During a heatwave, Tylor ends up bringing the Abominable Snowman back to Monsters, Inc. after he accidentally winds up in the Himalayas.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Mike says this trope word-for-word when Tylor mocks his Drill Sergeant Nasty routine with a baby voice.
- Body Horror: The introduction of the episode ends showing a newscaster turning to Don the weather forecaster...and Don is shown to have melted over the intense heat, with his teeth, glasses, hair and eyes over his melted body. While Played for Laughs, it's almost as unnerving as it sounds.Newscaster: (annoyed) Somebody get a mop!
- Brick Joke: Not only was the line at the end of the credits Adorable telling another yak joke, but Caitlin, who had being having trouble with the drum rimshot during Comedy Class, finally got the timing right.
- The Bus Came Back: In-universe, Adorable returns in this episode. In meta terms, this is the first time in a while that John Ratzenberger provided the voice of a character from a Pixar property, having been absent from both Soul and Luca.
- Call-Back: Plenty:
- Adorable still prefers not to be called the "Abominable" Snowman.
- Mike and Sulley remembers who Adorable is after they were banished to the Himalayas themselves.
- Adorable recounting the time Mike and Sulley stayed with him for a while before returning to Monsters Inc.
- It's mentioned several times that Mike and Sully used to work in the mail room with Adorable.
- The scream extractor machine was brought up again by Mike and Val in this series. 1. When Fungus suggests a laugh extractor machine which was shot down by Mike, and 2. When Val reads the records of Adorable during his time in Monsters Inc.
- Adorable also recalls how he used to like to tamper with the mail in the mailroom.
- Cerebus Retcon:
- In Monsters University, it was humorously suggested that the reason why the Abominable (Adorable) Snowman was banished was due to mail tampering. This episode reveals that the mail letter that got him banished contained the plans for the scream extractor, and Waternoose didn't want him leaking out his criminal plan to the CDA.
- When Mike and Sulley got banished, Adorable didn’t seem to recognize them, even though they worked together in the mail room. It seems that years of being isolated and lonely affected his memory.
- Chainsaw Good: Adorable uses this to cut ice sculptures as part of his hobby he's developed during his banishment. Tylor understandably freaks out when he wakes up hanging upside down in a dark cave whilst he's doing this, terrified he's been kidnapped by a psychotic maniac.
- Characterization Marches On: Mike treats Adorable much nicer than he did in their previous meeting (though granted, Mike had just been banished and was undergoing a Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure with Sulley at the time). He even tries one of Adorable's yellow snow-cones.
- Close Up On Head: Mike is seen berating Tylor face to face in a tight close-up. Then Sulley asks Mike how long he is going to have to hold him up.
- Continuity Nod:
- The explosion silhouette left by Vendy 2 in the previous episode is still there.
- Banana Bread, a former MIFT team member, is officially a Jokester on the laugh floor after the promotion given in the second episode.
- Doomed Supermarket Display: Val is stacking up Drooler Cooler cans when a message canister shoots out of the pneumatic tube and knocks it over, revealing Fritz inside the pile in an attempt to stay cool.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Fungus suggests building a laugh extractor to supplement their power supply. Mike shoots down the idea for being "too soon" after the scream extractor incident.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Tylor doesn't even get a chance to compete to be a jokester, from a malfunctioning track to having to babysit Adorable the whole time he's in Monsters Incorporated.
- Foreshadowing:
- The fact that everyone has heard their own rumor on why Adorable was banished is an indication that nobody knows the real reason for his banishment.
- While poking around Mike and Sulley's office, Adorable peeks through Mike's unopened mail, something that he apparently likes to do since it helps him feel like he has friends. It's later revealed that he was banished by Waternoose for snooping around his mail, which contained the plans for his infamous Scream Extractor.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Tylor has a chance to become a Jokester and misses most of the day due to Adorable. But after he finds out that Adorable was unjustly banished by Waternoose for learning of the Scream Extractor, he gives up his chance at becoming a Jokester, choosing instead to get Adorable un-banished and help him get friends like he always wanted.
- Heat Wave: One of these on Monstropolis drives the plot. The extra strain on the power grid forces Monsters Inc, to deputize Mike's comedy class students as jokesters, providing Tylor a chance to work on the laugh floor. Also, the heat is causing the door tracks to malfunction, which leads to Tylor ending up with Adorable.
- He Knows Too Much: Waternoose banished Adorable because he learned about the Scream Extractor.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: What Adorable wants to have since he was banished in isolation for a significant length of time.
