Hey, gang!
Jim Hill again. Just finishing up a pretty busy week here at the site. As you might have noticed, I’ve been hammering out brand new stories for JHM every day this week. And — to be honest — I’m kind of wiped right now.
So — rather than go with the usual format for “Why For” — which (as you know) means lots of answers to lots of your questions, how about this: One rather lengthy answer to a single question.
I used a recent e-mail from ProdigalSun as my leaping-off point. It read:
Dear Jim:
Thanks for posting that story this week about your trip to the Disney lot to see “Raising Helen.” Man, I wish that I could get to do some of the cool stuff that you do, Jim. Touring motion picture studios. Seeing advance test screenings of movies. Finding out about all those scenes that get cut out of Disney animated movies …
ProdigalSun:
Alright, admittedly some of the stuff that I get to do as part of my work here at the site is pretty cool. But hey … it’s not like I’m the only person who ever gets to see any this ultra-secret behind-the-scenes stuff.
Take — for example — those scenes that get cut of Disney’s animated features. Honestly, ProdigalSun, anyone can get to see stuff like this. The tough part is … knowing where and when to look.
Take — for example — “Monsters, Inc.” Would you like to see and read a full-blown sequence from this Pixar animated feature that got cut out the film very late in the game? Something that didn’t even turn up on the “Monsters, Inc.” 2-disc DVD? Then go pick up a copy of “Boo on the Loose” (January 2002, Random House).
I’m not kidding, people. This $3.99 softcover children’s book — from Random House’s “Step into Reading” series — is actually based on a sequence that was originally supposed to have been in “Monsters, Inc.” This sequence was reportedly fully developed, ready to go into animation. But it was eventually cut from the film because … well … to be honest, the scene really doesn’t portray Mike and Sully in a very sympathetic manner.
To explain: this sequence would have supposedly come in the film right after Boo falls asleep in Mike’s bed. Now — as you’ll remember — the two monsters are absolutely desperate to get the little girl out of their apartment. For fear that — should the Child Detection Agency ever find out that they’ve been harboring a toxic human child — they’ll be banished forever to the human world.
Which is why Mike formulates eventually this simple if somewhat cruel plan: the next morning, he and Sully will lure Boo down into Mike’s car. They’ll then drive out into the countryside, leave Boo there and … voila! Problem solved.
Well, the next morning, things (of course) don’t go quite as smoothly as Mike had planned. By that I mean, he and Sully do get Boo (who’s now disguised as a baby monster, so as not to arouse suspicion among the neighbors) downstairs and into the car all right. They do also manage to drive out to the country, to a remote park on the outermost edge of Monstropolis, without things going awry. It’s only when Mike and Sully try to get the toddler out of the car that their carefully crafted plan immediately falls apart.
What goes wrong? Well — for starters — the moment that Sully and Mike exit the car, Boo leans on the “Auto Lock” button in the back seat. Which instantly locks the two monsters out of the car. Looking in through the windows, Mike and Sully plead with the little girl to hit the “Auto Lock” button again and re-open the car’s doors. Boo just smiles and waves out at the two monsters.
So Mike and Sully quickly confer. They then decide that the only way that they’ll be able to lure the little girl out of the car is by pretending to have fun. So much fun that Boo will have no choice but to open the door to come outside and join them. So — using a few items that they scavenge out of the trunk — the two monsters put on an awesome display of pretend fun by:
Having Sully jam Mike inside of a spare tire and then rolling him down a hill.
Sully seats Mike on top of the car’s jack, and then — using the jack handle — pumps the one eyed little green monster up-and-down, up-and-down … as if Mike’s on some ride at the carnival.
Then — running out of props — Sully just grabs Mike by the arms and spins him repeatedly in a circle, saying “Wheee! Doesn’t this look like fun? Don’t you want to play, Boo?”
But Boo doesn’t budge. She just sits happily in the back seat, playing with Little Mikey (Mike’s teddy bear).
Things look pretty bleak for Mike and Sully. Until a monster butterfly flutters by the car window. Instantly intrigued by the colorful insect, Boo quickly opens the car door and chases after the butterfly as it flutters across the park. Soon both Boo and the butterfly disappear into the brush at the edge of the park.
“Now’s our chance!” says Mike. The little green monster leaps the car and urges his large friend to join him. Unfortunately for Mike, Sully’s clearly having second thoughts. The blue big monster’s really reluctant to get in the car and just drive off, abandoning Boo. Much as he’d hate to admit it, Monsters, Inc. ‘s top scarer has developed some feelings for the little girl.
Still — at Mike’s urging — Sully does eventually get in the car. And the two monsters do actually try to drive off and leave Boo. But they can’t.
“Why can’t they leave?” you ask. Not because Mike and Sully have a change of heart. But rather, because Mike’s car is now out of gas.
The two monsters sit there for a moment, wondering what they should do. Then Sully gets an idea! If he goes out into the woods and find Boo, then brings the little girl back to the car and gets to her to scream … well, Boo’s scream would hopefully be enough to fill up Mike’s fuel tank. Which would then allow the two monsters to make their escape.
