Joshua Noel and TJ Blackwell kick off this year's Summer Drive-In series on Systematic Geekology by diving into the colorful world of Monsters University. They explore how the film serves as a prequel to the beloved Monsters, Inc., unpacking the origins of our favorite characters, Mike and Sully. The duo banters about the quirky dynamics of college life as portrayed in the movie, from the trials of earning a scare degree to the hilariously relatable struggles of young monsters finding their paths. Joshua and TJ also reflect on how the characters' journeys shape the iconic duo we adore in the original film. With a mix of wit and nostalgia, they set the stage for a summer filled with prequel discussions, ensuring listeners are ready to relive the magic of Monsters University and beyond.

Diving headfirst into the realm of prequels, the duo of Joshua and TJ kick off their summer drive-in series with a lively discussion about the animated flick Monsters University. The nostalgia kicks in as they reminisce about their own college days, and how the film's themes of friendship, ambition, and the age-old debate of talent versus hard work resonate with their personal experiences. Joshua sets the stage by highlighting the film's premise: how Mike and Sully, two lovable monsters, navigate the ups and downs of university life while pursuing their dreams of becoming top scarers at Monsters Incorporated. As they dissect the film, Joshua and TJ explore the character dynamics, particularly how the duo's contrasting approaches to their education reflect real-life situations faced by many students. TJ humorously points out the absurdities of a monster college, questioning the logistics of a giant monster attending classes and the hilarity of their escapades. The banter between the two is as entertaining as the film itself, filled with clever quips and light-hearted teasing that keeps the conversation flowing and engaging.

In this inaugural episode of the summer drive-in series, Joshua and TJ set the tone for a season of exploration and nostalgia. With their witty repartee and genuine passion for film, they invite listeners to join them on this journey through the world of prequels, starting with the charming Monsters University. Their analysis of the film not only entertains but also encourages reflection on personal growth and the importance of friendship, making it a must-listen for fans of animated films and anyone who’s ever faced the trials of higher education. The episode ends on a high note, teasing the next installment in their series and leaving the audience eager for more.

Takeaways:

• In this episode of Systematic Geekology, Joshua and TJ dive into Monsters University, a prequel that explores the origins of beloved characters from Monsters, Inc.
• The guys discuss how the character dynamics in Monsters University set the stage for Mike and Sully's iconic friendship in the original film.
• They highlight Dean Hardscrabble as a pivotal character whose influence on Mike and Sully shapes their future as Scarers at Monsters Incorporated.
• The podcast emphasizes the humorous yet poignant moments in Monsters University, which reflect the reality of college life and the balance between talent and hard work.
• Joshua and TJ share their personal experiences with the film, revealing how their perspectives have evolved over time since its release in 2013.
• The episode wraps up with the guys discussing movie-watching snacks, suggesting unique flavors that resonate with the movie's themes, like blueberry lemonade.

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Pursue a meaningful career at Monsters Incorporated without a scare degree.

You know, usually Fridays, smaller segments just kind of for fun at the end of the week. Right. So we have our Halloween drive in. We do our Christmas drive in.

We have our icons series for New Year, we have a spring bonus series that changes every. Sure. For some reason.

And then we have, of course, the one that started it all, our summer drive in series where we just pretend like we're going to a drive in theater, watching some movies and talking about them for a little bit. Like we just went and saw them. Each year we have a different theme. This year, our theme is prequels.

So this is our inaugural episode to our prequels, Summer of Drive in Films. I am Joshua Noel here with one and only tj. Hi. Beer is on. Blackwell the Pod Almighty.

If you want a playlist of all of our drive in episodes, they'll be down below. We don't have a playlist for just this summer yet because this is the only episode so far, but it's happening.

Do check out our other drive ins with the link in the show notes. And let's jump into this. Tj, we just went to the drive in. They were playing Monsters University. We had some food, had a good time. Movie ends.

You turn to me and what is the first thing do you say?

You know, I don't understand why they would put a sequel in a drive in movie. I feel like that's kind of reserved for, like, huge franchises where you've already seen all of them no matter what. Like Star Wars.

