3. Changing The Focus
Monsters, Inc. was very much the Sulley & Boo story, with Mike operating more as the humorous sidekick.
Monsters University flips the script and makes Mike Wazowski the main protagonist of this film. The opening sequence of the film is set several years before Mike goes off the school. His elementary class goes on a field trip to the Monsters, Inc. factory to learn about scream energy and scaring techniques. It's here we meet an absolutely adorable little Mikey, wide-eyed and awestruck at the possibility of one day becoming a top scarer at the company. It makes the audience experience the film's events in his shoes. We've all had hopes and dreams - especially at that young age - and this helped the character become more relatable to all those watching the movie. This change up was another masterstroke by Pixar because it eliminated any risk of the new film rehashing elements from the first. When your franchise is defined by two main characters, it makes sense to switch it up and have a different focus to keep things fresh and interesting. We got to see a new side to an old character and the move certainly paid off. Sulley gets a character arc too, but Mike's is more profound and impactful because we spend the whole film with him.