The Original Pitch for 'Monsters, Inc.'
Filed under: Animation, Fandom, Newsstand
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Kudos to Cinematical reader Kashif Pasta for sending this our way. On the latest episode of the Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcast (which I didn't know existed, but now do and will totally listen more often), Up and Monster's, Inc director Pete Docter revealed the original pitch for Monsters, Inc. -- which was very different from what eventually hit the screen, and kinda reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are in a sorta-ish way. On this blog, Kashif separated the segment of the podcast where Docter reveals the original pitch (which came at about 22 minutes in), and it went something like this:
"Well, my idea was that what it was about was about a 30 year old man who is like an accountant or something, he hates his job, and one day he gets a book with some drawings in it that he did when he was a kid from his mom, and he doesn't think anything of it and he puts it on the shelf and that night, monsters show up. And nobody else can see them. He thinks he's starting to go crazy, they follow him to his job, and on his dates, and all this- and it turns out these monsters are fears that he never dealt with as a kid. And each one of them represents a different kind of fear. As he conquers those fears, the guys who he slowly becomes kind of friends with- they disappear as he conquers those fears. It's this bittersweet kinda ending where they go away, and so not much of that stayed
[...]
it sounds better as a pitch than it did at the time- anyway. "
Sounds like a pretty cool punch-in-the-gut kinda movie to me; something with real intense emotion. I like Docter in that way. I feel he likes to create these beautiful child-like movies with some pretty intense adult emotions behind them. It's part of what makes that Pixar crew so great and unique and powerful. You can listen to the audio from the Docter podcast over here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-14-2009 @ 1:02AM
Scott K. said...
With Pixar, it probably would bee good, but it's hard to imagine it being as good as the Monsters Inc that we got.
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11-14-2009 @ 3:42AM
Kashif Pasta said...
Thanks so much for the mention, Erik!
I really think that Monsters, Inc. was the best choice for the company at the time (though I wouldn't have spent $150+ million on Up, and look at how that turned out), but just imagining this film excites me.
I guess this is why people read comic books-- I'd love to enjoy this story in some way even though it may be somewhat 'out of the bag' and difficult to do.
Who knows what Docter and Peterson are cooking up for 2014...
11-14-2009 @ 10:54AM
Rivndellelf said...
That's a really interesting concept, and I think it would be cool to see how Pixar would have handled it.
It also sounds like at least a *little* of that concept got turned into Up, if you think about it. Sure it doesn't have monsters only Carl can see, but it is sort of about a man re-discovering a book from his youth (Ellie's adventure book) and then going on a journey that changes him into someone else--a lot of it by dealing with fears/pet peeves that he has (i.e. having to learn to deal with Russell, Dug, and Kevin; his disappointment with who Muntz turns out to be; and learning to let go). I mean it's not totally the same as the pitch, obviously, but it seems like the same themes at the very least were used for Up.
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11-14-2009 @ 12:42PM
Yesenia said...
Original concept sounds cool. The first thing I thought of when I read it was the movie Hearts & Souls with Robert Downey Jr. He had imaginary friends in his childhood that reappeared when he was an adult and they similarly represented parts of himself. And then disappeared when they had served their purpose.
I think it would have been pretty cool as a kids movie, though I've never seen Monsters, Inc, I'm sure (being Pixar) it turned out pretty good anyway.
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11-15-2009 @ 4:56AM
techstar25 said...
It seems that at the time that pitch was made, Pixar wasn't quite ready to do a "grown up" film yet.
Obviously, with Ratatouille, Up, and The Incredibles they have shown that they can make a slightly more grown up movie. But at the time Monsters Inc was made they only had A Bugs Life and the two Toy Story movies. So they were basically were still skewing towards younger audiences. I can understand their reaction when he pitched the idea of a 30-year-old protagonist.
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11-15-2009 @ 6:52PM
Ashweee said...
I'm glad it didn't come to be what the original idea was, it does sound interesting and kind of intense, but I really prefer the childish Pixar movies. For all the hype "Up" got I didn't really like it. it was just depressing and I feel like people are saying they liked it because Pixar has made a name for themselves. and "Wall-E" has to be my 2nd least favorite behind "Up" I can honestly say I am glad I was growing up at the height of Pixar's greatness with "Toy Story" and "a Bug's Life".
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11-17-2009 @ 4:34PM
Jonathan Kuhn said...
I think it's unfair to say "UP" was depressing. It had some very sad moments, yes, but ultimately it is about a man who opens himself up for the first time in a long while and is able to be happy again.
11-17-2009 @ 12:54PM
Daddy Geek Boy said...
I love how the creative process can shape and mold an idea until it's something completely different than the original, but still holds that kernel of the same idea.
I think now in the age of the more "serious" Pixar movies, this original pitch would be good. But I'm glad they made the Monsters Inc. that they did.
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11-17-2009 @ 2:17PM
Swanlady said...
Yesenia - the "imaginary friends" in the movie Hearts & Souls with Robert Downey Jr. were actually ghosts (victims of a bus crash, I believe) which had “haunted” him in his childhood (everyone else thought they were imaginary) and then reappeared when he was an adult. They did not represent parts of himself, but they were able to "possess” his body, and some did so to finish things they had left undone when they died. They disappeared when they found “closure”, and in helping them do this, RD’s character learned some valuable lessons.
But your comparison is basically good, and you would like Monsters, Inc. - see it!
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11-17-2009 @ 5:05PM
apathygrrl said...
This pitch sounds quite like the movie Drop Dead Fred, especially with the bittersweet, imaginary monster going away after dealing with childhood fears ending.
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