Monster's University

Dir. Dan Scanlon

2013

Opening Image:

Closing Image:

We start and end on scene of near painterly tranquil. In between we're treated to cutesified grotesqueries (the birds in the first shot are soon to be revealed as three-headed, fang-bearing monsters) and the painful knowledge that just because you try hard at something, doesn't mean you'll get good at it. This message, a rare one in children's cinema, is delivered with a light touch: the autumnal imagery of the opening image sets the stage for a lot of softly lit near photoreal animation; but it's nevertheless conveyed deftly.