| 1 | !!Spoilers for this movie will be marked as usual. However, due to its nature as the prequel to ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'', ''that'' film's spoilers are unmarked here. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned! |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monsters_u.png]] |
| 4 | [[caption-width-right:350:Before they were incorporated, they had to be educated.]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->''"Scariness is the true measure of a monster. If you are not scary, what kind of a monster are you? It's my job to make great students greater, not make mediocre students less mediocre."'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''Dean Abigail Hardscrabble''' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ''Monsters University'' is the 2013 {{prequel}} to Creator/{{Disney}}/Creator/{{Pixar}}'s hit animated film ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1''. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Michael "Mike" Wazowski (Creator/BillyCrystal) has built his entire life around being a scarer. Ever since he visited Monsters, Inc. as a child, he has dedicated his life to learn the ins and outs of the craft. When he is accepted to and attends his dream school, Monsters University, he meets fellow freshman James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (Creator/JohnGoodman). |
| 12 | |
| 13 | While he is also a scaring major, they could not be from more different backgrounds. Mike has been a diligent studier who has worked against all odds to get to his position, while Sulley is a notorious slacker, coasting off his family name of prestigious scarers, which has gotten him far until now. Naturally, they immediately butt heads, and an intense rivalry ensues. The chaos escalates the entire semester until an embarrassing incident during their final exam where they upset Dean Hardscrabble (Creator/HelenMirren) causes them to get kicked out of the scaring program. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | To get back in the program, Mike wagers a deal with Hardscrabble if that they win the university's Greek competition, the Scare Games, both Mike and Sulley can be let back in the program. With no other options, they join the fraternity O.K. (Oozma Kappa), made of other scaring rejects who would love a chance to prove themselves as well. Now with this ragtag team assembled, they have one shot at redemption and to potentially win this daunting competition, with Mike and Sulley becoming the best of friends along the way. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A followup short, ''WesternAnimation/PartyCentral'', where Mike and Sulley use door stations to bring a rival fraternity's party to an O.K. one, would accompany the theatrical release of ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted''. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | !!''Monsters University'' provides examples of: |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Tropes A-M]] |
| 24 | * FiveFiveFive: The newspaper ad announcing the job offerings in the Monsters, Inc. mail room tells applicants to call 555-0199. |
| 25 | * ActorAllusion: |
| 26 | ** While [[TalkingInYourSleep talking in his sleep]], Mike mentions a princess being in love with a stable boy, referencing ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', where Mike's voice actor Creator/BillyCrystal played Miracle Max. |
| 27 | ** [[spoiler:The Yeti is seen at the end supervising the mail room at Monsters Inc. -- an allusion to John Ratzenberger, his voice actor, and his first big role as [[Series/{{Cheers}} a mailman]].]] |
| 28 | ** Art mentions he owns dream journals and spends a lot of time in sewers just like [[Series/{{ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia}} another Charlie Day character]]. |
| 29 | * AllGhoulsSchool: The basic concept of the university. |
| 30 | * AllGuysWantSororityWomen: When Randy is trying to convince Mike to attend a big party, he emphasizes how it is a sorority party. It's implied that he was mostly interested in the sorority girls there, judging by how we see him offering cupcakes to some of them later on. |
| 31 | * AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Almost everyone to Mike, especially at the beginning of the movie. |
| 32 | * AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Squishy's mom, Mrs Squibbles. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment In her first scene]], she interrupts Oozma Kappa's InitiationCeremony by turning on the basement washing machine and forcing Squishy to yell over it. |
| 33 | * AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Well, they ''are'' monsters. |
| 34 | * AmbiguousCriminalHistory: When the Oozma Kappa fraternity group is spotted by security in the Scare Factory, Art completely freaks out at the thought of any legal punishment and screams that he can't go back to prison. It's never explained what he did to wind up there in the first place. |
| 35 | * AMFMCharacterization: More for monster society in general than for the character who actually performs the trope. While Mike takes the guys to Monsters Inc., Squish's mom stays in the car to "listen to [her] tunes", which are evidently SpeedMetal. |
| 36 | * AmusingInjuries: Touching the venomous urchins causes the affected area to swell up. Almost all the monsters in the first Scare Game emerge looking like balloons, and Squishy has the misfortune of ''swallowing one'', which inflates him from the inside. |
| 37 | * AnachronismStew: Somewhat. The dance party scene is very distinctly 2010s-ish, with regards to the music and general atmosphere, but the film carries over elements of the first movie (which was made in 2001 and looks like it), not to mention this film as a whole is meant to be a tribute to '80s college flicks. Using Mike's calendar and the technology for reference (for instance, the Scare Floors are shown using old Solari boards instead of digital monitors), the film is likely set in the monster world equivalent of 1987-1988. |
| 38 | * AngelFaceDemonFace: Randall, who was originally a friendly dork who wore NerdGlasses and was a PerpetualSmiler, becomes more menacing as the story goes on. Eventually, he loses the glasses and stops smiling, showing his gradual StartOfDarkness. |
| 39 | * AprilFoolsDay: On April 1, 2013, the M.U. website was hacked by rival college Fear Tech. They changed the color scheme to bright orange and pasted their logo and their mascot, Archie the Scare Pig, all over the site. |
| 40 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Hardscrabble asks Sulley if he actually thinks Mike is scary. Although Sulley struggles to refute the question, he cannot, because [[JerkassHasAPoint deep down, he knows that Hardscrabble is correct in saying Mike is not.]] [[spoiler:This directly leads to Sulley cheating in the final round by tampering with Mike's settings to ensure Mike's win.]] |
| 41 | * ArtShift: Continuing from the first film, the movie's opening credits are done in traditional animation. |
| 42 | * AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The Librarian is actually a giant 50-foot tentacled monster, and if you make too much noise, she will throw you out. Literally. |
| 43 | * AwesomenessByAnalysis: Mike's main ability. He's extremely good at finding ways to use the environment to his and his friends' advantage. |
| 44 | * AwesomenessIsVolatile: A monster is an awesome scarer if they can scare human adults. Just be sure to get out of there before the screams blow up the door. |
| 45 | * BackToSchool: Don has joined Oozma Kappa after he was downsized from his sales department. Averted in that none of his humour is about his age, rather than that he's still sticking with his well-polished sales persona and patter in a fraternity environment. |
| 46 | * BaitAndSwitchCharacterIntro: Used twice when Mike first arrives at his dorm and meets his roommate for the first time. |
| 47 | ** When he's given his key, Mike is enthusiastic to learn that his roommate is also a scaring major, and excitedly tells himself that his new best friend is waiting on the other side of the door. [[ForegoneConclusion Viewers familiar with the original film]] would expect this to be when he meets Sulley [[NeverTrustATrailer (especially since the trailers implied this)]], but when Mike opens the door, we see that his roommate is actually ''[[ArchEnemy Randall]]''. |
| 48 | ** When we first seen Randall, his obscured silhouette evokes the predatory, villainous appearance [[CallForward of his older self]], complete with the score briefly hinting at his sinister {{leitmotif}} from the original. He then steps into the light to greet Mike, revealing his big goofy glasses and his innocent, friendly expression. |
| 49 | * BaitAndSwitchSentiment: Provides the page quote. |
| 50 | -->'''Mike:''' We have everything we need to win right here.\ |
| 51 | '''Squibbles:''' ''[smiles]'' Heart.\ |
| 52 | '''Mike:''' No, me! I'm going to win this for us. |
| 53 | ** Also when Sulley suggests replacing the Oozmas with a new team, Mike retorts that they can't do that...because he's checked, and it's against the rules. |
| 54 | * BeatWithoutABut: After Mike and Sulley find themselves in a boring scream canister class, the professor doesn't give the reassurance they expect. |
| 55 | --> '''Professor Brandywine:''' Some say that a career as a scream can designer is boring, unchallenging, a waste of a monster's potential... [beat] Open your textbooks to Chapter 3. |
| 56 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: The PNK and HSS teams make it through the first Scare Game completely unscathed. For the [=EEKs=], Brynn Larson suffers a "minor" swelling after accidentally stepping on a stinging urchin. However, her sorority proves to show the best teamwork when Carla Delgado and Maria Garcia aid her and the rest keep close as to make sure she doesn't endure any more pain before making it out of the event. |
| 57 | * BeyondTheImpossible: The door's shut down, you're stuck with no children at all to make scream...it seems like a pretty hopeless situation. [[spoiler:Mike and Sulley's solution is to scare an entire squad of police officers, creating such an epic scare that the door is effectively blown off its hinges and the scream canisters suffer from ExplosiveOverclocking as they all are filled far beyond capacity--a feat that has never been accomplished in recorded monster history]]. |
| 58 | * BerserkButton: |
| 59 | ** You'd better be quiet in the library...or else the Librarian will [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever throw you out]]. |
