"Monsters, Inc." Opening Title Sequence Deconstruction

1. “Monsters, Inc.” Deconstruction
Background Information:
“Monsters Inc.” is a Children‟s Animation Film
about a pair of Monster Best Friends that
work in a Factory that scare children to
generate their city‟s Power. However, they
themselves are scared of the
children, because they believe that they will
get contaminated if they come into contact
with one – so when a child escapes her
bedroom through one of the doors at the
Factory, it‟s Mike and Sully‟s job (the Main
Characters) to return her.
Even though we‟re given hints towards the
film‟s Narrative, we‟re not told specifically
about the characters or their Jobs in the
Opening Title Sequence.

2. Production Companies
The first show that we see in
the Sequence is the Walt
Disney Pictures Splashscreen, followed by the Pixar
Studios Splash-screen. This
shows the Audience from the
off that the film will have had
high production values, as the
Companies are highly famous
and well known.
Furthermore, it hints immediately
that the Film is aimed at
Children, as the Production
Companies themselves (Walt
Disney Pictures and Pixar) focus
on creating Children‟s
movies, and are generally
associated with Children‟s films.

3. Names (or lack of!)
You could argue that the lack of Actors, Editors
and Producers Names (etc.) could be Pixar‟s
way of demonstrating that this is a children‟s
film, as they may not want to confuse the
viewer – as they may associate the Actors
names with the Characters names; thus getting
confused.
Therefore, the reason in which they haven‟t
used Actors names etc. in the Sequence is not
to break the Verisimilitude (or the believability of
the World in the Film). This could be showing
that they want the children to believe the World
in the Film as much as possible.

4. Title Font
The fonts used vary throughout the
Opening Sequence. For example, in
the shot to the left, the font used for
“Walt Disney” is quite Bold and
Surreal, and resembles a child‟s
drawing – which would link to the
Target Audience as it‟s heavily aimed
at children. The handwriting could be
showing that the film is addressing the
In the picture to the right, the font used is
Audience directly, as it connotes a
very bold and Blue. The boldness could be letter to the children (which could also
a reference to the characters within the
be hinting that the film/characters is
friendly and to be trusted).
film (as they need to be quite bold to do
their job of scaring children – although
we‟re not directly shown this in the Opening
Sequence), and the Blue could be
representing the friendly nature to the film
and/or characters – as Blue is generally
associated with positive, good things
(unlike other colours such as Red). Adding
to this, the eye in the „M‟ of “Monsters”
could be seen as a reference to the
characters, and the way they look.

5. Narrative Clues
The Narrative Clues given in the
film are quite strong. Firstly, we
see a Snake-Like creature
popping out of doors and eating
the Letters of the words/names
shown in the Sequence. The
creature is evidently a reference
to the type of characters within
the Animation (e.g. Monsters),
and suggests to the Audience
that the majority of the film will
be centered around them.
Secondly, all the names and creatures in the
Sequence „pop‟ out of small doors that
appear on the screen. This is also a clear Plot
reference, as the creatures in the Factory in
which the film is Set, creep into Children‟s
rooms through doors (in the Factory, and
Cupboard doors in Children‟s bedrooms –
like a „Portal). This appeals to the Target
Audience because they can relate the
children within the film that get scared; as a
common thing during childhood is getting
scared of the dark/monsters coming out of
the dark.

6. Audience and Production
Values
The film has two Target Audiences; Children under the age of
12, and also Adults/Parents that watch the film with their child
– because Disney/Pixar are known for their more mature jokes
that Children may not immediately understand, whereas
Adults will.
The film appeals to the Parents because it‟s by a trusted and
well known Production Company, so they know the film can
be trusted – and it appeals to the children through the idea of
Monsters, as generally children are associated with liking or
disliking Monsters. Adding to this, it gives them someone to
relate to – as the Monsters‟ Job is to scare children (and a lot
of children are scared of Monsters in real-life when they‟re
young).
The Production Values can be seen to be quite high, as the
Production Companies themselves are well known and very
successful – so you can tell immediately that the film will have
had a high budget.