Technically, Pixar films are aimed at children and families, but they have always been able to find a strong audience with people of every age. However, the new Pixar production “Monsters University,” prequel to the 2001 hit “Monsters, Inc.,” is targeting a more specific crowd: college students.
This will be Pixar’s first prequel, and director Dan Scanlon, along with producer Kori Rae, discussed their decision to do a prequel instead of a sequel and have it take place during Mike and Sulley’s college days.
“We loved the relationship of Mike and Sulley and we always wanted to do something with them again,” Scanlon said. “That’s where we started thinking about how these guys met, which led naturally to the college idea, and we loved the idea of doing something in a university.”
“That age between 18 and 22 is so crucial in all of our lives, whether you went to college or not,” Rae said.
Scanlon also delved into the research of visiting campuses that went into making the film portray as much of a realistic college experience as possible, albeit one with a fuzzy blue beast and a walking eyeball as the stars.
“We wanted to just walk around and soak it up and see the buildings and the fraternities and sororities and just kind of get our heads set back into the college student headset,” Scanlon said.
“Monsters University” will open in theaters nationwide on June 21.
