Trivia / Monsters at Work

• Acting for Two:
  • Bob Peterson acts as both Roz and her sister Roze, as well as the Scarer named after himself.
  • John Ratzenberger also voices two characters, the Abominable Snowman and Tylor's father Bernard.
  • Needleman and Smitty, along with George Sanderson, are all voiced by Stephen Stanton.
  • Fungus, Bile and Ted Pauley are voiced by Christopher Swindle.
  • Alanna Ubach plays several minor characters in addition to Cutter.
  • Michaela Dietz does various minor roles including Baby Snore.
• All-Star Cast: DTVA recruited several big names besides Billy Crystal and John Goodman, including Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler, and Curtis Armstrong.
• B-Team Sequel:
  • While Pixar is directly involved with the show's production, the show is primarily handled and produced by Disney Television Animation, with the animation being done by ICON Creative Studio.
  • Within the series itself, the first season was executive produced by show developer Bobs Gannaway with Stephen J. Anderson serving as supervising director. The second season, however, had Kevin Deters replace Gannaway as executive producer (though Gannaway still provides Roto's vocals) and Stevie Wermers replace Anderson as supervising director.
• The Cast Show Off: Billy Crystal gets to show off his singing chops, first with a lighthearted ditty in episode two, then with a dramatic goodbye song in the third episode.
• Channel Hop: Season 1 was released first on Disney+. Season 2 is airing first on Disney Channel in April before receiving its Disney+ release in May, with the first two episodes of the season also released on Disney Channel's YouTube channel before Disney+.
• Character Outlives Actor: James Coburn, the original voice of Mr. Waternoose, passed away in 2002, a year after the release of the original Monsters, Inc. film. In this series, Waternoose is said to be in prison after his crimes in the first film, though he never appears in person.
• Creator Couple: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Cristina Hernández voiced Val Little and her husband Ricardo Tejedo reprised his role as Needleman.
• Creator's Oddball: Of sorts. Pixar hasn't done any television series since Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, focusing entirely on movies, shorts, and the occasional special. This qualifies to an extent, combined with the fact that it's the company's first Interquel, having only made sequels and (in the case of this franchise) a prequel. Might not be this way for long, though, as Pixar is planning at least one other show, Win or Lose.
• The Danza: In the third episode, the Scarer named after Bob Peterson speaks for the first time, voiced by Peterson himself.
• Descended Creator:
  • Bob Peterson, one of Pixar's top staffers, reprises his role as the voice of Roz, and also voices her sister Roze, along with the Scarer named after himself.
  • Otis, Roto and Bobs are played by season one executive producer and series creator Bobs Gannaway.
• Directed by Cast Member: Besides voicing Val Little in the Latin American Spanish dub, Cristina Hernández also served as the ADR Director.
• Died During Production: Pixar director and story artist, Rob Gibbs (father of Boo's voice actress Mary Gibbs), passed away on April 24, 2020, while the series was in the middle of production. As a result, Monsters at Work is one of Rob Gibbs' final works before his death.
• Early Draft Tie-In: Tyler's earlier design was used in the first promotional materials for the series. Later works changed it to his current design.
• In Memoriam: Episode 4 ("The Big Wazowskis") was dedicated to Rob Gibbs (father of Mary Gibbs, the voice of Boo) who passed away during the show's production.
• Milestone Celebration: While not premiering on the exact date, the series debuted near the 20th anniversary since Monsters, Inc. first premiered in theaters.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Besides replacing the late Dan Gerson as Needleman and Smitty, Stephen Stanton replaces Samuel Lord Black as George Sanderson.
  • Christopher Swindle replaces Frank Oz, Jeff Pidgeon, and Katherine Riggle in the roles of Fungus, "Phlegm" Bile, and Ted Pauley, respectively. Notably, Swindle had previously stood in for Sulley himself in Kingdom Hearts III.
  • For the second season, Jennifer Tilly was replaced as the voice of Celia Mae by Roxana Ortega, who previously voiced the character in Disney Speedstorm.
  • For the Japanese dub:
    • Naomi Kusumi and Wataru Takagi respectively voice Sulley and Mike instead of Hidehiko Ishizuka and Yuji Tanaka, as the latter two were celebrities.
    • Due to Sukekiyo Kamiyama's 2013 death, Chō now voices Needleman.
  • For the Latin American Spanish dub:
    • Similar to the Japanese dub, Gerardo Vásquez and Erick Salinas respectively replace Víctor Trujillo and Andrés Bustamente as Sulley and Mike due to the latter two being celebrities. Mario Sauret also did not reprise Sulley, as he had retired from the dubbing since 2013, and neither did Rubén Trujillo as Mike, most likely because the latter currently resides in Los Angeles.