| 60 | ** Subverted with Hardscrabble's souvenir scare canister. [[spoiler:When it's destroyed, she's disappointed, but doesn't even raise her voice. It isn't even the reason why she kicks Mike and Sulley out of the scare program a few minutes later]]. (Although she ''does'' [[spoiler:cut them down [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech harshly and publicly]] in just under a minute each, rather than give them a fair go on the Scare Simulator]]...though it does ultimately make it painfully clear that Mike and Sulley [[spoiler: only sped up their inevitable expulsion]]). |
| 61 | * BigEntrance: Hardscrabble ''loves'' these, the best being her introductory scene. She swoops in, quickly shuts of nearly all sources of light in a way that can only be described as "borderline telekinetic", and then slowly slithers up from the darkness. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment The best part is that her entire entrance leaves]] '''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment no]]''' [[EstablishingCharacterMoment room for discussion about her credentials as a Scarer.]] |
| 62 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: Tampering with the mail is a big enough offense in the eyes of monsters to merit lifelong banishment to the [[DeathWorld supposedly lethal]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou human world]] with no supplies, as is suggested in the original film. In human terms, that's like being dropped in the middle of DarkestAfrica without any food, water, protection, clothing, or contact with the rest of humanity. For the rest of your life. |
| 63 | * BookDumb: Sulley is this, making him the counterpart to BookSmart Mike. Played for laughs most of the time, but it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Sulley knows full well that he's not academically gifted and is terrified that he'll crumble under the weight of his family's legacy because of it]]. |
| 64 | -->'''Professor Knight''': One frightening face does not a scarer make, Mr. Sullivan. |
| 65 | * BookEnds: Mike walks past the safety line in Monsters Inc. at his school field trip in the beginning [[spoiler:and at his first day of being a scare assistant in the end]]. |
| 66 | * BrainsAndBrawn: Mike Wazowski is the brains to Sulley's brawn. |
| 67 | * BrickJoke: See TheStinger. |
| 68 | ** Another one appears in the ending credits: Near the beginning, there is a poster from a student who's lost an eyeball asking for passersby to help find it. Towards the end of the credits, another poster comes up from another student who has found an eyeball. Hopefully, the two of them will come across each other's posters. |
| 69 | * BrilliantButLazy: Sulley is a naturally good scarer, having come from a long line of them, but is overconfident and makes little effort to improve himself until circumstances force him to start doing so. |
| 70 | * BrokenAesop: |
| 71 | ** Some dreams are unattainable, physical limitations can't be ignored, and you'll be better off if you accept it. Fair enough, except for the fact that half the cast is made up of cuddly, awkward monsters--arguably more cuddly than Mike--who play to their strengths and utilize creativity to become successful scarers. It seems the only reason we're expected to believe that Mike is not scarer material and never will be is because he's DoomedByCanon. |
| 72 | ** Sulley's laziness in using the same roar every time is portrayed as a weakness he has to overcome in order to truly be a good scarer, yet both of the critical moments that depend on his scariness have him using that same roar. Granted, he does learn that it also takes the building of atmosphere to make an effective Scare. |
| 73 | * CallASmeerpARabbit: M.U.'s rival school, Fear Tech, has a mascot named "Archie the Scare Pig", who is [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife bright orange]]. Interestingly, he seems to be mix of both pig and ''goat''--he has a pig's snout, tail and squeal, but his horns, shaggy coat and rectangular pupils are all rather goat-like. |
| 74 | * CallBack: |
| 75 | ** One of the posters in Mike's dorm room is of Frank [=McCay=]. |
| 76 | ** [[spoiler: As Mike sits in the bus leaving M.U., Sulley jumps at the bus window similar to when he burst through Mike's dorm window with Fear Tech's pig. Sulley even alludes to the event shortly after his bus jump]]. |
| 77 | ** Hardscrabble's retort to Mike's insistence that he can surprise her is that she very much doubts ''anyone'' can surprise her. [[spoiler:At the end, Hardscrabble admits that no one has ever really surprised her before, except for Mike. She notes that she will keep her eyes out for more surprises in the future, and that Mike should never stop surprising people]]. |
| 78 | ** Mike uses the same routine that Frank [=McCay=] uses at the start of the film [[spoiler: to win the scare games]]. |
| 79 | * CallForward: Being a prequel, this movie is filled with these moments. |
| 80 | ** The scenes taking place at Monsters Inc. incorporate some of the original film's musical score. |
| 81 | ** The slow motion TeamPowerWalk the monsters do on Mike's field trip looks like the one Sulley participates in at the start of the first movie. This has the added context of emphasizing that Mike and Sulley are now in the jobs they've always dreamed of, after having the shot introduced in the previous movie. |
| 82 | ** Randall "ditching the glasses" early on gives a hilarious explanation for his squinty eyes throughout the first film; his formerly scary expression can now be read as him just [[BlindWithoutEm not being able to see]]. |
| 83 | ** The poster over Randall's bed is a motivational poster that says: "Winds of Change: Shh, can you hear it?"--a reference to a line that Randall says in the original movie. |
| 84 | ** Randall's first establishing shot shows him as a sinister shadow, with a brief appearance by his villainous {{leitmotif}} from the first film. |
| 85 | ** The room number of the dorm room that Randall and Mike share is 319 on the second floor, which references 2319, the CDA code that gets used as a RunningGag in the original. |
| 86 | ** When Mike is yanked out from under his bed by Archie the Scare Pig, he does the same [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqxML8ZVYNU famous scream]] he did in the original when Roz shut down the office blinds on his fingers. |
| 87 | ** When Sulley uses a roar in his final exam, Hardscrabble tells him that since the child in the question was afraid of snakes, a roar wouldn't make him scream, it would make him cry. In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'', Boo, the human girl who Sulley accidentally lets into the monster world is also revealed to be afraid of snake and reptiles (which is why Randall was her monster). So when [[spoiler: Sulley accidentally scares her during a scare demonstration, she cries instead of screams (in a ''very'' heartbreaking way)]]. |
| 88 | ** Mike puts his one-eyed bear up on his shelf when moving in. |
| 89 | ** The Scotch tape dispenser just above Mike's hand in [[http://i.imgur.com/DmfQeyw.jpg this]] shot is the same kind sitting on Roz's desk in [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AzHcfNlVT_Y/UDDUst1V2MI/AAAAAAAACng/jJNmVK5Qgzo/s1600/===monsters+inc.png this]] scene from the original movie. |
| 90 | ** The DJ at the Roar Omega Roar party is one of the monsters seen on the scare floor in the first movie. |
| 91 | ** Mike's training program for Oozma Kappa is similar to the morning training he gives Sulley in the first film, complete with "Scary Feet" and brooms used as kid dummies. |
| 92 | ** Mike has "File paperwork!" sticky notes in his locker, which both reminds us of a habit of his and look very similar to those he has there in the first movie. |
| 93 | ** [[spoiler:Roz appears at the end as one of the CDA agents arresting Mike and Sulley, and remarks to Hardscrabble that she will be "[[CatchPhrase always watching]]" them]]. |
| 94 | ** The teaser trailer features narration from Creator/KelseyGrammer that parallels the narration James Coburn gave in the original film's trailer. Grammer would have replaced the late Coburn as the voice of Mr Waternoose, but the character's speaking role was cut from the movie. |
| 95 | ** [[spoiler:When Mike enters the human world to prove once and for all that he's scary, he fails to scare a child, who just tells him that he "looks funny."]] At the end of the original film, Mike and Sulley solve the energy crisis by learning that making children laugh is more powerful than scaring them, and Mike himself ultimately becomes one of the entertainers. |
| 96 | ** Sulley and Randall are paired against each other in the final Scare Games round. [[spoiler:Sulley unintentionally embarrassing Randall here is implied to be the reason Randall resents him in their adulthood]]. |
| 97 | -->'''Randall:''' [[spoiler:That's the last time I lose to you... ''Sullivan'']]. |
| 98 | ** The Abominable Snowman [[spoiler:appears at the mailroom of Monsters Inc. He warns Mike and Sulley that tampering with mail will result in banishment]]. |
| 99 | * TheCameo: |
| 100 | ** George Sanderson appears as a member of Jaws Theta Chi. [[spoiler:His fraternity gets disqualified for using protective gel on the first challenge, and he's the one who the ref uses as an example. Shame he didn't hang on to the gel when he started working at MI]]. |
| 101 | ** [[spoiler:Roz as the leader of the CDA, as seen in the first film, and the Abominable Snowman, who becomes Mike and Sulley's boss in the mailroom, and tells them that [[CallForward any trip-ups will result in banishment]]]]. |
| 102 | ** [[spoiler:One of the photos of Mike and Sulley after becoming scarers shows Sulley shaking hands with Mr Waternoose, now sporting a moustache and afro]]. |
| 103 | ** [[spoiler:There's a photo of Celia in Mike's locker]]. |
| 104 | * CarloadOfCoolKids: All the members of Python Nu Kappa pull up to the Oozma Kappa frat house in a convertible to ask if they had heard about a party for the top fraternities. |
| 105 | * CerebusRetcon: In ''Monsters Inc.'', Mike served mostly as a comedic ButtMonkey and is always seemingly second-fiddle to Sulley's position. But then the prequel reveals how much grief and failure Mike experienced to get his position, come to terms with his shortcomings, and ultimately be treated like an equal to the on-field Scarers despite only being a coach. |
| 106 | ** Also, whereas the Monsters' fear of "toxic" children is a main comedic plot point in ''Monsters Inc.'', this film treats it more seriously [[spoiler: when Mike encounters human children in the final act]]. |
| 107 | * CheatersNeverProsper: |
| 108 | ** One fraternity is disqualified in the very first round when it's discovered that they were cheating. |
