Pixar have something of a mixed record when it comes to sequels. Toy Story 2 is often considered the best instalment in the trilogy, but last year's Cars 2 felt underpowered after the animation studio had wowed us with Up, Wall-E and Ratatouille in consecutive years. On the other hand, Cars itself wasn't exactly in pole position on the great Pixar grid: Monsters, Inc.? Well, now you're talking.
Pete Docter's 2001 film always looked like the most obvious candidate for a follow-up – barring, perhaps, The Incredibles – and prequel Monsters University is duly due to graduate in 2013. The first teaser trailer reintroduces us to Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) long before the events of the first film, as they are honing their scaring chops at the titular institution.
The genius of producing an animated prequel is that there is none of the attendant tristesse filmgoers usually experience when watching a veteran actor return to a much-loved role that really ought to have been left in their more vigorous past. No one has to lose weight or wear makeup to appear as a dubiously younger version of themselves, and newspapers are denied the opportunity to reprint the regularly occurring news story about legendary Hollywood figures' features being superimposed on to younger bodies using technical wizardry.
Pixar has produced four slightly different teasers, none of which really gives much away about the plot of the new film, but if the rest of the story is as rib-tickling as this brief introduction we might just be in for a treat. Given that Monsters University is a kids' movie, we can probably rule out too much in the way of debauched student antics when Mike and Sully return to cinemas next June, but it's good to welcome them back to the party nonetheless.
