The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (171 page)

Your taxi
tears through
Monstropolis
, encountering
Child Detection Agency
(
CDA
) military vehicles, helicopter, and personnel on high alert, and then veers into the scream-capture factory.  The attraction is rich with humorous signs, but one of the best is in the factory on a door leading to “Inhuman Resources”.  Your vehicle darts through the factory’s bathroom/locker room where
Sulley
(whom fearless
Boo
calls “kitty”) waits for
Boo
. 
Monsters, Inc.
was the first
Disney-Pixar
animated film to depict a rest room, and this is the first attraction to include one.

The adventure culminates in the door room, where the
Imagineers
have outdone themselves.  In what is actually a relatively small space, they’ve used mirrors and overhead conveyer lines to create the illusion of a vast room where seemingly hundreds of doors of different sizes, types, and colors are transported.  Each door opens into a different place, and some of them open as you pass, giving you sudden glimpses into other worlds.

Mike
and
Sulley
need to find the door that will lead to
Boo
’s room, but
Randall
is still trying to gum up the works. 
Boo
’s finally had enough of
that
troublemaker, and in a great set piece
near the close of the attraction,
Boo
clonks
Randall
on the head with a club, settling
his
hash. 
Mike
and
Sulley
bid
Boo
an affectionate goodbye.

Your taxi heads to the unloading area.  First, of course, the
CDA
blasts you with jets of air to decontaminate you, and news reporters question you and temporarily dazzle you with the flash of a camera.  As your taxi idles, waiting to pull up in front of the debarking gates, you are confronted by a tall,
Audio-Animatronic
Roz
, complete with her vintage cat eye glasses, her clipboard, and her beauracratic (i.e., often insulting) demeanor.

This
Roz
is interactive, like the giant
AA
Mr. Potato Head
that serves as barker outside
Paradise Pier
’s
Toy Story Midway Mania!
 
Roz
is pre-programmed to deliver a wide assortment of phrases that are based on Guest appearance.  For example, she told me once that she liked my glasses.  What she actually did was turn her head to look right at me and said, “Young lady, in the second row:  I like your glasses.”  Sometimes she praises Guests; often she comically insults them.  During the holiday season her insults are holiday-themed.  It’s all in good fun, and a popular part of the
Monsters, Inc.
attraction.

How does
Roz
know whether you’re wearing glasses, or a hat, or whether you’re a man, woman or child?  Speculations vary.  Is the figure programmed with existing recognition technology, like Honda’s
ASIMO
, which can distinguish between different human faces and features?  Does
Roz
register, for example, that a Guest is wearing glasses, and then deliver one of several pre-recorded, glasses-related lines?  Or is
Roz
less autonomous?  Is she, as some Guests speculate, being puppeted by a
backstage
Cast Member who is watching Guests through the news camera that blinds you in the zone that immediately precedes
Roz
?

However
Roz
works, her final comments are the icing on the cake for this outstanding dark ride.

On June 21, 2013,
Monsters University
, the
Disney-Pixar
prequel to
Monsters, Inc.
, was released in U.S. movie theaters to positive reviews and monster box office, earning $82.4M domestically and $54.5M overseas during its opening weekend.  By its second weekend, the movie had grossed over
$300M
around the globe.

Billy Crystal
(
Mike Wazowski
),
John Goodman
(
Sulley Sullivan
), and
Steve Buscemi
(
Randall Boggs
) reprise their roles, and
Helen Mirren
is topnotch as the menacing dean (in movieland,
all
college deans are menacing). 
John Ratzenberger
(
Disney-Pixar
’s “lucky charm”) voices the
Yeti
.  For their outstanding
Disney
voice work over the years,
Billy Crystal
and
John Goodman
were named
Disney Legends
—a tremendous and rare honor—at the
D23 Expo
in 2013.

Following the classic
Disney
themes of pursuing one’s dream, no matter the obstacles, and succeeding through teamwork,
Monsters University
is a breezy and moving buddy picture that achieves the considerable feat of presenting a G-rated college picture that genuinely captures both the boisterousness and terror of freshman year, entertaining viewers of all ages.

Thanks to the movie’s success, t
he lines for
DCA
’s
Monsters, Inc.
attraction were naturally
much
longer than usual during the movie’s opening weekend, as Guests queued to see their favorite
Monsters
at this charming dark ride.  Late-morning lines for the attraction were
40 minutes
long on June 22, 2013, the day after the movie opened.  But wait times normalized after the initial excitement of
Monsters University
calmed.  Fans of
Monsters University
queued nearby to meet the young monsters and purchase Monsters University merchandise at pop-up stands.

