Disclosure – I received an invite to the #MonstersUEvent. All expenses were paid for and covered by Disney. This post is not a paid post and the opinions stated herein are 100% my own.
Back in April I had the opportunity to visit Monsters University (aka Pixar Studios) to not only get a sneak peek at the “Monsters University” movie, but also chat with some of the people behind the scenes that have made the Pixar movies such a huge success.
I think we were all excited when we had got to sit down and have a roundtable interview with the director of “Monsters University”, Dan Scanlon. Not only did we find out about his role in the movie, we also learned that Dan had a HUGE LOVE for Warner Bros. cartoons and animated Disney films when he was young. His passion turned him to study film and animation in high school and then he focused on illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design.
In 2001 Dan joined Pixar Animation Studios as a storyboard artist on “Cars” and “Toy Story 3”. During the beginning stages of the production on this film, Dan worked to translate the director’s story ideas onto the film’s first visual format which is a storyboard. Dan now makes his animated feature directional debut with Disney Pixar’s 14th feature film, “Monsters University” which comes to theaters this month on June 21, 2013.
So what did Dan Scanlon have to say about the upcoming movie, “Monsters University”? I share below a few of the questions we asked and what he had to say…
Q: How long did it take for you to get to the college scenario?
A: I think the reason college came up was, in the first film, in the early stages of the movie, they had actually talked about them being in college. They had versions of the story that they talked about their old college days. And so I think when the idea of going back came up, everyone was, like, oh, of course they went to college. It also gives you an opportunity to just get to see another place for monsters to go that seemed classic and we’d never done a college movie. No one had ever really tried that, so I think that was where the idea came from.
Q: What was the process of coming up with the fraternities and sororities names, like Ooma Kappa is OK?
A: It was actually really weirdly hard. We wanted them to be monsterized, but we just knew we wanted all those (EEK, ROAR) to sound really scary but then theirs (OK) to sound, sort of, small and to be this little extra badge of frustration for them. Strangely difficult to come up with fun. It was fun to just come up with names that also described the fraternities and sororities. You tend to get into kind of a clique and so we wanted them to describe the type of group that they were.
Q: When it comes to fear in kids’ movies, how do you decide how much is too much?
A: I think initially we always sort of make these movies for ourselves, and our own families in mind as the gauge. But then we do test screenings and things to kind of get a feeling that type of stuff. It is a tricky movie when you’re dealing with the issue of fear. The good thing is, the kids are still with the monsters. The monsters are still these sort of fun characters and, even when there’s intimidating monsters like her (Dean), I think you’re still kind of with your main characters.
It is always a tough line. You want to make sure there’s a story that’s fear we remember from being kids ourselves. It’s thrilling too. It’s those great characters and villains in films we remember from our childhood. They’re pretty scary. You just always want to make sure you’re not hurting the experience by taking too much.
These were just a few of the questions we got to ask, but I wish we had more time to ask him more. If you haven’t already, be sure to read our interview with Producer Kori Rae.
You will also want to take a peek at PopSugarTV’s video Monsters University Creators Dan Scanlon and Korie Rae on “Going Backwards” With the Prequel.
See Monsters University in theaters June 21, 2013
- Like on Facebook: facebook.com/disneypixar
- Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/disneypixar
- Visit the website: monstersuniversity.com/edu/
I”m glad they are so aware of things like fear at disney. lots of other companies that produce kid tv and movies seem to overlook that and make films that aren’t appropriate because of it.
I think it is great that they are aware of kids’ fears. I would have loved to attend this event!
This is so cool! I would love to pick the brain of such talent!
What an insightful interview! I love learning how various movie decisions are made. I think it’s so interesting that they put so much thought in the fraternity and sorority names and the scare factor.
Cool interview! I can’t wait to take my little man to see this. 🙂
LOVE this interview… sooo cool that they keep the kids in mind and the fears.. I can’t wait to see it …. been pacing for weeks…almost a few short weeks… Thanks for sharing
I love that the sororities are named “EEK”! I can’t wait to see this.
What a great interview. I hope it’s not too scary for my daughter..
I can see that you had a wonderful time. This is one movie I definitely want to take my kids to see. 🙂
Great interview! It must be so neat to grow up loving the Disney movies, then get to actually make them yourself. I can’t wait to see this movie!
I always love getting an inside look at the creative geniuses behind these movies. I am such a NON creative type that I am always awed with the ideas they come up with!
This is so cool! Getting an inside look is always so much fun.
So cool!! The movie is absolutely fun and reading the interview gives insight into how creative the peeps behind the movie are.
Yes, that is good that they are Dan Scanlon is aware of fear in the movies and that fear can really scar a child. We need to make sure that we only let our children watch appropriate movies for their age, or they will have problems from a movie that is to scary. But Monster’s University is a cute and fun movie to see.
How fun! I can’t wait to see this movie! Thanks for sharing an insider scoop!
Great interview. I like how he said they kind of make movies for themselves and their families. We can’t wait to see this movie.
Sounds like a great event! We’re looking forward to this movie coming out! I loved the first Monsters, Inc.