Usually, a sequel is a movie that continues the story from a previous plot.  There have been some odd ways this transpired, perhaps most notably with the Star Wars franchise.  When it launched in 1977, the first installment was listed as “Episode IV.”  Nobody seemed to pay it much mind, and its creator, George Lucas, went on to collect billions from its popularity.  Despite its success, not many other productions have followed that format, and it usually goes part one, part two, etc.  You can call me a square Catholic, but this is my preference.  One series that bucked this trend is Monsters, Inc. (2001).  Today’s film, Monsters University (2013), is its sequel, though one would technically call it a prequel.  Little of this makes sense to me, although I am clearly not the intended audience.  I also do not know why they could not have come up with something after the events of the previous entry, but such are not my decisions.

My decision would have been not to make Monsters University, or to begin it years before Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) become best friends.  As a young monster (voiced by Noah Johnston), Mike visits Monsters, Inc. on a school field trip and watches professional scarers collect children’s screams.  Those human screams are collected in cannisters, and this is how this world gets its electricity.  As a Catholic, I would have loved to have some other way for this to happen.  Regardless, Mike is fascinated and sneaks through an open closet door to watch a scarer work.  Everyone is impressed that he is willing to brave the supposedly toxic human world, which only fuels his desire to work for the company.  Years later, Mike arrives at the title school determined to study to do just that.  What he lacks in natural ability he compensates for by studying relentlessly, quickly becoming one of the most knowledgeable students in the scare program.  His roommate is Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi), a shy monster capable of turning invisible who wants to fit in with the popular crowd.  Mike soon meets Sulley, whose approach to school could hardly be more different.  He comes from a famous family of scarers and possesses tremendous natural talent on which he relies to make good impressions on everyone.  Mike resents Sulley for succeeding without working, while Sulley sees Mike as a know-it-all who understands scaring but faculty and students deem harmless.  Their rivalry causes trouble during a class overseen by Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren), head of the Scaring School.  Their squabble causes Dean Hardscrabble’s prized scream canister to topple and break, and leading Dean Hardscrabble to conclude that neither belongs in the program.  Mike refuses to accept that his dream is finished and discovers the annual Scare Games, a competition between fraternities and sororities for the most horrifying student organization.  He makes a wager with Dean Hardscrabble that if his team wins, its members will be admitted into the Scaring School.  If they lose, Mike will leave Monsters University.  His only option is Oozma Kappa, a fraternity of misfits consisting of Don Carlton (Joel Murray), Scott “Squishy” Squibbles (voiced by Peter Sohn), Art (voiced by Charlie Day), and two-headed Terri and Terry Perry (voiced by Sean Hayes and Dave Foley).  They need another member to qualify, and Sulley reluctantly joins them.  Oozma Kappa initially performs about as well as one might expect.  During the first event, they must race through a tunnel filled with glowing urchins that cause painful swelling when touched.  The two rivals are more concerned with beating each other than following the rules that their members must cross the line with them.  Mike realizes his teammates must begin functioning as a team and learns how to make use of each monster’s peculiar abilities.  Sulley, meanwhile, begins recognizing that Mike’s knowledge and preparation actually matter.  Oozma Kappa advances through the competition, attracting the attention of Roar Omega Roar and its president, Johnny Worthington (voiced by Nathan Fillion), who invites them to a party only to humiliate them in front of the university.  Instead of quitting, Mike takes his teammates to Monsters, Inc., where they watch professional scarers, which renews their determination.  Newly inspired, Oozma Kappa reaches the final round against Roar Omega Roar.  Each monster must enter a simulated child’s bedroom and produce the strongest scream possible.  Mike goes last and seemingly produces a tremendous scream, giving Oozma Kappa the victory.  Unfortunately, he soon discovers that Sulley tampered with the simulator to guarantee his success.  Devastated that even Sulley did not believe in him, Mike breaks into the university’s door laboratory and enters the human world to prove that he can scare a child.  He emerges at a summer camp and attempts to frighten a cabin full of children.  Instead, they find him amusing.  For the first time, Mike must confront the painful truth that, despite all his hard work and knowledge, he simply is not as threatening as he hopes.  Sulley follows Mike through the door, but university officials shut it down from the monster side, trapping them together in the human world.  There, Mike and Sulley finally admit their weaknesses to each other.  Sulley confesses that beneath his confidence he is terrified of disappointing everyone who expects greatness from him, while Mike acknowledges the pain of possible failing in his goals.  Yet, what neither can accomplish alone they manage together.  Mike uses his knowledge to devise a plan, while Sulley provides the frightening performance, terrifying the adults investigating the raucous.  So thorough is their terror that it powers the door from the human side.  This lets them return to Monsters University, but their triumph is followed by their expulsion.  Before they leave, Dean Hardscrabble admits that they surprised her, particularly Mike, who managed something she never expected: he made Sulley a better scarer.  With their college careers over, Mike and Sulley take jobs in the Monsters, Inc. mailroom.  A closing montage shows them steadily working their way through the company until they eventually become the scarer team we know from Monsters, Inc.

It is good to see folks learn to work together as we see in Monsters University.  I may not have understood why this film was necessary, but I am not the one writing the checks at Disney.  And who am I to argue with the roughly quarter of a billion dollars the film grossed at the box office.  Thus, let us take the story at face value.  Besides, the development of a friendship is a worthwhile pursuit for a Catholic film reviewer.  The first thing to point out is the unexpected nature of their interactions.  The trope of two people from different backgrounds learning to get along and thrive is not new, but it happens best when they are open to that which God brings them.  That is not the case for Mike and Sulley.  While they should be applauded for having goals, their focus is too narrow.  To be sure, God has a plan in mind for all of us, and we should stick as close to it as we can.  However, we cannot do so to the point that we ignore other ways in which God might be working in our lives.  This is something many face in their spiritual journey.  There are those who believed throughout their upbringing that they were meant for a religious vocation, only to meet someone while in formation and start a family.  The same happens in the other direction, and many female and male religious will to you about relationships they had before they took the cloth.  We can apply this to the film by looking at how Mike and Sulley come to work at Monsters, Inc. in the end.  It may not have proceeded as they envisioned, but they get there all the same.  This can occur for us if we only submit to God’s providence.

One could say it is somewhat providential that I reviewed Monsters University since Disney’s Hollywood Studios is working on opening a new ride featuring this cinematic world.  You can see discussions of that and other Mouse-related topics on my YouTube channel, Oh Man Disney.  As for this movie, meh.