If you’re a fan of
Monsters, Inc.
or
Disney
dark rides in general, be sure to put this attraction on your
DCA
itinerary.  If you have children, it’s a no-brainer; you need to make this part of your visit. 
Did You Know?
  Although the
Roz
character is female, she’s voiced in the film and the attraction by
Bob Peterson
, a male
Pixar
animator, director, screenwriter, and voice actor.  The versatile, Oscar-nominated
Peterson
voiced popular character
Dug
the loveable talking dog in
Disney-Pixar
’s 2009 Golden Globe-winning gem
Up
.  He also co-directed
Up
with
Peter Docter
, and voiced its canine villain
Alpha
.
Did You Also Know?
  I was fortunate (from a research perspective) to be on
Monsters, Inc.
in November 2009 when it stalled due to a mechanical problem.  It wasn’t serious, but putting safety first in accordance with
Disney
standards, Cast Members powered down the attraction and evacuated Guests until the attraction could be repaired and tested.  This provided an intriguing opportunity to walk through the attraction with the sound and kinetic effects turned off and the bright working lights on.  It’s astonishing how simple the sets and characters look in bright light.  The
Imagineers
are past masters in the art of crafting environments that look glaringly theatrical in standard light, but under dark light and in the properly choreographed balance of light and shadow, astonishing levels of detail and an overall
magic
emerge.  The spilled
sake
at
Harryhausen
’s sushi place isn’t really liquid, but a spiraling strand of a clear plastic material (there’s a similar effect in
Pirates
).  If you’re ever on a
Disneyland
or
DCA
attraction that’s powered down for repairs, pay attention as you’re led out of the attraction; you’ll see interesting
backstage
glimpses and effect secrets.
FastPass:
  No. 
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue
is not presently a
FastPass
attraction.  During peak seasons, this attraction can have a wait time of up to an hour.  That’s an awfully long time to wait for a four-minute journey, especially since, when lines are that long, you’ll be spending a lot of time in the exterior queue, part of which is exposed to the elements.  But if you queue when the park opens lines will rarely exceed five minutes.  
Kid’s Eye View:
I like it.  Not my favorite, but it’s still good.

Muppet*Vision 3D

[
FastView:
 
Wokka-wokka-wokka!  Hilarious 3D
Muppet
fun for everyone.
]

My siblings and I were lucky to grow up with one of those wonderful, quintessential aunts that is celebrated in literature and film, that kindly, funny aunt who makes every family gathering a blast, who gives you your first bicycle, takes you to the circus, and encourages you to believe in yourself and follow your dreams, wherever they may lead.

Like our parents, our Aunt Jane was instrumental in bringing us to quality educational and recreational venues.  One day in the summer of 1979, Aunt Jane took us to Monadnock State Park in New Hampshire.  We climbed
3,165 foot Mt. Monadnock and then Aunt Jane drove us to the small movie house in Gardner, Massachusetts to see a little picture called
The Muppet Movie
.  It was a grand day, and seeing
The Muppet Movie
was a perfect way to cap it.

The Muppet Movie
was released in June of 1979.  It was no box office behemoth, no
Star Wars
–to date it’s only earned $65 million and change–but it was immensely popular with families and kids.  The movie had a simple, breezy plot, an upbeat feel, and great songs.  “Rainbow Connection” was even nominated for an Academy Award, although it didn’t win.  But mostly,
The Muppet Movie
had
Muppets
, those colorful, felt-skinned, endearing blends of marionette and puppet that the late entertainer and educator
Jim Henson
created in the mid-20
th
century.

Henson
’s
Muppets
first captivated mass audiences via
Sesame Street
, the innovative children’s program that took the country by storm when it launched in 1969.  Everything about
Sesame Street
was groundbreaking.  It was as wholesome as previous children’s programs, but far more substantive.  It not only entertained children, it educated them.  The show was bouncy and intelligently funny, layering lessons about letters, numbers, and cognitive and social skills within the fun.  A multi-racial cast of gentle, engaging actors worked side by side with
Muppets
like
Big Bird
,
Cookie Monster
,
Kermit the Frog
, and
Oscar the Grouch
.

Sesame Street
was a success for many reasons, but the
Muppets
were a large part of it.  Soon talented celebrities from all disciplines (dance, film, theater, music, politics, sports, and literature, to name a handful) were clamoring to guest star (or their agents were clamoring on their behalf).  Everyone who was anyone, it seemed, wanted to work with
Kermit
and
Oscar
.  Over the years,
Sesame Street
was visited by luminaries from Buzz Aldrin to Maya Angelou, Lauren Bacall to Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro to First Lady Michelle Obama.  In 2009
Sesame Street
, still going strong, celebrated its 40
th
birthday.

Seeking a broader audience for his characters, in 1976
Henson
launched a new television program geared more toward adults than
Sesame Street
was.  Starring familiar characters as well as new ones,
The Muppet Show
had a successful run from 1976 through 1981. 
Kermit
, already well known to audiences, hosted the show, which was self-consciously and purposely theatrical.  The concept was that the
Muppets
worked in the
Muppet Theater
, putting on performances for the viewers at home and for the grumpy, heckling theater-goers
Statler
and
Waldorf
.