The first 'Monsters, Inc.' represents starting at Pixar for me, I have a special place in my heart for it. So to be able to tell a story with those ideas is an honor.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I started at Pixar the month 'Monsters Inc.' came out.
As far as I know, the guys at Pixar are opposed to a Monsters, Inc. sequel.
Anything Pixar does, you know, I really just am in awe of them and thrilled to be included in anything they do.
I grew up watching Pixar movies. And my favourite - if you don't count 'The Good Dinosaur' - is the first Pixar movie my older brother showed me. That would be 'Monsters, Inc.' I also like Disney - 'The Lion King' is probably my all-time favourite movie.
Out of the blue, I received this offer and invitation to be a part of this movie, 'The Good Dinosaur.' I turned to my Pixar experts, my kids, and asked them what this could all be about. Of course, they flipped out, and it was pretty obvious from their reaction that I was going to do this.
The thing about Pixar, they don't do the 'trend is your friend.' They're really about timeless story telling, and that's pretty great.
Most people know me at Pixar as the guy that doesn't like to do sequels or very reluctant to do sequels.
I grew up loving monsters. I'm just a total monster geek. When I was a kid, I had the Aurora monster models, and I would make them. I loved the Universal horror movies and the Hammer movies. I just had an affinity for them.
Working at Pixar you learn the really honest, hard way of making a great movie, which is to surround yourself with people who are much smarter than you, much more talented than you, and incite constructive criticism; you'll get a much better movie out of it.
Pixar is going in the direction of the early Disney. And it's also corporate, where they have four or five projects in the works. I don't want to get into that subject.