Snack Time With Squishy AKA Pete Sohn From Monsters University – #MonstersUEvent

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.

When it comes animated films that I love, it is always fun for me to find out just who is behind the voices of the characters, especially the funny ones….

This last April when I took a trip to Pixar Studios our group of bloggers got to meet Pete Sohn who plays the voice of Squishy in Monsters University. This was the last of our interviews at Pixar, but it was probably the most entertaining. While we did get some very interesting information from our previous roundtable interviews, I think our group laughed the most while enjoying our Snack Time With Squishy….

Now I am not joking about snack time either. Pixar had a neat little snack bar awaiting us and we all got to enjoy a nice healty snack while asking Pete Sohn all kinds of questions about his role in the movie, his role at Pixar and more…

When Pete Sohn first entered the room, he greeted us which had me giggling.

Uh, yeah, my name is Peter Sohn. And, uh, uh, I’ve worked here at Pixar for about 11 years. And, uh, I’m lucky enough to be  in Monsters University – playing Squishy the chubby guy with the hat and a bunch of eyes. And, uh, uh, uh, it’s been really fun. Um, so yeah whatever you  guys want to talk about.

How did you get the role?

Um, it’s funny. Uh, I’ve– I’ve– I’ve played, um,  Emile in Ratatouille here. And it was like you’re chubby. And you’ll eat funny food. So why don’t you play this guy? I’m like okay. And then this is kind of like you’re chubby. And you’re kinda nerdy too. So why don’t you give this a shot? Um, but it’s– it’s– it’s funny. Uh, I have to play– I– the recording was done a while ago. Uh, and I’ve been on other projects since.

What do you when you’re not doing voice?

Uh, well, I started here in, um, as a character designer on Finding Nemo in 2000. And then I moved into story on  that on production. And then, uh, I’ve been in animation. So I’ve been all, uh, in many departments. But currently I’m codirecting, um, uh, the– The Good Dinosaur with Bob Peterson, uh, that’s coming out in 2014. And, uh, um, it’s– it’s– it’s gonna be great. But I’ve been all over the place here. I really–uh, it’s– it’s been, um, amazing, uh, that this place allows  you to just move around into– into what you’re interested in and what you want to learn about.

Did you inspire the character or vice versa?

I think it’s the back and forth. I’m not sure, uh, exactly if it was just like, uh, um, because in the beginning there was a squishy but then evolved to be, uh, a guy with a hat  and– and chubby. And so maybe it wasn’t a stretch. Maybe that’s– that’s what he looks like. Oh, that guy looks like that. Let’s put him in there. Uh, yeah, but it was– it was an evolution for sure.

For those that haven’t seen Monsters University yet, here is a little background information on the character Scott “Squishy” Squibbles.

They say that a 1,000-mile journey starts with a single step. And for MU Sophomore Scott “Squishy” Squibbles, he’s ready to do just that. Squishy is a  local student that lives with his mother just mere blocks away from MU. From the time he was a small monster, his dream was to come to MU and “walk the hallowed halls,” he says, “to think that I could follow in their footsteps is so exciting!”

To hear about Squishy from Pete Sohn himself, watch the video below:

Monsters University is now playing in theaters! Find showtimes here.

• “Like” MONSTERS UNIVERSITY on Facebook: https://facebook.com/PixarMonstersUniversity
• “Follow” Disney/Pixar on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/DisneyPixar
• Visit the website: https://www.Disney.com/MonstersU