So — grabbing Mike’s teddy bear out of the backseat — Sully heads off for the woods at the edge of the park. He then calls and calls for the little girl, eventually growing worried that Boo may have become lost or injured or attacked by some animal when …
WHAM! Boo comes scrambling out of the underbrush. Clearly delighted to see “Kitty” again, she rushes right up to the big blue monster and hugs him around the leg. Sully is relieved to see that the little girl’s okay … then obviously puzzled as to why he’s not having any sort of toxic reaction from being in this close a contact with a human child.
Meanwhile, Mike’s waiting nervously inside the car. He looks through the windshield and sees … Sully walking out of the woods, holding Boo’s hand. “You’re holding its hand,” the green monster says with horror. “I know,” replies Sullivan. “I feel okay, though.”
Sully puts Boo back in the back seat of the car. Mike now urges the big blue monster to make the cute little toddler scream (so that she can fill up the car’s gas tank). So Sully turns around and sees this trusting little girl smiling up at him … and just can’t bring himself to frighten Boo.
“Come on! Just scare it! Now!” says Mike. But James P. Sullivan won’t. Which is why — in frustration — Mike Wyznowski slams his head down on the car’s steering column. Which causes the car horn to honk. Which somehow startles Mike in a very comical way. Mike’s reaction causes Boo to laugh …
Which causes the car’s engine to suddenly roar to life. Mike and Sully exchanged startled looks, as if to say “How the hell did that happen?”
Mike looks back at Boo, then over at Sully. “Okay,” Wyznowksi says. “She can stay … for now.”
But — as the two monsters drive back toward Monstropolis and the little girl snuggles down into the back seat, hugging Little Mikey as she falls asleep — the little green monster mutters “But just remember … that’s my bear.”
That’s a great scene, isn’t it? Loaded with heart and humor. So why did the guys at Pixar eventually cut it?
Well — as I mentioned at the start of this “Why For” answer — this proposed sequence didn’t exactly put Mike and Sully in a very good light. I mean, here were the two leading monsters in the movie, getting ready to abandon a cute little girl in the wilderness. Leaving poor Boo to fend for herself. Doing something like was an awful easy way to make the audience really dislike Mike and Sully.
Finally recognizing the risks involved with inserting this scene in the movie, the “Monsters, Inc.” story team — after literally spending months developing this particular sequence — opted to drop it. Deciding that it might be smarter in the long run to go another way. Create some other sort of scene that would cover the same ground, story-wise, but not make Mike and Sully seem so unsympathetic to movie-goers. Not make these two guys seem like such heartless … well … monsters.
So the storyboards for the “Boo in the Park” sequence all got pulled down and filed away. Seemingly gone for good. Until the folks at Disney came sniffing around. They explained that the Mouse had just signed this deal with the folks at Random House to create a series of easy-to-read books. Books that would use exciting stories with colorful illustrations to help youngsters from kindergarten age right up through fourth grade master the fundamentals of reading.
So these Disney reps were asking the people at Pixar if they had any ideas relating to “Monsters, Inc.” that they could into books for this Random House “Step into Reading” series. At first, the Pixar crew said “No” … until someone suddenly remembered that “Boo in the Park” scene that had been cut out the picture. So they dug out those storyboards and handed them over to Disney.
Disney in turn handed these raw materials over to some very talented people. Mainly author Gail Herman and illustrators Scott Tilley, Floyd Norman and Brooks Campbell. Who reworked those Pixar storyboards until they became a stand alone book: “Boo on the Loose,” which hit store shelves back in January 2002.
So — if you want your very own copy of a scene that got cut from “Monsters, Inc.” — go pick up a copy of “Boo on the Loose” at your local book store. Or you can order a copy from Amazon.com and help support JimHillMedia.
Speaking of Floyd Norman, this much beloved animator and veteran story artist will be appearing this Sunday, July 13th at the Disneyana Pin Show. A day-long event featuring the very finest in Disney pins and collectibles, this Pin Show is going to be held at the beautiful Coast Anaheim Hotel at 1855 South Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, CA. (You really can’t miss this hotel. It’s just one block south of Disneyland.)
Presented by Disneyana Fun Fair, the Disneyana Pin Show will be held this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is only $3.00. As an extra added bonus, with each paid admission, each guest will receive one of Norman’s limited edition “Walt’s World” collector pins (Which each feature of Floyd’s caustic cartoons about Disney Studios).
Though — if you want a real collectible — you might want to bring along a copy of “Boo on the Loose” and get that signed by the artist. I know that’s what I’m going to go the next time I see Floyd Norman.
Anywho … I hope you folks enjoyed this epic length answer to a single “Why For” question. Next week, we’ll try to get things back to normal around here. With lots of answers to your Disney-related questions.
Beyond that … it’s good to be back. And there are lots of great Disney-related stories yet to come. So be sure to drop in again next week.
Til then, you folks take care, okay?
jrh