The Disney+ Monsters Inc. animated TV show, titled Monsters At Work, sets movie stars Billy Crystal and John Goodman to return as Mike and Sulley, respectively. Released by Disney and Pixar in 2001, Monsters Inc. introduced viewers young and old to Monstropolis, a world powered by the frightened screams of human children. Mike Wazowski (Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (Goodman) work together as a team on the Scare Floor at Monsters, Inc., inspiring and collecting the screams of children to power their city. However, their world is turned upside down when a human child follows Sulley back through her door and the pair of friends discover a sinister conspiracy at Monsters, Inc.
The original animated movie was a huge success for Disney/Pixar, earning praise from critics and casual moviegoers alike and earning $577.4 million at the box office. As a result, another film in the world was put into development and the prequel, Monsters University, hit theaters in 2013. The film followed Mike and Sulley as they became friends and learned to become the monsters fans met in Monsters Inc. The prequel was just as successful, but rather than produce another movie in the franchise, Disney is taking Monsters Inc. in another direction by releasing an animated TV continuation via their upcoming streaming service, Disney+.
As reported by Deadline, Crystal and Goodman are set to reprise their roles as Mike and Sulley for the Monsters Inc. animated TV show titled Monsters At Work. Although Disney+ is expected to launch sometime in 2019, Monsters At Work won’t premiere until 2020, though an exact window hasn’t been revealed. According to Deadline, the TV show picks up six months after the events of the original movie, with Monsters, Inc. “harvesting the laughter of children to fuel the city of Monstropolis.” Other returning actors include John Ratzenberger as Yeti and new character Bernard, Jennifer Tilly as Celia Mae. Monsters Inc. voice actor Bob Peterson will also return, but as Roze, the twin sister to his original movie character Roz.
Though Mike and Sulley will be back for Monsters At Work, the show will reportedly focus on new character Tylor Tuskmon (Ben Feldman), a young mechanic working on the Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team. However, Tylor has dreams of becoming just like his idols, Mike and Sulley, who are Jokesters on the company’s Laugh Floor. The rest of the new main cast is rounded out by Kelly Marie Tran as Tylor’s best friend Val, Henry Winkler as the boss Fritz, Aisha Tyler as Tylor’s mom Millie, Lucas Neff as a plumber named Duncan, Alanna Ubach as the rule-following Cutter and Stephen Stanton as a pair of bumbling custodians named Smitty and Needleman.
While fans of Monsters Inc. are no doubt excited to learn that Crystal and Goodman will be reprising their film roles for the upcoming animated TV show, Monsters At Work seems to be shifting the focus away from Mike and Sulley for the first time in the franchise. Of course, with it unlikely Crystal and Goodman would want to commit to an entire animated TV show, this move isn’t entirely surprising. Further, with the original Monsters Inc. movie largely wrapping up their story and Monsters University exploring the early days of their friendship, it makes sense to tell other stories in this world. Whether older fans will like Tylor and Val as much as Mike and Sulley remains to be seen, but Monsters At Work should at least find an audience with younger viewers.
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Monsters At Work is expected to premiere on Disney+ sometime in 2020.
Source: Deadline
