Along with the plethora of announcements about Pixar’s film slate for the next four years, Disney and Pixar also previewed a teaser trailer for Monsters University, the highly-anticipated prequel to Monsters, Inc.. At the D23 Expo last summer, we were shown concept art for the younger versions of Mike and Sulley, but no footage was shown. That will change very soon, as the teaser trailer will likely play in theaters along with Brave.
The press members there tweeted their reactions to the teaser, which seems to set the comedic feel that had audiences laughing hysterically in the original film. Steven Weintraub of Collider said that it “had the entire crowd laughing,” while Peter Sciretta of /Film said that the trailer “is funny, involves Sully pulling a prank on Mike while he sleeps in the dorm. Good stuff.”
We know that Mike and Sulley are not the best of friends during their college life. Add in the fact that director Dan Scanlon and others at Pixar who have spoken about it have called the prequel a “college comedy,” and there is no surprise that pranks will be pulled. There were some other Twitter reactions that provided a few more details about the trailer but I have not included them – it will be better to go into the teaser knowing less rather than more.
We know that the teaser is finished, so there is no doubt that it will accompany Brave in theaters. When new Pixar films debut, they have regularly played with a trailer for the next feature film from the studio. The only time in recent memory this has not happened was when a Cars 2 teaser did not play with Toy Story 3, but that was likely due to the tight schedule for the Cars sequel. The MU teaser has not been confirmed to play in theaters with Brave, but there is no reason why it wouldn’t, with it being fully completed and ready to be seen by millions.
Here is the official synopsis for Monsters University:
Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn’t stand each other. “Monsters University” unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.
Screaming with laughter and fun, “Monsters University” is directed by Dan Scanlon (“Cars,” “Mater and the Ghostlight,” “Tracy”) and produced by Kori Rae (“Up,” “The Incredibles,” “Monsters, Inc.”). The film opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.
Brave (and most likely the MU teaser) arrives in theaters on June 22.