| 109 | ** [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Double subverted]] with Oozma Kappa in the final event. Sulley secretly tampers with the setting on Mike's simulation, ensuring Mike won the last round. Mike is furious when he discovers this, and the other members are clearly disappointed in Sulley as well. Out of guilt, Sulley decides to confess to Hardscrabble, though it's implied that he claims to have rigged his own simulation instead, allowing Mike and his other teammates to remain unpunished]]. |
| 110 | * ChekhovsSkill: |
| 111 | ** Mike's ability to sneak around and not be seen, which he demonstrates as a kid, [[spoiler:is helpful in setting up a big scare for Sulley at the end]]. |
| 112 | ** Everyone in Oozma Kappa has a unique quirk. Terry and Terri have amateur magic skills and Terri's dance choreography, Squishy can move completely silently, Don has loud, sticky tentacles and Art is an unhinged {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. They all learn to use these quirks to their advantage during the Scare Games, [[spoiler:and they are implied to become their signature techniques once they become full-time scarers]]. |
| 113 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Art, who is full of expressiveness, gives Mike and Sulley notebooks with unicorns and glitter, and is distracted by butterflies during hide-and-seek. |
| 114 | * CoattailRidingRelative: Sulley shows symptoms of this at the beginning of the film. His father, Bill Sullivan, is said to be a renowned scarer, and Sulley frequently brags about being "a Sullivan" to get praise and special treatment from others. [[spoiler:[[{{Deconstruction}} It turns out he does this because he's terrified that he can't amount to anything himself without his family name to carry him]].]] |
| 115 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: |
| 116 | ** The first round of the Scare Games has the teams run through a tunnel full of toxic sea urchin-like creatures. As the hosts tell them over and over to not touch them, Art yells excitedly about how much he wants to touch them. He does and is promptly poisoned. |
| 117 | ** When Mike takes the fraternity to the fence outside Monsters Inc., most of them stare in awe of the building, while Art just says, "Nice fence." |
| 118 | * ComingOfAgeStory: For Mike and Sulley. |
| 119 | * ConjoinedTwins: Terri and Terry, who are a two-headed monster sharing one body. |
| 120 | * ContinuityNod: The pose Sulley and Mike make on the poster is almost identical to the one they make on the poster for the first movie. |
| 121 | * CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Averted. The technology used in the film is notably a lot less advanced than it was/will be in the first movie, like the scare training dummies (which move very mechanically and are clearly made of wood here, whereas in ''Monsters Inc.'' they look exactly like real children). |
| 122 | * CoveredInGunge: This is part of [[spoiler:Roar Omega Roar's prank against Oozma Kappa]]. |
| 123 | * CoversAlwaysLie: The blue and white MU jackets that Mike and Sulley wear on the film's main poster do not appear at all in the film. Sulley does wear a similar jacket in the first act, albeit one in the gold and red ROR colours, and later switches to a green OK sweater. |
| 124 | ** A {{Downplayed}} example, but most posters featuring the cast show Randall wearing his NerdGlasses. While he wears them in his introductory scene, he quickly ditches them in only a few seconds and never wears them again throughout the movie. |
| 125 | * CreativeClosingCredits: The credits show a montage of Scare Cards, the in-universe trading card game Mike and Sulley bonded over earlier in the film. This doubles as a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, as the cards also feature the various monsters seen in the film and where they ended up after graduation, including [[spoiler:the members of Oozma Kappa, who all became Scarers at Monsters, Inc.]]. |
| 126 | * CreepyDoll: The kid-like crash test dummies used in the final Scare event. Like the more realistic one from the original film, these dummies can move and scream as if they were real kids--which is kind of the point, but it's still creepy. |
| 127 | ** The walking girl doll used by Mike and Sulley [[spoiler:to creep out the human police at the end]]. |
| 128 | * CurseCutShort: When Sulley stops the bus to talk to Mike: |
| 129 | -->'''Sulley''': Mike, you're not scary, not even a little, but you are fearless. And if Hardscrabble can't see that, then she can just-- |
| 130 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': [[SpeakOfTheDevil ''(suddenly appears)]]'' I can just "what"? |
| 131 | * CuteMonsterGirl: Plenty around the campus, especially the PNK and EEK sorority girls. Of course, the former appear less cute when they show their NightmareFace. |
| 132 | * DeadHatShot: Used metaphorically. [[spoiler:After Mike and Sulley escape the summer camp,]] the camera lingers on the charred remains of Mike's Monsters University cap that Frank [=McCay=] gave him, [[spoiler:symbolizing the death of his dream to be a scarer.]] |
| 133 | * DeanBitterman: While Abigail Hardscrabble is ultimately a well-meaning dean, she fits the trope by taking a vested interest in Mike and Sulley, to the point of making wagers with them with their future at the collage on the line. [[spoiler:She comes around eventually once Mike and Sulley prove they have some grit]]. |
| 134 | * {{Determinator}}: Mike is this trope to a T. He isn't scary in the slightest, but he stubbornly chases his dream of becoming a scarer nonetheless by studying hard, pushing past his limits, and using ingenuity to help him and his team succeed at the Scare Games. |
| 135 | ** Played for laughs with the yellow slug monster, who tries his best to make it to class on time despite being agonizingly slow. [[spoiler:TheStinger reveals that, despite his best efforts, he fails]]. |
| 136 | * DisqualificationInducedVictory: The first Scare Game is a race where you have to avoid poisonous sea urchins. Mike and Sulley run ahead of the rest of the team, cross the finish line, and at first it seems that they claimed second place...only to be informed that the '''entire''' team has to cross the finish line for it to count, and the rest of Oozma Kappa arrives last. Since each game ends with the worst team getting kicked out, it seems that all is lost...but then it's revealed that one of the teams used a gel that rendered them immune to the urchins, resulting in their disqualification. Thus, Oozma Kappa manages to squeeze into last place and continue the Games. |
| 137 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Though it doesn't have any GRatedDrug effects aside from causing immunity to pain, the protective gel used by a rival frat during the purple urchin obstacle course seems like a steroid metaphor. |
| 138 | ** Art spaces out easily, knows the layout of the campus sewers, has been to jail, and gets defensive and secretive about his life outside Oozma Kappa. |
| 139 | * DontThinkFeel: Sulley tries to get Mike to go about Scaring this way. |
| 140 | * DoomedByCanon: Mike is going to fail to become a scarer, as known from the first film. |
| 141 | * DownToTheLastPlay: The score is tied before the last duel between Mike and Johnny Worthington. |
| 142 | * DumbJock: Played with; Sulley starts out as this, but he's actually very talented and learns to grow out of his academic incompetence. This is also averted by the ROR group, who are implied to take good grades seriously as they are disappointed with Sulley's middling grades. |
| 143 | ** According to their official description, Jaws Theta Chi (JΘX) plays this straight. |
| 144 | * DramaticIrony: |
| 145 | ** When Mike meets his roommate, he states how his "lifelong best friend is just behind this door" and opens the door to reveal [[TheRival Randall]]. |
| 146 | ** A FreezeFrameBonus on Sulley's written test shows that he "incorrectly" answered that human toxicity wasn't fatal. Of course, anyone who's seen ''Monsters, Inc.'' will know that he was actually right. |
| 147 | * DreamWorksFace: Sulley makes it on the poster. |
| 148 | * EpicFail: The incredibly slow yellow slug really struggling to get to class on the first day is revealed [[spoiler:in TheStinger to not only have missed the class, ''he missed the whole school year''.]] |
| 149 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: |
| 150 | ** Hardscrabble's first scene sees her swoop into the classroom, close all the curtains to make the room very dark, stand by her bust and trophy to show her well-earned credentials, and give a stern lecture about how she expects only great things. |
| 151 | ** The Oozma Kappa Brothers are first seen at the OK booth trying to recruit new members...by offering cake. Everyone just walks by them. One giant monster eats the whole cake and leaves. Then a balloon deflates and lands on Squishy's face. |
| 152 | ** When asked what makes an effective roar, Mike [[WeakButSkilled comes up with a five-point strategy]]. [[BrilliantButLazy Sulley just roars.]] |
| 153 | * EurekaMoment: Chet tells Mike that some monsters aren't cut out for the big leagues. The phrase "big leagues" inspires Mike to take Oozma Kappa on a field trip to Monsters Inc. so they can see professional scarers in action. |
| 154 | * EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Mike, Sulley, Randall and a few other small cameos from Monsters Inc. all seem to have gone to MU. Justified because they're studying for their future career (scaring) and MU is allegedly the most respected school in the business (possibly tied with or outdone by Fear Tech). |
| 155 | * EvilFormerFriend: Randall to Mike, who were roommates together, only for Randall to abandon Mike [[spoiler:once he started hanging out with the "cool kids"]]. |
| 156 | * ExactWords: The Library Challenge's only rule is "don't get caught by the librarian". It's okay to [[LoopholeAbuse distract her and keep her from deciding which "distraction" to catch]]. |
| 157 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 158 | ** Squishy looks surprisingly similar to [[WesternAnimation/{{Up}} Russell]] and is voiced by Peter Sohn, who inspired Russell's design. |
| 159 | ** According to an interview, Hardscrabble takes much inspiration from [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]. The artists even gave her Maleficent-style horns at one point in development, but ultimately decided that this was going too far. |
| 160 | * ExplosiveOverclocking: What happens to the [[spoiler:door that Mike uses to prove himself after he and Sulley cause the rangers to scream]]. |