    • Marc Winslow replaces Raúl Aldana as Smitty because the latter no longer works for Disney.
    • Raúl Solo replaces Esteban Silva as Fungus.
  • In the European French dub, due to the death of Jacques Frantz on March 17th, Sulley is voiced by Xavier Fagnon, the same actor who voiced him in Monsters University.
  • In the Italian dub Roz is voiced by Alessandra Cassioli, replacing Loretta Goggi who voiced her in the movies (justified as the latter is a Celebrity Voice Actor). Also, Massimo De Ambrosis voices Fungus since his original voice actor Danilo De Girolamo died in 2012.
  • In the Hungarian dub, Győző Szabó replaces Károly Gesztesi as Sulley due to Gesztesi's passing in 2020. László Lippai returned as Mike but died before the dub's release, meaning he will also be recast if further episodes are produced.
  • In the Swedish Dub, Leif Andrée replaces Allan Svensson as Sulley, and Jonas Bergström takes over as the third Swedish voice of Mike after Robert Gustaffsson (Monsters, Inc.) and Johan Ulveson (Monsters University).
• The Other Marty: Kelly Marie Tran was originally announced as the voice of Val Little, but Mindy Kaling ended up taking over the part.
• Recycled: The Series: Serves as one for the Monsters, Inc. franchise.
• Role Reprise:
  • Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Jennifer Tilly, Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger, and Bob Peterson reprise their roles as Mike, Sulley, Celia, Ms. Flint, the Abominable Snowman, and Roz respectively, though Tilly was no longer involved in season two. In addition, the two-part finale of season two has Steve Buscemi reprising his role as Randall.
    • Tilly's replacement in season two, Roxana Ortega, reprises the role of Celia from Disney Speedstorm, where the character was added upon the game's early access release in April 2023.
  • From Monsters University, Alfred Molina reprises his role as Professor Knight in the pilot and Season 2, the latter which also sees the returns of Nathan Fillion as Johnny Worthington III, Aubrey Plaza as Claire Wheeler, and Bobby Moynihan as Chet Alexander.
  • Most of the cast from the Latin American Spanish dub return to reprise their roles, including Humberto Vélez as Roz, Alma Wilheleme as Celia, Rebeca Patiño as Flint and Gabriel Pingarrón as Professor Knight.
  • In the Japanese dub, Urara Takano (Celia), Misa Watanabe (Flint), Masako Isobe (Roz), Chō (Smitty), Shigeru Ushiyama (Fungus) and Akihiko Ishizumi (Professor Knight) reprise their roles again.
  • In the Italian dub, Marina Massironi (Celia), Renato Cecchetto (Abominable Snowman), Nanni Baldini (Needleman) and Alessandro Quarta (Smitty) reprise their roles from the original movie, plus Saverio Indrio (Sulley), Sandro Acerbo (Mike) and Stefano De Sando (Professor Knight) reprise theirs from Monsters University.
• Refitted for Sequel: According to the show's D23 Expo presentation, Pixar provided the team with various unused concepts from the films to be recycled and used for the show.
• Sequel Gap: The show comes out 20 years after the original Monsters, Inc., and 8 years after Monsters University.
• Self-Adaptation: Pete Docter, who directed the original film, helped to create the series.
• Sequel in Another Medium: This TV series takes place after the original film, with the first season taking place in-between the events of the film's epilogue.
• Typecasting: This isn't the first time that Ben Feldman has played a working-class character who resents his job and coworkers but learns to love them over time.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The show's first promotional image depicted Tylor as short, skinny, and yellow.
  • Kelly Marie Tran was originally supposed to voice Val Little. Mindy Kaling was later announced to be replacing her.
  • Billy Crystal stated in an interview months before the show's release that they were aiming for a September 2021 release to tie in with the movie's anniversary.
• Word of God: According to series developer and first season executive producer Bobs Gannaway, Boo will not be reappearing in the show, as he and Pete Doctor agreed to keep the relationship between her and Sulley post-Monsters, Inc. ambiguous and up to audience interpretation.
• You Sound Familiar:
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub, Sulley is played by Gerardo Vásquez, who previously voiced Brock Pearson in the dub of Monsters University.
  • In the Canadian French dub, Tylor is voiced by Maël Davan-Soulas, who also voiced Chet Alexander in Monsters University.

---