MONSTERS
UNIVERSITY
I joined Monsters University in 2009, as one of the first Story artists to join in development. I became one of the principal story artists on the show, working on scene ideas, storyboards and extensively in editorial.
Inspired
‘Inspired’ was a scene that had to set up Mike’s love of scaring and the reintroduce the World of Monsters Inc., and re-establish the role scaring plays in the Monster Society.
I helped conceive, pitch and in a last minute dash prior to a screening, boarded 2 passes of this pivotal sequence within a week to deliver it to edit just in time to make it for the screening.
The scene was a big hit with the braintrust, establishing the premise and main character firmly, even gaining a rare approval for production in the room.
The drawings are rough and immediate, evidence of the break neck speed at which it was executed. I learned from this scene, that if the ideas are right, and the movements resonate, the drawings can be imperfect. It helps to be inspired.
Betrayal
In what would be become a pattern in my career at Pixar, I was tasked with storyboarding a dramatic break up scene at the end of act two. In the glow of Mike’s achievement, winning the Scare Games and proving to himself finally, that he’s got what it takes, it is revealed that Sulley cheated, rigging the machine. He didn’t believe in his best friend after all.
‘The Truth comes to light’ was something I tried to capture in the staging and blocking here. In the beginning, Mike stands in the light, while Sulley speaks from the shadows, as Mike enters the shadows to investigate, he sheds light, literally on Sulley’s betrayal.
Sulley enters the light by confessing, and Mike back lit and in shadow, confronts him and disavows him. Mike leaves the scene, broken, and flees into the darkness, preparing to make a life altering decision.
Many drawings here were rough, as deadlines demanded. typically, these drawings would be refined and cleaned up post screening, but there was more work to do on other areas of the movie, so these real working class drawings stayed.
Monsters University ART/ Development
