This article was taken from the August 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
It's always the way with sequels: bigger, better, more. In the case of Monsters University, it's hundreds more. This prequel takes Monsters, Inc's Mike and Sulley back to college with an army of monsters of all shapes and sizes. "It was overwhelming at times," admits director Dan Scanlon.
So how abstract did Scanlon go in his creation of otherworldly beasts? "We want these characters to look bizarre and original," he says, "but we still want you to be able to relate to them."
Scanlon's team based most of their 400 critters on five basic body types, including slugs and fungi. "And from that," he says, "they could stretch them around, so out of each individual category they could make several varieties of that species."
Scanlon enthuses the most about one-off characters such as Dean Hardscrabble, who has a lizardy face and bat wings and was based on a poisonous Peruvian centipede. They had one to study in meetings. "It was kept in a plastic jar that looked like it had coleslaw in it previously," laughs Scanlon. "I thought I'd walk into someone's office one day and that thing would be missing. But it's safely back home."
Monsters University is out now
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
