After toys coming to life, the next obvious childhood concept to expand to a massive, in-depth world is the monsters who live in the closest. And Pixar did it with, if anything, even more joyous creativity than they had with Toy Story. It's easy to forget now Mike and Sully are Pixar icons, but there's something so indelibly brilliant about taking that idea and turning the beasts into regular working Regular Joes collecting energy who must slave through corporate bureaucracy and an energy shortage, all the while being as scared of children as kids are of them. It's pure, simple Pixar genius and is complimented by hilarious in-world creations, from the little things like odourant all the way up to the massive collection of the closet doors for every child in the world. More realistic than any of that, though, is the relationship between the central duo (who through the script manage to to be more than just Billy Crystal and John Goodman). Mike and Sully are so effortlessly best friends, constantly bickering without any threat of actual argument. Whatever the origins of their unspoken bond (ignoring the prequel here) the film doesn't scream it from the rooftops and Mike's gradual wearing down, finding Sully's obsession with Boo increasingly objectionable, is downplayed so that when he does eventually snap it hits harder than a thousand snow cones.