That's okay, though. I like that movie.

I don't know, man. I feel like usually drive in movies these days, it's like it's always a double feature.

And the first ones are like, for kids, and then the other one is for, like, the adult. I feel like I'm like, well, now what? Like, I want to know what the second movie is that we're about to watch. I don't know. I probably. That was cool.

I don't think I have a ton to say about it. Really. I'm pretty okay to. For me, it just feels like more of a movie that I watch in the background. Well, I'm at home.

Than it does a movie that I would go out to see.

Yeah. It's not one that I would like, regret. I will. I do not Regret not seeing it.

In theaters, but I don't remember. I don't remember when it came out.

Yeah.

20.

20, 19.

20, 20.

No, 13. No way.

13 Years old. What? That.

Yeah, sure. Yeah, man, sure.

If that's the case, sure. It is definitely a solid.

Just I'm truly shocked right now. This movie, this all. Did not mean to have that reaction. Oh, yeah. What.

But I do actually. I like it quite a bit.

Yeah. I feel like that's probably our real conversation after watching it is. I'm like.

And you're probably trying to explain to me why I should like it more like I feel what the conversation really is.

Yeah. That's what usually happens.

Especially my first time watching it. If I'm remembering right, I did not like it at all. I didn't dislike it. So I probably was turning to you going, why don't I like that?

I was like, I don't even know why I did. I was like, what is about that? That just didn't click for me.

Yeah. You're turning to me and you're like, you're six, right. What do you think about that movie 13 years ago?

You weren't six.

No. But you know. You know, was a lot younger than you.

In my head, I was like, okay, if I was 13 when this came out, and then I just forgot that part was like, he saw it in theaters when it came out and I.

Was probably a baby.

He was probably 13.

You 13? So I was like 20. Yeah, we knew each other.

Yeah, we did.

But I wasn't taking you to move.

No, we knew each other when I was 6. So I said that you don't.

But at some point, both of us watched this at camp. Like, they put that on as like the movie at camp. And I was. This was on. There's a surprise event happened and neither of us remember it. That's.

Yeah, that is possible.

Pretty close to a drive it.

Yeah. But I don't know. Yeah, that makes sense. I. I figured you. If you saw it when you were 20, you would have thought it was really good.

You know, for me, I was 13. I was like, what is college? I know what I want to do. And I was. I was pretty much right. But I can see how it'd be very relatable for a lot of people.

Yeah. I don't know. I was in college and apparently I was okay. Yeah. But so Monster University.

Why?

So we had a few different prequels. We could have Done. There's going to be some more obvious ones throughout the summer, like stalling to be Monsters University.

We're going to do a Star Wars. We're going to do an Indiana Jones. The normal geek stuff. Why did we choose Monsters University?

I don't know. There's not a lot of Disney prequels. It's hard to fill that slot.

I was okay doing the Fasta. I thought that would have been fun. I feel like it's just been overdone. I don't think we've ever talked about it on our podcast.

I'm just tired of hearing about Maleficent. Yeah. Okay.

That's all right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think we had a few other choices. And it just. I don't know. You and I have gone to Disney together, so I feel like it also just makes sense for us to talk about Disney. Yeah.

We haven't watched this Yoda.

The Monsters part of the Parkland releases. Yeah.

We haven't seen this together, though. I don't think maybe we have, actually. Trying to think maybe we have watched this together.

I would love to know. This is usually the part we would talk about our relationship with the film or surrounding ip.

Clearly, neither of us remember this movie came out as far as, like, Monsters, Inc. As a whole. I mean, I've loved it since it came out.

Yeah.

Monsters, Inc. Is Monsters.

Great.

Kingdom Hearts 3, but yeah, that's good. Honestly, it really has nothing to do with Monster.

Honestly, I do like Monsters University a lot. Not as much as Monsters, Inc. I don't think, but it is really funny. It's really funny. And it's had a poignant message.

It's just some of the bits that they do, you know, they do a little retconning, which is fine, but really not as bad as people said it was on release. I do remember that being very critical.

Was it?

Yeah. People just didn't like it.

