I find it really interesting that the message of Monsters University is basically ‘you don’t have to go to college’ also and ‘dreams aren’t the only thing that can make you happy’, because Mike never becomes a scarer, not the kind he dreamed about in school. He’s Sulley’s manager/assistant/corner man, he’s not the guy jumping out of closets and flashing his teeth.
Mike risks his life, risks being trapped in the human world to prove his scariness–and he still never gets there. And he’s happy anyway.
How many stories give you a character who failed at their dream and are happy?
The kids who grew up watching Monsters Inc and all those other Disney/Pixar movies, all they’ve been hearing throughout their childhood is that what they really need is a Dream, a Passion, and then they’ll have it made, the outline of their life that they need to follow, all that’s left is effort. Except–it doesn’t really work like that, because there are 50-year-old waitresses and janitors and I can guarantee you this isn’t what they dreamed of when they were young, but they can still be happy. Because you are not your job, you are not a goal, you are not a failure if you don’t satisfy a childhood dream.
But everyone likes to pretend otherwise for some reason, and you’re left with a young adult whose image of college is that of a test which will define the rest of their life. Unlearning that image isn’t easy, because so many things reinforce it.
Except this movie.
It’s so interesting to me how much of it’s directed at the generation that’s grown up already. Hopefully its messages will linger with the new kids, too.
When my friends and I began recreating Toy Story 3 in late 2011, we knew that we would have to create a full scale Andy’s room. I mean, let’s face it. You can’t successfully recreate Toy Story 3 without a realistic looking Andy’s room. It took about 2 years of work, but it was totally worth it. It’s the room that most of us grew up wishing we had. From the hardwood floor to the bright white woodwork, it’s all there.
It may sound a bit obsessive, but we tried incredibly hard to make sure that every little detail was captured. For example, there is a white board next to Andy’s desk that we, for the most part, replicated perfectly.
His posters were almost perfectly recreated for our room as well. I’ve got to thank my brother for those. The amount of detail he put into those things amazes me.
One of my favorite aspects of Andy’s room in Toy Story 3 is his door. I just love the dart board, scattered stickers and posters on it. It really gives off the teenager-vibe. With that said, I absolutely loved recreating it for our room. I still can’t believe we managed to find that dart board…and for only $5 at a thrift shop. Score!
A lot of time was spent on Andy’s desk. Before we renovated it, it was an old, broken brown desk. It was really awesome fixing it up for our remake though because it used to belong to my grandmother.
Some my other favorite details we captured in our real-life Andy’s room can be seen in this still from the film.
The crescent moon bed backboard:
The electric guitar:
And of course, the toy box:
So yeah, a lot of work went into recreating Andy’s room. But you know what? My friends and I enjoyed every single minute of it. The extra work really paid off. We can’t get over how great it looks on film.
lanablack 