| 161 | * ExtranormalInstitute: The titular university for monsters. |
| 162 | * FaceHeelTurn: Randall starts as Mike's friend and roommate, but eventually ditches him for [[spoiler:the "cool kids" in Roar Omega Roar]]. At the final event of the Scare Games, [[spoiler:Sulley accidentally interferes with Randall's scare simulation, resulting in an embarrassing loss and kicking off his grudge against Sulley.]] |
| 163 | * FailedASpotCheck: |
| 164 | ** While Mike is concerning himself with an embarrassing photo of his fraternity in the school paper, he fails to notice an entire courtyard covered with said picture until it's pointed out to him. |
| 165 | ** Mike does it again later when he [[spoiler:enters a human cabin]] and fails to notice that [[spoiler:there's more than one bed.]] |
| 166 | * FailedAttemptAtScaring: The main conflict of the prequel is Mike wanting to be a scarer despite the fact that he isn't naturally scary looking. [[spoiler:When he does sneak into the human world to scare some kids, they just laugh at him.]] |
| 167 | * FelonyMisdemeanor: It seems that The Abominable Snowman may have been banished to the Himalayas because he tampered with the mail. |
| 168 | * FictionalSport: The Scare Games. |
| 169 | * FlatScare: When Mike is hanging around the simulator after [[spoiler:winning the Scare Games, he jokingly scares the simulator dummy--only for the dummy to scream as if it was a top-level scare, tipping Mike off that there's something wrong with it]]. |
| 170 | * ForegoneConclusion: If you've seen the first movie, you'll know that Randall's relationships with Mike and Sulley will sour, Mike and Sulley will go on to become best friends and coworkers, and that whether he wins the Scare Games or not, Mike won't end up being a scarer. That said, the movie takes all the leeway it possibly can; for example, a big twist is that [[spoiler:Mike and Sulley are expelled and instead climb the Monsters Inc. ladder the hard way]]. |
| 171 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 172 | ** During Hardscrabble's speech during the first day of the scaring program, notice as she says "If you're not scary, what kind of a monster are you?", she's glaring at Mike. She immediately deemed him unworthy to be in her program the moment she saw him. |
| 173 | ** When Mike and Sulley [[spoiler:get back to the monster world from the summer camp, there's a shot of Mike's Monsters University hat, destroyed. Minutes later, we watch the two leave the university]]. |
| 174 | ** Continuing on the above point with a hint of Fridge Brilliance: when Mike [[spoiler:lifts the entry card from one of the students, one of them is lamenting "that door took me all semester!" That's the door Mike uses, and she's upset because it's too dangerous for even an advanced Scarer to use, and thus is a failure as a project]]. |
| 175 | ** When Hardscrabble makes her first appearance she's hidden in self-created darkness, enhancing her demonic appearance. [[spoiler:However, when she leaves, she's shrouded in light, hinting she might not be as bad as she lets on]]. This is given a subtle callback at the end [[spoiler:when she flies off after encouraging Mike and Sulley. She's similarly shrouded in the light of the sun]]. |
| 176 | *** In addition, Hardscrabble's [[BigEntrance Big Entrances]] makes a nice little reference to Waternoose's advice for effective, professional scaring in the first movie. "It's all about PRESENCE! About how you enter the room!" |
| 177 | ** Sulley brings up the idea of cheating to win the Scare Games by "making some other guys look like these guys", and then immediately realizes it's a stupid idea. [[spoiler:Still, it ''does'' show that he's willing to cheat to win the Games, which he later does]]. |
| 178 | *** Worthington's mocking remark that "they're always hiring in the mail room". |
| 179 | ** Throughout the film we are subtly shown the importance of a scarer creating an atmosphere of tension and unease, which Sulley is very bad at but Mike has spent years studying and is one of his strengths. At the climax they use every tool and tactic they can that Mike can think of to get home. |
| 180 | ** Squishy often scares Mike and Sulley by sneaking up on them. [[spoiler:This becomes his scare tactic in the final Scare Game challenge]]. |
| 181 | * FoulCafeteriaFood: In one scene, a cafeteria worker is seen dumping the lunchroom trash right back into the food bar. This is somewhat played with, though, considering all of the characters in the movie are monsters and this could be perfectly normal for them. |
| 182 | * FreudianExcuse: The promotional material for the movie was almost perfectly geared towards giving one to Randall Boggs; [[spoiler:however, the trope is ultimately averted. He may start out nerdy and good-natured, but his FaceHeelTurn is all him. His humiliation in the final Scare Game hardly justifies his later actions]]. |
| 183 | * FriendToAllChildren: "Frightening" Frank [=McCay=] was the only Scarer who took the time to greet and interact with the visiting children. He also was the one who inspired Mike to become a Scarer and gave him his MU hat. Of course, he's no friend to ''human'' children. |
| 184 | * FunWithAcronyms: The various fraternities/sororities. Examples include '''O'''ozma '''K'''appa, '''[[RecursiveAcronym R]]'''[[RecursiveAcronym oar]] '''[[RecursiveAcronym O]]'''[[RecursiveAcronym mega]] '''[[RecursiveAcronym R]]'''[[RecursiveAcronym oar]], '''P'''ython '''N'''u '''K'''appa, etc. |
| 185 | ** Fun is also had with [[TheBackwardsR Greek letters]], like with Jaws Theta Chi (JΘΧ, which reads as "jocks") or Slugma Slugma Kappa (a pun on "sigma", giving us ΣΣΚ, or "eek"). |
| 186 | * FuzzballSpider: During the "field trip" to Monsters Incorporated, one of the monsters on the Scare Floor is a seemingly non-scary ball of purple fuzz, who then sprouts eight long legs and a sharp-toothed grin. |
| 187 | * GenkiGuy: Terri, much to Terry's chagrin. |
| 188 | * TheGlassesGottaGo: Randall initially wears glasses, but Mike recommends he remove them to look scarier (and, more pressingly, to stop [[SoMuchForStealth ruining his "disappearing act"]] by not turning invisible when he does). Randall takes his advice and subsequently adopts his trademark squint. |
| 189 | * GirlPosse: The Python Nu Kappa (PNK) sorority, the Slugma Slugma Kappa (EEK) sorority, and Eta Hiss Hiss (HSS) sorority. They're the only sororities mentioned since they are three of the six teams that participated in the Scare Games, the other three being Jaws Theta Chi (JOX), Roar Omega Roar (ROR) and Oozma Kappa (OK). |
| 190 | * {{Goth}}: Claire and the Eta Hiss Hiss (HSS) sorority. |
| 191 | * GraduationForEveryone: [[spoiler:'''Subverted.''' Mike and Sulley are expelled. Instead, they work their way up at Monsters, Inc. until they reach where they are in the first film]]. |
| 192 | * GratuitousIambicPentameter: Courtesy of Professor Knight when he's unimpressed with Sulley's scare face. "''One fright'ning face does not a Scarer make'', Mr. Sullivan." |
| 193 | * TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: During the climax, [[spoiler: not only do Mike and Sulley manage to scare a group of human ''adults'' and open a door from the ''other side'', they produce so much scream that they not only fill up every canister in the school's door lab and then some, they cause the actual door to straight up '''explode'''. Unfortunately, no one except Hardscrabble ever finds out because the room was locked down with only Hardscrabble inside]]. |
| 194 | * GrowingUpSucks: Mike has to move on from a life-long dream, and even through he turns out fine by end, it does not make the pain any less significant. |
| 195 | * HaHaHaNo: Mike laughs at the accusation of having kissed Sulley's hand, then shuts up the latter by, in turn, accusing him of shedding. |
| 196 | * HandGagging: Sulley does this to Mike while hiding from the "Fear Tech dummies". |
| 197 | * HardTruthAesop: |
| 198 | ** You can be successful without a university education if you work hard and make your way up through the ranks over time. [[spoiler:Mike and Sulley]]'s path is ''harder'' than that of the graduates, though they make it eventually. |
| 199 | ** The film also has a more brutally honest message: [[spoiler:No matter how hard you try or how much you love and know about the material, there are just some things in life you ''can't'' do. It's more practical if you accept it and find where your real talents lie at.]] This is balanced out by Mike's knowledge of the Scaring world being not in vain and assisting [[spoiler: Oozma Kappa in achieving their dream]]. |
| 200 | ** The film shows that, yes, sometimes [[JerkassHasAPoint cruel people have a point]]. Jerks like ROR are ''correct'' in pointing out Oozma Kappa lack traditional Scaring build (but clearly wrong for belittling them). In a sense, this notion drives Oozma Kappa to look further to prove that traditional build is not all there is to it. This point has more weight given the last thing Worthington tells Mike right before their last match at the Scare Games. He tells Mike "Don't take the loss too hard; you never belonged here anyway." But for once, there is no tone of malice in his voice when he says it as opposed to everything else he has said to Oozma Kappa prior. He says it in a sincere, matter-of-fact tone that denotes that he is aware about the fact that Mike just isn't scary and that Mike should realize that. |
| 201 | * HardWorkHardlyWorks: Played with. Due to hard studying from an early age, Mike has more technical knowledge than any other student. Unfortunately, his size and looks don't help him out in the field. On a more uplifting note, his hard work does eventually allow him to work on a Scare Floor and be respected as an equal to the on-field Scarers. |
| 202 | ** This is also averted late in the film. Mike and Sulley [[spoiler:work themselves up from mailmen to a full-fledged scare team at Monsters Inc]]. |
| 203 | ** This is the opposite case for Sulley, who has a lot of natural talent as a scarer but fails precisely because he refuses to do the technical work. |
| 204 | * HartmanHips: A female park ranger in the human world has this build. |
| 205 | * HeelRealization: Sulley in the third act. He doesn't truly abandon his Jerkass attitude until [[spoiler:he realizes that Mike is currently suffering a nervous breakdown, due to how Sulley's cheating undermined Oozma Kappa's (and Mike's) victory]]. |
| 206 | * HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Mike when he attempts to scare a group of human kids at a camp, only for them to laugh at him. He realizes that Hardscrabble was right, he's ''not'' scary, and he ends up sitting by the camp lake in numb despair]]. |