- In the Style of: The Monsters, Inc. theme in the credits is done in a more festive-style.
- Internal Reveal: Tylor tells Adorable that scream power has been replaced by laugh power.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- When Tylor asks Adorable if anyone has ever gotten back from being banished before, he answers it was just a few weeks ago, before wondering to himself if it was years. Apparently, a month is a long time in Yeti years. This refers to how Monsters Inc was originally 20 years ago, even if only a few weeks have passed in-universe.
- A subtler one. Tylor tries to —badly— disguise the fact he's walking around with a Banished monster when trying to direct Adorable away from the factory workers by claiming he's his dad to anybody who questions Adorable's presence. They later end up running into Tylor's actual father, who's also voiced by John Ratzenberger.Adorable: Hey, you sound familiar! Have you ever been banished?
- Noodle Incident:
- Cutter implies she once hid a banished monster in her apartment for 6 months when talking about how they definitely can't do the same for Adorable.
- When setting a trap for Adorable to stop his wandering around the factory and allow them to force him back through the Banishment door, Cutter designs one that she used to catch her second husband, citing it as 'impossible to escape'. When Duncan asks how he got out, Cutter seems to come to the realization he might not have. What's worse is that we know Cutter has had at least three husbands.
- Oh, Crap!: Mike has a subtle one when he recognizes Adorable's banishment door.
- Persona Non Grata:
- Nearly everybody else at Monsters, Inc. treats Adorable as a nobody since there were rumors as to why Adorable was banished. This treatment ends after he meets with Sulley and Mike and the revelation of the real reason for the banishment.
- It's also how Waternoose's memory is being treated, with all his files being wiped clean and the company effectively washing their hands of him and his criminal actions.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: After nearly 20 years of being a mystery, with the barest hint implying it had something to do with mail tampering, the reason behind Adorable Snowman's banishment is finally revealed as an unjust coverup by Waternoose to prevent anyone from spilling the beans on the scream extractor.
- The Reveal:
- It turns out that Adorable was banished because he learned about the scream extractor machine, and Waternoose banished Adorable to the Himalayas to keep him from blowing the whistle.
- Cutter has 3 former husbands named Pierre, Sheldon and Riccardo.
- Rimshot: For his comedy class, Mike tries to demonstrate this with the aid of his assistant Kaitlyin. Unfortunately, she keeps doing it while Mike is trying to talk. Furthermore, when she was actually supposed to do it following the joke where Mike is hit by a giant boxing glove, she stalls until after the screen cuts to black.
- Rule of Symbolism: The Rubber Chicken Tylor chooses as a Jokester Prop represents his desire to go out on the Laugh Floor and make himself a full-time Jokester employee for Monsters Inc. He stubbornly keeps hold of it throughout most of the episode, but upon finding out the truth behind Adorable's banishment, he hands it over to his assigned Door handler before running off with Val to go find Adorable's door and set things right.
- Shout-Out:
- After landing in the Himalayas, Tylor wakes up hanging upside down in Adorable's ice cave, just like Luke Skywalker. There's even some shot-for-shot remakes of Tylor reaching for a Rubber Chicken he accidentally brought through the banishment door with him, like Luke reaching for his lightsaber. What's more is that this counts as an Actor Allusion, as John Ratzenberger was also present in the film as Bren Derlin.
- Mike yelling at Tylor and his fellow jokesters is a reference to Full Metal Jacket.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Adorable turns out to have a talent for them, outright teleporting to different locations when the camera or somebody else's focus is elsewhere. He doesn't seem to be aware of it.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Cutter mentions that a monster cannot hide a banished monster in your apartment for six months. Not that she would know.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After being banished for discovering the scream extractor machine, Adorable is immediately un-banished by Mike and Sully, who hires him as their snow cone seller.
- Un-person: At one point, Val notes that all of Waternoose's files were wiped clean. Considering his actions in the first movie, it makes sense that the company wanted no remnants of Waternoose to remain.
- Wham Line: Not believing the many rumors about him, Val looks into Adorable's file to find out the real reason why he had been banished, which leads into The Reveal.Val: Double T! I found out what happened. Why he was banished! He didn't eat Dale or steal cars or drink screams. He never hurt anybody.
Tylor: I don't understand. Then why would he be banished?
Val: He saw a letter… from Waternoose. About plans for a machine that would extract screams from kids.
Tylor: Ohhh… he knew about the Scream Extractor.
