The most heart-melting animation I had the pleasure of viewing last summer. And no, I’m not onto Monsters University just yet. There is an unexpected six-minute short film that plays before the film begins; The Blue Umbrella. Directed by Saschka Unseld, a blue umbrella and a red umbrella meet in a crowded New York street in the middle of a rainstorm. Lucky for them, the weather is terrible and the wind blows them towards each other. Unless you’ve seen it, you probably can’t understand what I found so alluring about this short, but the animation is so mesmerising that it ends with you releasing that you’ve just had your heartstrings vigorously tugged by two animated umbrellas.
The film begins with a brief prologue establishing Mike Makowski as a young monster; he visits the Monsters Inc scare floor which sets his mind on wanting to become an all-time champion Scarer. We fast forward to his first day of college, Monsters University where he is an A* student and where he meets his complete opposite, Sully, the big blue party animal at college. Sully is cruising through college along with the strength of his family name, while Mike spends every waking minute with his head in his books. Both however, end up in the same fraternity, the lamest and nerdiest one of all, Oozma Kappa. The buddies try to enter the universities Scare Programme by winning the annual Scare Games competition. Mike wants to be a champion Scarer but Sully is too lazy.
Having been the studio behind the amazing Toy Story, Ratatouille, Up and many more, it is to no surprise that Monsters University has been consistent in delivering a wonderful and heart warming entertainment. It is fun and light-hearted, and will delight young children whether or not they are familiar with the original. Monsters University stands up as a film in its own right, as if Monsters Inc never existed. However it doesn’t trade off its predecessor, it develops and enhances it.