REVIEW: Monsters at Work Season 1 (2021)

Television Reviews

Monsters at Work is a Disney+ series that allows the audience to follow the daily happenings at Monster, Inc. following the two theatrical films. Featuring a blend of new and returning actors and characters, the series’ initial season ran 10 episodes between July and September of this year. I’ve always liked Monsters, Inc., and thought it had one of the most creative concepts of any of the Pixar movies. Although I don’t care for Monsters University and find it unnecessary and depressing, I still thought the premise and quality of the original made it worthy of a follow-up. However, I haven’t heard much about the show and had actually forgotten about it since it was announced at D23 in 2019. But when it showed up on the app, I decided to check it out. Let’s take a look.

6 months after the events of Monsters, Inc., Mike, and Sulley are struggling to find their footing as the CEOs of Monsters Incorporated. Meanwhile, a recent MU graduate named Tylor Tuskmon arrives at MI for his scaring position only to find that the company’s recent changes have eliminated that job title. He’s sent to the company’s maintenance team, known as MIFT (Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team), to work while he tries to improve his comedy to become a jokester. Before long, Tylor grows attached to his coworkers and has trouble with comedy class. Can Tylor achieve his dream of reaching the main floor of MI, and does he even want to, now that he’s found a community with MIFT?

The animation of Monsters at Work is pretty impressive. It’s not on the same scale as The Bad Batch or Castlevania by any means. Still, it’s not a noticeable drop in quality from the films, which was my main concern with the visuals going into the series. I also like the designs of some of the new monsters, like Duncan and Cutter. The show’s original music is composed by Dominic Lewis, and it’s good, maintaining the overall sound of the first movie especially. I wish the theme song was performed on horns like in the first movie, rather than the acapella scatting they have for Monsters at Work. That’s probably a nitpick, but I don’t see the value in changing it, and I don’t like acapella music for the most part. The main draw to this show is probably its cast, specifically the cast from the movies. John Goodman, Billy Crystal, and Jennifer Tilly all reprise their roles as Sulley, Mike, and Celia. Bonnie Hunt, Bob Peterson, and John Ratzenberger also return to voice Ms. Flint, Roz, and the Abominable Snowman, respectively. Peterson also plays Roz’s sister Roze, who comes to take her old job since the former was outed as a CDA agent at the end of Monsters, Inc. Disney Television Animation used to be notorious for ditching the original casts for spin-offs, most likely because the original actors were too expensive or didn’t want to be involved. But ever since the Tangled and Big Hero 6 (more so the former than the latter) series they did a few years ago, they’ve been making more of an effort to reunite the movie casts for sequel shows. However, the incredible chemistry Goodman and Crystal share highlights the relationships among MIFT as lacking something. Tylor (Ben Feldman) isn’t annoying or unlikeable, but his personality is very blank and nondescript. I think it was wise to go with someone who has to adapt to the changes at MI for the protagonist. But they don’t do much to make Tylor stand out from any other monster in the franchise, and he’s definitely no Mike or Sulley.

Despite the problem of Tylor being a blank slate, he’s not even the worst member of MIFT. Fritz (Henry Winkler) got better as the season progressed, but he was very annoying and obtrusive in the first few episodes. He insists on immediately initiating a close-knit relationship with Tylor, suggesting he be like his father or an uncle. Tylor retorts that he already has a father, a grandfather, and everything Fritz suggests, but he never gives up. I don’t understand what they were going for with this character; this came off as creepy rather than funny or likable. Val (Mindy Kaling) similarly pushes herself onto Tylor, constantly mentioning how they’re “work buds” and were the closest of friends in college. Tylor not only doesn’t remember her at all but just wants out of MIFT in the beginning. With Val and Fritz’s behavior, it’s unbelievable that Tylor ever became friends with them or was reluctant to leave this post for his dream job. Val has a breakthrough midway through the season where she admits Tylor was nice to her in school once, and she wanted to be his friend. This was sweet and sad and almost got me to like Val. After this episode, she was still annoying but not as bad as she had been prior. I assumed they would give Fritz a similar moment with some character development, but that never happened. Duncan (Lucas Neff) is Fritz’s deputy manager of MIFT and a huge pain in the butt. Duncan has been gunning for Fritz’s job for years now, and when Tylor arrives, Duncan sees him as a threat. Despite Tylor’s obsession with succeeding as a jokester and leaving MIFT, Duncan truly believes that he secretly wants to become the next MIFT manager and shut him out. Duncan spends much of the season trying to sabotage Tylor’s job at MIFT and making snide remarks. Again, I have to wonder about the intention here because it’s not funny at all. Duncan feels like a cheap attempt to recapture Steve Buscemi’s Randall, the secondary antagonist from Monsters, Inc. But Randall was creepy, funny, and posed a real threat to Mike and Sulley. When it became clear what Randall was really up to in the first movie, it was a big deal! The only reason Duncan reminded me of Randall was the similar voice and attitude toward the lead. Still, in this context, it doesn’t work at all.

Overall, I’m glad I watched Monsters at Work. The music and animation are serviceable, and a lot of the voice work is outstanding. The cast from the films absolutely outshines the newcomers, and there are lots of fun jokes and references to both movies. I think it’s a shame that the pre-existing characters carry the show to such a large extent. Still, I was glad to revisit them, and I think this could be improved with more seasons (if they are coming).