‘Monsters University’ Director Explains Continuity Error In Mike And Sulley’s Backstory

Monsters University director, Dan Scanlon, has looked to explain a continuity error between the first film and the prequel.

In Monsters Inc, Mike explains that he has been friends with Sulley since the fourth grade, however Monsters University revolves around the pair meeting several years later and becoming rivals.

Dan Scanlon has now discussed the issue, explaining that is was a huge problem during the film’s pre-production.

Scanlon remarked, “In the first film, they actually say ‘you’ve been jealous of my good looks since fourth grade.’ So that was something we talked about early on. We chose college because we wanted to see their relationship develop when they were adults. And we also felt like college is so much about self-discovery and figuring out who you are.”

He then added, “It felt like the perfect place to do this, but we had that line. So we tried versions where they met young and then we skipped ahead to college. And we knew we didn’t want to make ‘Monsters Elementary’.”

However, they then found a way to work through the problem, but it took an outside influence to convince Scanlon. “And it was really Pete Doctor, the original director, and John Lasseter who finally said to me, ‘it’s great that you’re honoring that, but you have to do what’s right for the story.’ So we made a tough decision to just have them be in college and put that line aside,” concluded the director.

Scanlon has now come to the conclusion that it’s simply a difference between the monsters world and ours, remarking, “Now we joke that that’s just an old monster expression, ‘you’ve been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade.’ That’s what monsters always say to each other.”

Are you looking forward to Monsters University? Do you think it will eclipse its predecessor?