10 Awesome Pixar Villains
6. Randall Boggs - Monsters Inc., Monsters University
-->-->Randall is without doubt one of my favourite animated villains, as not only is he voiced by the phenomenal Steve Buscemi, but he has all the ingredients for a great villain, ingredients that I have mentioned in my Marvel Villains article, such as being a menacing threat, and having a distinct and memorable image, but most importantly also being somewhat sympathetic. In 2001s Monsters Inc., Randall was a good villain because of his evil squinty eyes, as well as a rapid and unnerving movement, but most of all because he was just mean, creepy and an amoral monster. His character had a drive and plan that he wouldnt let anyone get in the way of.
All these aspects make a good villain but not a great one, however this years Monsters University gave not only a backstory to the world of monsters, i.e. how do monsters learn to scare etc., but also an ingenious, subtle yet satisfactory back story to the original film's primary villain.
We learn that Randall wasnt always a bad guy, but rather an unsociable and unlucky nerd, who just wanted to be friends with the cool kids, which is actually what both Mike and Sully want to do in the early stages of the film. This actually gives the character a lot of sympathy, and maybe even earned him some fans who may have otherwise hated him because of the previous film.
Every aspect of the bad Randall from Monsters Inc. is explained in clever and unexpected ways in Monsters University. Why does he squint in that creepy and unnerving way? Because he should be wearing glasses. Why does he have such a fierce and unhealthy rivalry with Sully? Because he was beaten by Sully and made a fool of in the final of the scare games. Why does he whisper to Mike about the Winds of Change? Because he has a poster with the same title above his bed at college.
Together, Monsters Inc. and Monsters University combine to not only make a franchise that in my opinion easily rivals Toy Story and Cars for Pixars finest, but also combine to create one of Pixars finest ever villains.