The Disney+ release of Pixar’s Luca just a few weeks ago once again launched a debate that has seemed to accompany the majority of Pixar releases over the past decade: “Has Pixar lost its touch?” It’s perhaps an inevitable conversation given the high bar the animation juggernaut set for itself in its first 15 years and seemed to gain momentum during a decade-long stretch when seven out of eleven feature releases were sequels. So as Pixar launches Monsters at Work as its first weekly series contribution to Disney+ (not counting the Forky Asks a Question shorts), it feels like we’re going to get that debate all over again.
It might even be more likely to happen since the series is built around that familiar sitcom trope of the “workplace comedy.” In the Monsters timeline, it’s set immediately after the events of the original Monsters, Inc., with the energy-providing company beginning the transition from scaring children to making them laugh. That’s particularly bad timing for Tylor Tuskmon (voiced by Ben Feldman), who just graduated at the top of his Monsters University class as a scarer, only to find that his skill set is now obsolete. So while he attempts to make the transition to learning how to be funny, he takes a job on the Monsters Incorporated Facilities Team (or MIFT), with the group of oddballs charged with keeping MI running.
That’s not a bad set-up for some amusement, particularly with the support of voice performers like Mindy Kaling and Henry Winkler as Tylor’s most overly-enthusiastic co-workers. In the two episodes available for preview, the character interactions in the MIFT offices deliver a fair amount of promise, particularly the clingy friendship of Kaling as Tylor’s old college acquaintance Val, and Lucas Neff as the paranoid manager-in-waiting convinced Tylor is out to usurp his place in the pecking order.
You might have noticed the absence thus far of any mention of Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (John Goodman), but they are in fact present and accounted for in Monsters at Work—which is actually where things get a little messy. Tasked with overseeing the transition of Monsters, Inc. to its new laugh-based process, Mike and Sulley are part of a subplot that exists mostly on a parallel course with the storylines involving Tylor. While it’s understandable that Pixar would want to take advantage of the familiarity of the franchise’s two main characters, and likely wouldn’t bring in Crystal and Goodman just for glorified cameos, it feels like everything involving Mike and Sulley is a distraction from giving the main premise a chance to build up some steam, even if Crystal, in particular, is still giving his voice performance his full commitment.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Monsters at Work continues on these simultaneous paths, rather than committing to being an animated workplace comedy. Showrunner Robert “Bobs” Gannaway—a veteran Disney writer with credits going back to the Stitch sequels and Disney Channel shows—gives us some solid jokes and lively slapstick action, likely enough to be appealing to younger viewers. But we do expect a little bit more from Pixar, and if Monsters at Work is going to avoid starting up that conversation again, Gannaway might need to decide if he’s going to stick with the appeal of a sequel or try to find his own story. The first two episodes of Monsters at Work are now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
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Let’s Hear From You
Does Pixar still have its creative touch? Do you think that a Monsters Inc. sequel can live up to the charm of the original film? Have you started watching the new Disney+ series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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