MONSTERS INC. (2001) (***1/2)
Pixar hasn't made a bad film yet (TOY STORY & A BUG'S LIFE). In my opinion MONSTERS INC. isn't as good as the TOY STORYs, but isn't too far behind. Directors Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich have taken the common childhood fear of monsters in the closet and created a wonderful world around the idea.
The story follows the life of Monsteropolis, where all the things that go bump in the night live. The monsters sneak into the human world through children's closets to collect kids' screams, the source of power in their world. Sulley (John Goodman, TV's ROSEANNE) is the top scarer, but his world goes haywire when he discovers a little human girl named Boo has wandered into the monster world after him. The monsters believe that the children will contaminate their land. So along with his best friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal, CITY SLICKERS) they try to keep the little one from Sulley's rival Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi, DESPERADO), who would love nothing more than to humiliate the top scarer.