He got the lowest score thanks to interference. But not only that, the gift he had, which he worried would make him a joke, DID. He came out, at first, unaware of what everyone was seeing, he was trying to look himself before he bumped into Johnny.
Everybody saw that failure, he was humiliated (as a person, as a scarer, as a ROR) in front of everybody. For a guy who, at his core, was starting to believe he had a place somewhere, that he didn’t have to worry anymore about being a joke…it all goes poof.
You don’t see it, but the RORs DO kick him out. Randall’s jacket is what Johnny offers to Sullivan later on. We all know, from earlier, the “I’ll hold on to this” treatment Sullivan got. Probably gave the same talk to Randall (though, he probably added in that Randall would perform better with his ability without, which is, of course, a no-brainer).
It wasn’t just the humiliation, it was losing everything. Respect, admiration, “friends”, a place to live (RORs kicked him out after all, Dorms are probably filled up). And you can’t say that the campus won’t make him a walking taunting board after it…especially if the RORs intend not to let his failure go.
It’s 10 years ago. Randall may not aim to mope on the event, but he still carried scars from it. He has a VERY hard time trusting people (he THOUGHT the RORs would be his friends, but obviously he was just a tool to them. He was used.). Events hit hard, but it’s the aftermath that’s the killer.
Well I thoroughly enjoyed MU. I think I still like Monsters Inc better but I liked what they did with this. It was definitely amusing and I liked Dean Hardscrabble. 
I could definitely relate to [spoil]Mike’s going to college to pursue his dream only to find out he wasnt cut out for it[/spoil]. Yes, the line about about them knowing each other since the 4th grade from Monsters Inc kinda bugs me but I was able to put that aside and just enjoy the film. It was certainly interesting to see their story arcs and how they fit in with what we see in Monsters Inc.
That line about knowing each other since the fourth grade used to bug me a lot as well, but I’ve just come to think of it as a kind of generic monster term for college. Elementary school is known as the first grade, middle school as the second grade, high school as the third grade, and college as the fourth grade.
It sounds kind of ridiculous, but it solves the continuity problem, so I’m happy. 
I think I’m happier by thinking about it as a metaphor. As in “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since forever”.
Scanlon himself has pretty much confirmed that.
That works too!
Well, this was difficult for me. It’s not even a review, but just a journal entry about coming to terms with the decision I made in judging the movie.
I thought the last sentence was very clever!