“Monsters, Inc.” Deconstruction

Background Information:

“Monsters Inc.” is a Children‟s Animation Film about a pair of Monster Best Friends that work in a Factory that scare children to

generate their city‟s Power. However, they themselves are scared of the

children, because they believe that they will get contaminated if they come into contact

with one – so when a child escapes her bedroom through one of the doors at the Factory, it‟s Mike and Sully‟s job (the Main

Characters) to return her.

Even though we‟re given hints towards the film‟s Narrative, we‟re not told specifically about the characters or their Jobs in the

Opening Title Sequence.

Production Companies The first show that we see in

the Sequence is the Walt Disney Pictures Splash-

screen, followed by the Pixar Studios Splash-screen. This

shows the Audience from the off that the film will have had high production values, as the Companies are highly famous

and well known.

Furthermore, it hints immediately

that the Film is aimed at

Children, as the Production

Companies themselves (Walt

Disney Pictures and Pixar) focus on creating Children‟s

movies, and are generally

associated with Children‟s films.

Names (or lack of!)

You could argue that the lack of Actors, Editors and Producers Names (etc.) could be Pixar‟s way of demonstrating that this is a children‟s

film, as they may not want to confuse the viewer – as they may associate the Actors

names with the Characters names; thus getting confused.

Therefore, the reason in which they haven‟t used Actors names etc. in the Sequence is not

to break the Verisimilitude (or the believability of the World in the Film). This could be showing

that they want the children to believe the World in the Film as much as possible.

Title FontThe fonts used vary throughout the

Opening Sequence. For example, in the shot to the left, the font used for

“Walt Disney” is quite Bold and Surreal, and resembles a child‟s

drawing – which would link to the Target Audience as it‟s heavily aimed at children. The handwriting could be showing that the film is addressing the

Audience directly, as it connotes a letter to the children (which could also

be hinting that the film/characters is friendly and to be trusted).

In the picture to the right, the font used is very bold and Blue. The boldness could be

a reference to the characters within the

film (as they need to be quite bold to do their job of scaring children – although

we‟re not directly shown this in the Opening Sequence), and the Blue could be

representing the friendly nature to the film and/or characters – as Blue is generally

associated with positive, good things

(unlike other colours such as Red). Adding to this, the eye in the „M‟ of “Monsters”

could be seen as a reference to the characters, and the way they look.

Narrative CluesThe Narrative Clues given in the film are quite strong. Firstly, we

see a Snake-Like creature popping out of doors and eating the Letters of the words/names

shown in the Sequence. The creature is evidently a reference to the type of characters within the Animation (e.g. Monsters), and suggests to the Audience that the majority of the film will

be centered around them.

Secondly, all the names and creatures in the

Sequence „pop‟ out of small doors that

appear on the screen. This is also a clear Plot

reference, as the creatures in the Factory in

which the film is Set, creep into Children‟s

rooms through doors (in the Factory, and

Cupboard doors in Children‟s bedrooms –

like a „Portal). This appeals to the Target

Audience because they can relate the

children within the film that get scared; as a

common thing during childhood is getting

scared of the dark/monsters coming out of

the dark.

Audience and Production

ValuesThe film has two Target Audiences; Children under the age of 12, and also Adults/Parents that watch the film with their child – because Disney/Pixar are known for their more mature jokes

that Children may not immediately understand, whereas Adults will.

The film appeals to the Parents because it‟s by a trusted and well known Production Company, so they know the film can

be trusted – and it appeals to the children through the idea of Monsters, as generally children are associated with liking or disliking Monsters. Adding to this, it gives them someone to

relate to – as the Monsters‟ Job is to scare children (and a lot of children are scared of Monsters in real-life when they‟re

young).

The Production Values can be seen to be quite high, as the Production Companies themselves are well known and very

successful – so you can tell immediately that the film will have had a high budget.