| 207 | * HiddenDepths: Don proves very adept at hiding during Mike’s training. |
| 208 | * HighHopesZeroTalent: Mike is constantly told he can never become a scarer because he simply isn't scary. He doesn't accept it [[spoiler:until he does, though it ends up being a SurprisinglyHappyEnding once he discovers where his real talents lie]]. |
| 209 | * HourglassPlot: Mike and Sulley's tenure in the scarer program results in this trope. Sulley makes a great first impression thanks to his family's reputation, his impressive build, and his natural talent, but his arrogant assumption that he can coast by as a one-trick pony costs him the respect of the faculty and his peers. Meanwhile, Mike initially struggles to get noticed thanks to his diminutive stature, but eventually his impressive technical knowledge and analytical skills garner him some attention. |
| 210 | * ICantFeelMyLegs: Exaggerated with Squishy after being poisoned by several Stinging Glow Urchins. |
| 211 | --> '''Squishy''': I can't feel my anything. |
| 212 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo: Sullivan's initial assertion regarding [[spoiler:his rigging of Mike's scare simulator. He quickly changes his mind upon witnessing Mike's [[HeroicBSOD ensuing breakdown]]]]. |
| 213 | * IdenticalStranger: The PNK sorority. None of these "sisters" are biologically related, apparently, despite their only visible differences appearance-wise being that each have [[PaletteSwap slightly different pastel color schemes]]. |
| 214 | * IJustWantToBeSpecial: Mike. A huge part of his dream of being a scarer is to show people that he isn't someone to be overlooked or ignored the way he has been his entire life. |
| 215 | * IJustWantToHaveFriends: Randall. [[spoiler:Preferably if they're cool]]. |
| 216 | * InitiationCeremony: Squishy gives one to Mike and Sulley to welcome them into O.K. In his mother's basement no less. |
| 217 | * InspirationalInsult: After Roar Omega Roar pulls an embarrassing prank on Oozma Kappa, one of the pranksters jokingly suggests that Mike's frat just aren't cut out for the big leagues. This gives Mike the idea to sneak his Oozma Kappa members into the Monsters Inc factory and raise their morale by showing them what the big leagues actually are before the next Scare Games events. |
| 218 | * InsultBackfire: Worthington mockingly suggests to Mike that the only way they'll end up working in a Scare company is in the mailroom. [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, Mike ultimately proves Johnny's insult "correct" by becoming a top Scaring team with Sulley--after starting as mail-workers at Monsters, Inc]]. |
| 219 | * IntergenerationalFriendship: Don Carlton with the other Oozma Kappa members, despite being old enough to be their dad. [[spoiler:He ends up ''literally'' being Squishy's dad by the end of the movie]]. |
| 220 | * IronicEcho: [[spoiler: "They're always hiring in the mail room." The first time is a mocking insult. The second time is a glimmer of hope]]. |
| 221 | ** A rare example of the echo occurring immediately after the original line: |
| 222 | -->'''Frank [=McCay=]''': ''(Stern)'' That was real dangerous, kid. I didn't even know you were in there! |
| 223 | --> ''(Young Mike looks abashed)'' |
| 224 | -->'''Frank [=McCay=]''': ''(Impressed)'' ...Wow, I didn't even know you were in there. Not bad, kid. |
| 225 | ** During scare classes, Sulley makes a good attempt at a scaring face and the teacher congratulates him. Mike glares at Sulley, who just smirks at him, points with two fingers, and makes a clicking sound. Next time, Mike does well and the teacher tells ''Sulley'' to do better; Sulley stares at Mike in disbelief as Mike does the same gesture Sulley did to him. |
| 226 | ** At the start of the final round, Johnny tells one of his teammates to “take it easy on Grandpa”, referring to the middle-aged Don. But when Don manages to generate a higher scream tally, he tells his opponent “Thanks for taking it easy on Grandpa”. |
| 227 | * {{Jerkass}}: |
| 228 | ** Sulley is a major one to Mike at the beginning. [[spoiler:He eventually grows out of it]]. |
| 229 | ** Roar Omega Roar and later [[spoiler:Randy Boggs]] to Oozma Kappa. |
| 230 | * JerkJock: |
| 231 | ** Surprisingly, ''Sulley'' is this to Mike. [[CharacterDevelopment He gets better]]. |
| 232 | ** Johnny Worthington III also fits this role. Because scaring is an academic discipline, this creates the unusual scenario in which the jock is also a high-achieving student and proud of it. In general, this seems to be the main trait of Roar Omega Roar. |
| 233 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 234 | ** Sulley, after he spends some time bonding with Mike and the others. |
| 235 | ** Dean Abigail Hardscrabble may be a harsh and no-nonsense authority figure, but she genuinely cares about her students and tries to do what's best for them. |
| 236 | * KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: While MU does offer other majors besides scaring, and we meet plenty of non-scarers (such as teleport door engineers and scream cannister designers), scaring is still considered the most prestigious career of them all. In fact, not only is it the most prestigious, all non-scaring activities are made to look ''unworthy'' (at least from the perspective of Mike and Sulley). (This despite the whole point of scaring being to create energy, which requires technicians as much as scarers.) |
| 237 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': ''Scariness'' is the true measure of a monster. If you're not ''scary'', then what kind of a monster are you? |
| 238 | * TheLancer: Played with. As Sulley admits, while most people think this is Mike's role in their relationship, Sulley realizes he's the lancer and that Mike is the one making most of the decisions. |
| 239 | * LargeHam: Brock, the male announcer of the Scare Games. He and Claire make a HamAndDeadpanDuo. |
| 240 | * LateArrivalSpoiler: If you watch this movie before ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'', then you now know that [[spoiler:Roz is actually a CDA agent]] and that [[ForegoneConclusion Mike never gets to be a Scarer]]. |
| 241 | * LateForSchool: A yellow slug-like monster desperately tries not to be late on the first day by slithering as fast as he can...at about 1 millimeter per second. [[spoiler:[[BrickJoke He doesn't arrive until the end of the year]]]]. |
| 242 | * LaughOfLove: When Don [[AccidentalHug accidentally hugs]] Sheri and tries to get his tentacles unstuck, she giggles as she introduces herself. [[spoiler:They eventually get engaged]]. |
| 243 | * TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Hardscrabble's record-breaking scream canister was doomed the moment she started talking about how important it was to her. |
| 244 | * LeeroyJenkins: Sulley jumps the gun and doesn't wait for Hardscrabble to finish, resulting in his initial dismissal from class: |
| 245 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': I'm a seven-year-old boy-- |
| 246 | -->[Sulley roars loudly without thinking before she has a chance to finish] |
| 247 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': I wasn't finished. |
| 248 | -->'''Sulley''': I don't need to know any of that stuff to scare. |
| 249 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': That ''stuff'' would have informed you that this particular child is afraid of snakes. So a roar wouldn't make him scream, it would make him cry, alerting his parents, exposing the monster world, destroying life as we know it, and of course, we can't have that. So I'm afraid I cannot recommend that you continue in the Scaring program, good day. |
| 250 | * LivingLegend: Abigail Hardscrabble is the current holder of the All-Time Scare Record. |
| 251 | * LivingOutAChildhoodDream: Downplayed. As a kid, Mike Wazowski is enamored with joining Monsters Inc. and becoming a Scarer. In the end he gets hired to Monsters Inc. but as a Scare Assistant, lacking the ideal build to be scary but having better success as a coach instead. Nevertheless he accepts it as fulfillment of his dream, and the final closing {{Bookends}} the opening in his childhood of him stepping on the Scare Floor for the first time. |
| 252 | * LoopholeAbuse: In the second round of the Scare Games, the goal is "capture the flag, and ''don't get caught by the Librarian''". While supposed to encourage stealth, Oozma Kappa instead create distractions while one of them captures the flag. The students narrating the games actually state that the only rule is "Don't get caught"--there AintNoRule against OK intentionally overwhelming the librarian with so many sources of noise that she can't decide which to pursue, opening a window for a sufficiently stealthy Squishy to capture the flag. |
| 253 | -->'''Audience Monster:''' ''[[LampshadeHanging Is that legal?]]'' |
| 254 | -->'''Brock:''' ''You better believe it, Mop Top!'' |
| 255 | * LostInTranslation: In the English version, Randall makes seven cupcakes decorated to spell "BE MY PAL" and then gets them splatter on his face to spell "LAME". The international version [[https://youtu.be/FxzL7UYyAeg?t=93 just has smiley faces on the cupcakes]]. |
| 256 | * LovableJock: Brock, the only jock in the film (besides Sulley) who's portrayed as affable and not malicious toward Oozma Kappa. |
| 257 | * LuckBasedMission: The first event of the Scare Games for Oozma Kappa. [[spoiler:A rival fraternity cheats, which disqualified them and lets Oozma Kappa stay in the game]]. |
| 258 | * {{Masquerade}}: This movie emphasizes the need to keep monsters' existence hidden from humans. Several scaring lessons focus on how to avoid detection, since a professional scarer must be competent in doing so. Its importance is even incorporated in several events of the Scare Games. |
| 259 | * MatchCut: The studying montage has this happening more than once. Notably, a tennis ball Mike is flinging into the air while outdoors cuts to a ping-pong ball Sully is bouncing while ''indoors''. |
| 260 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 261 | ** The Oozma Kappa frat brothers are a genuine but mediocre group of guys; they're "OK". |
| 262 | ** The fraternity Roar Omega Roar, [[RecursiveAcronym the acronym of which is also ROR]], clearly indicative of their skills in scaring--one of the best known techniques of which is ''roaring''. |
| 263 | ** The guys from Jaws Theta Chi (JΘX) are all meatheads being referred to as "jocks". |
| 264 | ** The girls from Python Nu Kappa (PNK) are all perky girls who dress in pink. |
| 265 | ** The girls from Eta Hiss Hiss (HSS) are all goths whose signature greeting is a hiss. |
