Monsters At Work (2021-): Season 1

Title: Monsters At Work

Year: 2021

Genre:  Animation | Adventure | Comedy |

Seasons: 1 |

Runtime:  20 min/episode

Creator:  Bobs Gannaway

Starring:  Billy Crystal,  John Goodman, Ben Feldman

7,2/10

Set after the events of Monsters, Inc., the city of Monstropolis is making the transition to be fuelled by the sound of laughter. Tylor Tuskmon, a recent Scare Major graduate from Monsters University, working as a mechanic in the Facilities Team, dreams of working alongside his idols, Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan.

A MEDIOCRE MIDQUEL TO A CLASSIC FILM

Considering that this original series, based on the film Monsters Inc., having the original voice-actors return to characterize Mike and Sulley after twenty years. The center of the series is Tylor, a new screamer arriving at the factory only to realize they need a jokester. Not scream.  Tylor, the screamer,  gets partly new friends at the new department. The series follows as well Mike and Sulley but as side characters emulating a more ensemble of characters. The voice-acting is, besides the originals characters, doesn’t stimulate its intended comedy. It’s a script and animated effort to expand the vast possibilities and potential where the original movie laid the groundwork. Sulley and Mike are still the best characters of the whole ensemble of craziness.

Despite some ridiculous moments, other episodes are fun to follow. It keeps a fairly mediocre level of quality, balancing the kid-show appearance that the show is intended to do.  It tries to expand the universe with new characters that aren’t as charming as they could have been. It could have work more on character development. The addition of ” Mike’s Comedy Class” adds some nuance to the spirit of the main character and a new side. But that’s all of the series itself. Script-vise storytelling is often over-the-top written and so bizarre and absurd that it’s difficult to take them seriously.

Character Val voiced by Mindy Kaling with the squeaky voice is dreadful and one of the more annoying characters of the bunch. Needleman and Smitty are two classic characters. Duncan P. Anderson is however one of the better antagonists, working against Tyler and his team. He has a twisted mind in making everything be his. He doesn’t have the sluggishness that Steve Buscemi inserted in Randall from the original film back in 2001. The series is far more free spirit, a far more randomized than the twenty-year-old film achieved.

However, the animation doesn’t have the expected quality from a major production company such as Pixar. The problem is that the integration with the background doesn’t work. It’s like the characters are paste into the scenes and it all looks very fake, making it distracting to watch. The careless animation doesn’t always work but after a few episodes, you get used to it but does exist. It’s still there. As much it is to return to the world of Monstropolis, Tylor works occasionally but his co-workers are not funny just only annoying. What’s good is that original debuting film, they have brought back some iconic characters and throwbacks, which is treat itself. An overall decent addition to Pixar’s library. Hopefully, the second season improves its lighting effect and animation.