| 266 | ** "Hardscrabble" means "involving hard work and struggle", which Dean Hardscrabble firmly believes in. Indeed, her reasons for being so harsh toward the protagonists stem from it--Mike struggles in vain because he just isn't scary, while Sulley is arrogant and refuses to put any effort into his studies. |
| 267 | * AMinorKidroduction: The movie opens with an elementary school-aged Mike going on a field trip to Monsters Inc., where he gains his inspiration to go to Monsters University and become a scarer. |
| 268 | * MisfitMobilizationMoment: When Mike takes the Oozma Kappas [[spoiler:to visit Monsters Inc.]], it visibly raises their morale and newly inspires them to chase their dreams of becoming scarers. |
| 269 | * MixAndMatchCritters: All over the place. Some examples include Brock, who looks like a minotaur-bird hybrid; The Librarian, a humanoid snail-kraken hybrid; Fear Tech's Scare Pig mascot, a six-legged goat-eyed pig; and Hardscrabble, a humanoid centipede-dragon hybrid. |
| 270 | * MoodKiller: Squishy's mom. Pretty much a RunningGag. |
| 271 | * MookHorrorShow: We get to see [[spoiler:Sulley and Mike scaring the hell out of a bunch of armed sheriff's deputies in a last-ditch attempt to get home]]. |
| 272 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: The Librarian. She's some sort of snail-kraken monster who uses all eight of her tentacles to catch any noisy visitors and toss them out--''literally''. |
| 273 | * MultipleHeadCase: |
| 274 | ** Terri and Terry, a pair of brothers who share a body. |
| 275 | ** The two-headed pigeon in the beginning of the movie. |
| 276 | ** The monster representing the debate team is a blue two-headed monster. |
| 277 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Sulley, when he finds Mike [[spoiler:in the human world]] and realizes how devastated Mike is as a result of Sulley's actions. |
| 278 | [[/folder]] |
| 279 | |
| 280 | [[folder:Tropes N-Z]] |
| 281 | * NerdGlasses: Randall starts out wearing these. However, Mike tells him to lose the glasses early in the movie, resulting in Randall's signature squint. |
| 282 | * NerdsLoveToughSchoolWork: During a montage, Randall helps Mike study by quizzing him on different phobias, including [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness consecotaleophobia]] (the fear of chopsticks). Mike easily answers the question and smugly tells Randall to "give him a hard one." |
| 283 | * NeverGoingBackToPrison: Art freaks out at the thought of possibly returning to jail when [[spoiler:OK gets caught trespassing at Monsters Inc]]. |
| 284 | * NeverMyFault: Sulley initially blames Mike for getting him kicked out of the Scare program, even though it was really his fault for neglecting his studies. |
| 285 | * NeverTrustATrailer: The main trailers show Mike getting his key and being told that his roommate is a scaring major too, which is then followed by the scene where Mike meets Sulley in his dorm for the first time. In the film, Mike's first roommate is actually Randall, and his first meeting with Sulley is a whole day after this when Sulley mistakes Mike's dorm for his own. |
| 286 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Mike tells Randall not to wear his glasses, because they give him away whenever he disappears. This backfires on Mike when Randall later uses his camouflage ability to discredit and embarrass Oozma Kappa...''several times.'' |
| 287 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: After being pranked by ROR, Oozma Kappa lose all confidence in their abilities. While mocking Mike about this, Chet gives him the idea to [[spoiler:take everybody to Monsters Inc.]], where the [=OKs=] get their confidence back and Mike and Sulley realize they have to start working together, ultimately leading to Oozma Kappa giving ROR a real run for their money during the remainder of the games. |
| 288 | * NightmareFace: The members of PNK all have one, turning their normally cutesy faces into horrific red-eyed monstrocities. |
| 289 | * NightmareRetardant: InUniverse. [[spoiler:When Mike goes into the human world to prove he can be scary, he completely fails to frighten the room full of children he stumbles into. This serves as his reality check and ultimately helps him accept that he's not meant to be a scarer.]] |
| 290 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 291 | -->'''Art:''' I can't go back to jail! |
| 292 | ** The Abominable Snowman in the mailroom saying that tampering with the mail is punishable by banishment. Considering his appearance in the first movie... |
| 293 | * NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: |
| 294 | ** The second event in the Scare Games is to quietly go through the library without getting the attention of the Librarian. The monster must capture the flag without the librarian noticing and knocking them out. It is shown that anything goes, as long as you don't get caught by the librarian. [[spoiler:Oozma Kappa ends up winning by each member loudly distracting the librarian until Squishy gets the flag]]. |
| 295 | -->'''Terry:''' They said don't let her catch you!\ |
| 296 | '''Terri:''' But they didn't say how! |
| 297 | ** Sulley is shown to believe this when he suggests switching out Oozma Kappa's members with better members disguised as Oozma Kappa. |
| 298 | * NotSoStoic: Twice, played first for comedy and then for drama. |
| 299 | ** The deadpan and goth Claire Wheeler contrasts her LargeHam partner Brock...[[spoiler:until Oozma Kappa wins the final game, upon which she goes ''nuts'' with excitement]]. |
| 300 | ** Dean Abigail Hardscrabble is the sternest, strictest, and most unflappable monster in the school, never deviating from her default expression of haughty disappointment. [[spoiler:But when Mike and Sulley create a scream of such power that it not only activates a door ''from the human side'', but fills up every scream canister in the laboratory and causes the door to '''explode''', Hardscrabble finally displays a different expression: wide-eyed shock]]. |
| 301 | *** Later, as Hbids them good luck in their future endeavors, Hardscrabble informs that she believes in them because they did the one thing she thought was impossible: [[spoiler:surprised her]]. |
| 302 | * NotWhereTheyThought: Sulley enters Mike's room [[EnterStageWindow through the window]] with Archie the Scare Pig. Mike asks him what he's doing here, upon which Sulley realizes that this isn't his room after all. |
| 303 | * OffscreenInertia: Probably one of the most extreme examples out there: The slug monster "racing" to school [[spoiler:does just that until ''after'' the movie ends, or in other words, for a full year]]. |
| 304 | * OffscreenTeleportation: Squishy is an expert in stealth. Which Mike [[LampshadeHanging mentions after the fourth time he does it]]. |
| 305 | --> '''Mike''': Boy, we need to get you a bell. |
| 306 | ** His stealth skills ultimately pay off [[spoiler:as they allow him to capture the flag in the Library challenge, and also get a good score in the Scare simulatons.]] |
| 307 | * OneSteveLimit: {{Subverted|Trope}} and PlayedForLaughs: the ConjoinedTwins both share the same name--Terry with a Y and Terri with an I. |
| 308 | * OnlyOneName: Art is the only character to not have a full name on his trading card in the credits. |
| 309 | * OurFounder: The tie-in books reveal that the fountain statue in the main quad is that of Arthur Clawson, founder of Monsters University. |
| 310 | * PolarOppositeTwins: The Perry brothers, Terri and Terry. The former is energetic, optimistic, and theatrical, where the latter is calm, cynical, and intellectual. |
| 311 | * {{Prequel}}: To ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' Additionally, it's the first prequal that Pixar has ever produced. |
| 312 | * PricelessMingVase: Hardscrabble's scream cannister--her one souvenir of a lifetime of scaring. |
| 313 | * RageAgainstTheReflection: Mike during [[spoiler:his HeroicBSOD after hiding by the lake]]. |
| 314 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Oozma Kappa. They're a collection of sweet, unassuming monsters who are too nerdy to connect with their classmates, as well as the only fraternity not modeled after a specific theme. |
| 315 | * RecycledInSpace: ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' [-WITH MONSTERS!-] |
| 316 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dean Abigail Hardscrabble has a very sound judgment and is willing to listen to Mike and Sulley, even if she doesn't trust them. She still permits them a chance of redemption at the Scare Games [[spoiler:and does not let Oozma Kappa suffer for the actions of Mike and Sulley.]] What's more, when [[spoiler:Mike leaves in HeroicBSOD and Sulley calls him back to not give up, she follows and privately tells Mike to keep surprising people until he succeeds]]. |
| 317 | * RedOniBlueOni: Claire and Brock. Brock is an energetic jock and Claire is an apathetic goth. |
| 318 | * {{Retcon}}: A line from [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1 the original movie]] ("you've been jealous of my looks since the fourth grade!") implied that Mike and Sulley were ChildhoodFriends (there was also at least one trailer for the original movie that implied it). However, this movie establishes that Mike and Sulley first met in college. [[http://pixartimes.com/2013/04/24/monsters-university-director-dan-scanlon-explains-why-sulley-was-not-jealous-of-mikes-good-looks-in-the-fourth-grade/ A Pixar member at a con explained]] that the line, spoken by [[MotorMouth Mike]], was pure hyperbole, and that the writers ignored that detail to make a better story for the prequel. |
| 319 | ** The crew did storyboard a scene where Mike and Sulley were in the fourth grade together, but they felt that including it would require a further exploration of their past, so they came up with a {{Handwave}} of making the 4th grade line a "monster expression". [[ApprovalOfGod This was approved by Pete Docter.]] |
| 320 | ** The opening of the video game ''VideoGame/MonstersIncScreamTeam[=/=]Scare Island'', another prequel to the events of the first movie, mentions a NoodleIncident in college involving a mess that "took a whole semester to rebuild the dorm". [[spoiler:This may have served as inspiration for the aftermath of this movie, which features Mike and Sulley accidentally destroying a door lab and (supposedly) contaminating the whole place with toxic human energy.]] |
| 321 | * RhymesOnADime: Mike's first day at Monsters U. involves quite a bit of this: |
| 322 | -->'''Mike''': Okay, first thing on my list: get registered. |
| 323 | -->'''Jay''': Hey there, freshman, I'm Jay the R.A., and I'm here to say: Registration is thataway! |
| 324 | -->'''Mike''': Okay, Jay. |
| 325 | -->'''Jay''': Have a great first day! |
| 326 | -->'''Kay''' [at the registration table]: Hey, I'm Kay, here's your orientation packet! |
| 327 | -->'''Mike''': Thanks, Kay! |
| 328 | -->'''Kay''': You can drop your bags off here, and get your picture taken with Trey. |
| 329 | -->'''Trey''' [in the photo studio]: Say hooray! |
| 330 | -->'''Mike''' [looking at his student I.D. card]: Hooray! I can't believe it, I'm officially a college student! |
| 331 | -->'''Fay''': Okay everyone, I'm Fay, and I'll be giving you your orientation tour on this perfect day! |
| 332 | * RuleOfScary: [[spoiler:The record-breaking scare engineered by Mike at the summer camp near the end of the movie. It really makes no sense if analyzed--disturbed curtains, a self-playing radio, and a walking doll suggest a ghost, if anything...but then a giant turquoise bear with horns pops out of nowhere and roars in your face? Justified, since Mike ''was'' just trying to make things as scary as possible with very little time]]. |
| 333 | * RuleOfSymbolism: Mike's MU cap that he receives from Frank in the opening scene represents his dream to become a scarer. [[spoiler:When it gets destroyed after Mike and Sulley get blown out the summer camp door in the climax, it symbolizes Mike accepting that his dream is officially dead.]] |
| 334 | * RunningGag: |
| 335 | ** This film continues (or originates, depending on how you look at it) the gag of Mike being out of view in pictures of him, only for him to not care. |
| 336 | ** Mike getting startled by someone while they yell [[SayMyName "Wazowski!"]] Which is also a CallForward to Randall's introduction in ''Monsters Inc.'' |
| 337 | ** Squishy appearing out of nowhere and startling Mike. |
| 338 | * ScaryLibrarian: [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever That's putting it mildly]]. |
| 339 | * SchoolRivalry: MU has a rivalry with Fear Tech, to the point that Sulley's considered a hero for stealing Archie the Scare Pig, Fear Tech's mascot. |
| 340 | * SeaHurtchin: The first round of the Scare Games consists of a simulated run through a child's bedroom, with urchins in place of the (supposedly) toxic items the monsters would have to avoid. Touching one causes violent swelling. |
| 341 | * ShorterMeansSmarter: Mike is one of the university's shortest monsters, and he's also among the smartest, most studious ones. |
| 342 | * ShootEverythingThatMoves: Or rather ''scare'' anything that moves. [[spoiler:This is what screws PNK over during the "Don't Scare the Teen" event; participants are only supposed to scare young children, but they keep scaring the teenagers]]. |
| 343 | * ShoutOut: See [[ShoutOut/MonstersUniversity here]]. |
| 344 | * ShrinkingViolet: Randall, initially. He grows out of it as the film goes on, [[HiddenDepths though not necessarily for the better]]. |
| 345 | * ShutUpHannibal: |
| 346 | -->'''Worthington:''' When you lose, no one will remember you.\ |
| 347 | '''Mike:''' Maybe. But when you lose, no one will let you forget it. |
| 348 | * SignsOfDisrepair: At one point, Mike and Sulley accidentally knock over the tray of cupcakes that Randall was offering to his fratmates, which were carefully spelled out on the tray as "BE MY PAL". Four of those cupcakes end up on Randall's face, spelling out "L-A-M-E". |
| 349 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: "Frightening" Frank [=McCay=] (played by Creator/JohnKrasinski) is only seen at the beginning of the film, but he's the one who encouraged Mike to be become a scarer in the first place, thus kicking off the plot of both this film and ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' as well. |
| 350 | * ShooOutTheClowns: Around the third act, [[spoiler: after the revelation that Sulley cheated and Mike's ensuing breakdown, Oozma Kappa help Sulley break into the human world to rescue Mike. With no other monster characters present (and thus none of the comedic relief characters), Mike and Sulley are free to have an emotionally vulnerable conversation in what's easily the heaviest scene in the movie]]. |
| 351 | * SoMuchForStealth: Randall's glasses ruin his "disappearing act" by not turning invisible when he does. |
| 352 | * StartOfDarkness: Randall. It all starts when Mike suggests that he lose the NerdGlasses. Then, after being spurred on by Mike to study for the Scare Finals, he becomes confident enough in his skills for [[spoiler:Roar Omega Roar]] to recruit him, replacing his shyness with a big ego. What finally seals the deal is when [[spoiler:Sulley accidentally humiliates him in the final round of the Scare Games and causes Randall to vow revenge in the future]]. |
| 353 | * StealthPun: Terri and Terry (Terri, more obviously) take their names from the word ''terri''-fy. |
| 354 | * StockScream: As Mike is studying while riding a sweeper down the hall, one of the monsters he runs over lets out the Wilhelm Scream. |
| 355 | * Subject101: Monsters University offers a major in Scaring for monsters who want to become Scarers. The most important subject for that major is, of course, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Scaring]], and its introductory course is "Scaring 101", taught by Prof. Knight. The students learn to perform all of the different scary faces and to analyze a human kid's profile to determine the best approach to scaring them to death, including which scary face to make, the place to creep on from, and noises. Failing this course means being kicked out of the Scaring major. Both [[TechnicianAndPerformer Mike and Sully]] take it and [[spoiler:fail, although for different reasons--the former for simply not being scary-looking and the latter for being TalentedButLazy]]. |
| 356 | * SurprisinglyHappyEnding: |
| 357 | ** The film ends with [[spoiler:Mike and Sulley being expelled, but they become best friends and get jobs in the Monsters, Inc. mail room. They work their way up through the ranks and eventually became scarers, thus fulfilling their dream]]. In addition, as a foregone conclusion, Mike never becomes an on-field scarer, but he is treated as an equal to them nonetheless. |
| 358 | ** [[spoiler:Although their victory at the Scare Games turned out to be fraudulent, the rest of Oozma Kappa is admitted to the Scaring School and eventually become professional scarers, as shown by their "Scare Cards" in the credits]]. |
| 359 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: |
| 360 | ** Though Mike gets a few short ones throughout the film from various monsters, the one he gets from Hardscrabble hits him the hardest, and it's what drives him to take on the Scare Games. Especially painful as it indicates Mike only sped up his inevitable expulsion. |
| 361 | -->'''Hardscrabble''': As for you, Mr. Wazowski, what you lack simply cannot be taught. You're just not scary. |
| 362 | ** Hardscarbble gives one to Sulley after he confesses that he cheated in the final round. |
| 363 | --> '''Hardscrabble:''' You did what?! |
| 364 | --> '''Sulley:''' My team had nothing to do with it. It was all me, I cheated. |
| 365 | --> '''Hardscrabble:''' I expect you off campus by tomorrow. |
| 366 | --> '''Sulley:''' (''quietly'') Yes, Ma'am. |
| 367 | --> '''Hardscrabble:''' You're a disgrace to this university ''and'' your family name. |
| 368 | * TheStinger: Remember the incredibly slow slug who didn't want to be late to class on his first day? He finally gets there after the credits...only to find out that it's already summer break. |
| 369 | * TalentVsTraining: Mike and Sully are contrasted as student scarers this way. Mike has the training, having studied since childhood and having thus developed an encyclopedic knowledge of scaring, but his tiny unthreatening physique puts him at a disadvantage. Sully has talent, and being massive, horned, clawed, and having a ferocious roar makes him very scary but he neglects his studies and thus struggles in the more complicated courses. With the two teaming up, Sully learns to commit to his homework and thus becomes a powerful and versatile scarer. Meanwhile, while Mike is unable to compensate for his lacking physicality, he puts his talents to good use by taking an alternate career path as a scarer coach instead. |
| 370 | * TechnicianPerformerTeamUp: The movie centers on the growing friendship between Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan during their college years. The former is the Technician who has a expert knowledge on scaring despite lacking the physique to be a scarer himself, while the latter is the Performer who is a very talented scarer but lacks in technique due to his disinterest in studying. When their initial enmity with one another causes them to be kicked out of the scaring program, the two are forced to cooperate as they lead a fraternity of other scaring rejects into winning the Scare Games and be let back into the program. With Mike's help, Sulley becomes more dedicated to his studies and becomes a more versatile scarer. And as for Mike, he eventually comes to accept that while he'll never be an actual scarer, he does make for an excellent scaring coach. |
| 371 | * TechnologyMarchesOn: In-universe. The Scare Simulator dummy here is a dirty crash test dummy made of wood, while the one seen in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' almost exactly resembles a real child. |
| 372 | ** Also, in a FreezeFrameBonus, the monitors in the Monsters Inc. Scare Floor that we see during Oozma Kappa's "field trip" look more low-tech than the ones in the first movie. |
| 373 | ** Averted with the scream cannisters, which not only look identical to the ones from the original movie, but also appear to be identical to the ones that Hardscrabble used years ago. |
| 374 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: Mike ''really'' doesn't want Sulley on the team, and for Sulley the feeling is 100% mutual. [[spoiler:Eventually, they learn to get along and finesse their teamwork skills]]. |
| 375 | * TemptingFate: |
| 376 | ** "I'll have you know tampering with the mail is a crime punishable by banishment!" - [[spoiler: Mr. Snowman/ The Yeti]]. |
| 377 | ** After the first event, Oozma Kappa comes in last place, which means they're out of the Scare games. Hardscrabble taunts Mike, saying it would take a miracle for them to not be booted from the competition. [[spoiler:Then one of the other fraternities is disqualified for cheating, allowing Oozma Kappa to continue the Games]]. |
| 378 | * ThatCameOutWrong: Don trying to make Squishy feel less awkward about [[spoiler:Don becoming his stepfather]]. |
| 379 | --> '''Don:''' Oh come on, Scott, I don't want you to think of me as your new dad. After all, we're fraternity brothers first!\ |
| 380 | '''Squishy:''' This is so weird.\ |
| 381 | '''Don''': Just think of me as your big brother that's marrying your mother... wait, hold on. We're brothers who share the same mom/wife. (''beat'') [[DiggingYourselfDeeper That's worse]]. |
| 382 | * ThatPoorCat: Can be heard when Sulley tosses Mike's textbook out the window. |
| 383 | * ThemeNaming: The group helping freshmen during orientation all have monosyllable names ending in -ay (Jay, Kay, Tray, and Fay). |
| 384 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Claire and Brock, the hosts of the Scaring Games. |
| 385 | ** Both Terry and Terri qualify even though they technically share one body. |
| 386 | * TookALevelInKindness: Sulley starts off as a {{jerkass}} who happily bullies Mike, but when he's kicked out of Roar Omega Roar and forced to join Oozma Kappa, he's humbled enough to eventually become the NiceGuy he is in ''Monsters, Inc.'' |
| 387 | * TragicDream: Nobody truly believes Mike is cut out to be a scarer, and the entire movie is about him working to prove himself. [[spoiler:He fails. Although he realizes his technical skill has a lot of practical use in setting up perfect scenarios for ''other'' scarers to make use of, he doesn't ever get to do the scaring himself like he'd dreamed as a kid]]. |
| 388 | ** However, [[spoiler:even though Mike doesn't get to be a scarer, the end of Monsters Inc. shows that Mike does get to go into the human world and generate energy, meaning that he ''does'' achieve his dream in some form]]. |
| 389 | * TrailersAlwaysLie: |
| 390 | ** The trailers make it seem like Sulley is Mike's roommate right when Mike arrives at the campus. Actually, Randall is Mike's roommate (at least until he switches sides to join the cool kids), and Sulley doesn't bunk with Mike until they're thrown out of the Scare program and join Oozma Kappa. |
| 391 | ** Promotional material makes a big deal of Randall wearing [[NerdGlasses oversized glasses]], but he ditches the glasses within a minute of his first appearance and keeps his classic squinty-eyed look for the rest of the movie. |
| 392 | * TranquilFury: Hardscrabble doesn't raise her voice [[spoiler:Mike and Sulley's actions destroy her record-breaking scream canister]], but she doesn't need to--her displeasure reads loud and clear. |
| 393 | -->'''Mike''': (''after she appears extremely calm and uncaring about the incident'') ... You are taking this unusually well. |
| 394 | * TreadmillTrauma: Mike goes through this during his training montage. He tries to one-up Sully at the gym, also on a treadmill, by going at increasing speeds, only to backfire once he inevitably trips and hurts himself on the tread. |
| 395 | * UncannyValley: In the final round, [[spoiler:Terry and Terri's scare tactic involves them disguising themselves as a mostly normal human silhouette, only to reveal their monstrous form as they go]]. |
| 396 | * UnderdogsNeverLose: |
| 397 | ** Subverted. Mike is the classic underdog, fighting to achieve his dream even though everyone he meets is adamant that he'll never become a scarer. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out Mike can't fight fate (or his chronic unscariness), and he's forced to give up his dream, albeit to chase a new one as a scarer coach]]. |
| 398 | ** After a ton of hard work, Oozma Kappa manages to win the Scare Games against all odds. [[spoiler:This is ultimately subverted, however: it's revealed that Sulley cheated in the last round, making Oozma Kappa's victory unfair]]. |
| 399 | * UnflatteringIDPhoto: Continuing a RunningGag from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'', Mike's college ID photo is cropped off at the bottom, barely showing his face, with Mike being too excited about being in MU to care. |
| 400 | * UnskilledButStrong: This is how Sulley, at first, impresses his teachers; he barely studies, but his natural abilities still make him a great scarer. However, when he's properly evaluated he finds out a single great roar can't account for every kid. |
| 401 | * UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:Randall]]. He starts out being very polite, kind and supportive to Mike, and he seems to genuinely value their friendship, [[spoiler:but he's led astray by his own desire for personal status. Eventually, he ends up joining the most high-up fraternity in a bid to become "cool", ending up as an adversary in the Games. When he's (accidentally) publicly humiliated by Sulley in the last Game, he develops his bitter resentment toward Sulley ''and'' Mike]]. |
| 402 | * VillainHasAPoint: |
| 403 | ** While Hardscrabble is not a villain, she and all the doubters are right about [[spoiler: Mike not being scary at all]]. She also rightfully criticizes Mike and Sulley when they both fail her hypothetical scenarios, Mike for the above reasons and Sulley for not using his head when scaring. Not to mention her extremely demanding requirements for being a scaring major is understandable in-universe since being a Scarer is a dangerous job (to their knowledge), and she doesn't want any incompetent people going into what is treated as a hazardous environment. |
| 404 | ** Though they're huge jerks about it, Roar Omega Roar is correct in that Oozma Kappa lack traditional Scarer builds and how they'll never look like the members of ROR no matter how much they train. This leads to Oozma Kappa finding creative ways to compensate for it. |
| 405 | * VillainProtagonist: Although they're technically just doing their jobs, at the end of the day, these plucky lovable characters are still just training to harvest fear from small children. |
| 406 | * TheVoiceless: Despite Roar Omega Roar having five members, only two of them get any lines and characterisation--Johnny Worthington, the [[BigBad leader of the group]], and Chet Alexander, his [[TheDragon second-in-command]]. Javier Rios, Reggie Jacobs and Chip Goff, the remaining members, don't speak and only let the audience hear what their roars sound like. |
| 407 | %%* WackyFratBoyHijinx |
| 408 | * WasItAllALie: After Mike learns that [[spoiler:Sulley rigged the final Scare Games to ensure Mike won, he confronts Sulley about whether Sulley's claim that he believed in Mike--or indeed, any of Sulley's burgeoning friendship with Mike and Oozma Kappa--was ever genuine, or if it was simply a means to an end]]. |
| 409 | * WeakButSkilled: Mike is incredibly skilled and has the technical knowledge needed to craft a unique scare for each child, but lacks the natural ability and instinct of a true scarer. |
| 410 | * WhamLine: When Mike angrily calls Sulley out for not only cheating, but for lying when he said he believed in Mike, Sulley snaps that Hardscrabble was right--Mike ''doesn't'' have what it takes to be scary. |
| 411 | --> '''Sulley:''' Well, what was I supposed to do? Let the whole team fail because ''you don't have it?!'' |
| 412 | * WhamShot: Used to show that [[spoiler:the door that Mike opened wasn't for a single room... it was ''[[OhCrap an entire summer camp]]'']]. |
| 413 | ** [[spoiler:Also, Mike suddenly noticing that the scream stimulation is working a little too easily, reaching full capacity at literally the snap of a finger]]. |
| 414 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There was certainly no prequel planned during the time ''Monsters Inc.'' was in production, so the fates of the Oozma Kappa members retroactively become this. [[spoiler:The Oozma Kappa gang is nowhere to be seen in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' after Mike and Sulley end up working at Monsters Inc, even though it's confirmed in the end credits that they all end up working at Monsters Inc as well and thus should have been working alongside Mike and Sulley as scarers in the first film]]. |
| 415 | ** This can likely be explained by the fact that Mike and Sulley work on Scare Floor 'F', indicating at least five more scare floors, which implies that the Oozma Kappa members simply work on a different floor. This is pointed out in the movie's commentary, with the commentors encouraging the audience to infer that the Oozma Kappa members ''were'' working at Monsters Inc., just not onscreen. |
| 416 | ** Also, the monster trading cards displayed during the end credits indicates that there are at least two other scream-energy factories that exist (such as "Scream Industries"), and that other members of the cast simply went on to work at those companies. |
| 417 | * WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:Sulley cheats on the final challenge to make sure Mike wins. When Mike finds out, he's insulted by the fact that Sulley didn't believe Mike could win for the team. The rest of OK is also distraught to find that their victory was false and they leave behind the undeserved trophy, knowing that they weren't going to win anyway]]. |
| 418 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: Despite the fact that [[spoiler:she did expel them, the Dean follows Mike and Sulley when they leave the university. She informs Mike that he's surprised her, and he ought to keep surprising people, ultimately wishing them both luck]]. |
| 419 | * WhiteAndGreyMorality: In contrast to the [[BlackAndWhiteMorality clearer antagonism]] of the original, this one has the "villains" that fit better in a a typical college movie--a DeanBitterman and an OpposingSportsTeam of {{Jerk Jock}}s. |
| 420 | * WingdingEyes: When the belief that human children = toxic creatures who can kill monsters with a mere touch is first mentioned, the viewers are shown a picture of a child touching a monster, with the monster having X-shaped eyes to highlight the supposed lethalness of the touch. |
| 421 | * YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Near the end, Sulley and Mike say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. When Mike remarks that he's [[spoiler: "ok with just being ok"]], Sulley has an expression of disagreement. [[spoiler:Sulley then runs after Mike, and reminds Mike about all the amazing things he did, such as memorizing various scare tactics, whipping up Oozma Kappa into a decent scare team, and even planning to scare the rangers to power the door from the human side. Sulley tells him none of that would've been possible without him. Likewise, Hardscrabble also compliments Mike in her own way and encourages him to "keep surprising people"]]. |
| 422 | ** Mike's words of encouragement to Sulley before they [[spoiler: pull off the ultimate scare]]. |
| 423 | --> '''Mike''': Stop being a Sullivan and start being ''you''. |
| 424 | * YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler: Hooray, the Scare Games have been won! Wait, why is the scare simulator working too easily for Mike?]] |
| 425 | [[/folder]] |
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