It felt kind of lackluster for me. I'll get a little bit into why in a minute, but for those who don't know. What is Monsters University about?

Monsters University is the story of how Mike and Sully met in college.

Monsters University, which was not the case or in the original, actually, but it's a story about them going to Monsters University, getting their Scare degree so that they can work at Monsters Incorporated, and the struggles that lie within. Because, as we know, Mike Wazowski is not a Scarer.

Yeah. Yeah.

And then it really just kind of focuses on the dichotomy of solely being a bad student because he doesn't want to study and he thinks he's just all that naturally. And Mike thinking that he could do everything by studying and it has nothing to do with natural skill and them both being wrong. Yeah.

It's the talent versus hard work debate.

Also honestly a pretty good precursor to actually going to college because you can be just hard work or you could be just talent, but that is not going to get you through college unless it's like crazy talent. I'll say.

I actually disagree for the opposite reason because I know a lot of dumb people with some pretty smart people degrees just because they did all the homework really, really well. Like all. Yeah, but just like you really don't know what you're talking.

It's not quite the same.

I feel like.

Because what usually happens. Those people can apply the knowledge when they need to.

Yeah. I think too. What's interesting is it does kind of do this like weird scaring is blue collar work because it's power industry, whatever.

But then also it's where you need a degree and it's also a sport.

Yeah.

And what's like all three things?

Yeah.

Rules.

Well, I mean it's kind of. It's kind of true to life. It's. I guess the best analog is linemen, like power line men.

Well, they don't need a degree, but you know that there are like the linesman games. It is blue collar. They get paid a lot.

Yeah, but you don't like trade lineman cars. They have scarer car.

I would though.

They're just like.

It'd be pretty sick.

Blue collar workers. Right.

That'd be pretty. It'd be pretty awesome.

It would be.

I mean if every city had like their own line of, you know, utilities workers cards.

It'd be pretty cool. The best lineman in the East Coast.

It'd be pretty sick.

Yeah. That'd be awesome.

Oh man.

So yeah. I feel like there's not a ton to say about the film as far as like summarizing it. I want to.

Let's go ahead to what we loved and didn't love because I'm going to get some of my. Here's why I think it doesn't click for me and why it does. Like it is a monsters film. It is good. It still has that Monsters Inc. Kind of vibe.

The music still killer. Animation still killer. It's good. But I think I have to preface this with every Pixar film.

All of the ones I can think.

Of, except for maybe Coco and even a little bit Coco. They're all gimmicky. All of them. That's kind of like Pixar's humor gimmicks.

And it's fine, but I feel like Monsters University over relies on the gimmick. And then like, I also feel like prequels as a whole either have the problem of breaking canon or completely ignoring the original film.

And you're like, is this even a prequel at this point or being too much. Let's get from point A to point B.

And I really feel like it does that trying too hard to get to point A to point B thing and still break scan in some. But like the whole film is that you could tell that they have a point that they're trying to get to.

And to me, sometimes that takes me out of the story personal.

Yeah, I can see that. But I, I really, I do think there are some very powerful emotional moments in Monsters University. Mike realizing that he really isn't cut out for it.

Sully putting it all on the line to cheat for Mike so they don't both get expelled. Kind of self serving. But still, I just. Man, some of the bits are so good though.

Yeah. Some of the guns are so good and some, which. Some of the gags, they're.

They're great.

They're great.

I just the. Because they, they do like the suspension of disbelief, you know, because you don't need to think about how the giant student is going to class.

It's just funny that he's there and he has a giant frisbee. Who's he throwing the giant frisbee test?

That's what I wanted to know. I just want to know if there's another giant monster who is the other program.

It's like there's another giant monster and he's like just really into building the door. Yeah, yeah.

Huge door guy. Literally. But. Oh, good.

My favorite bit is definitely the very end of the movie where they're working with the abominable snowman in the mail room at Monsters Incorporated. And he's like, be careful, guys. Messing with the mail is a banishable offense. That's funny. You know.

Yeah, that's fine. I don't think they ever tell us why he gets banned in the original.

No, no. Now we know. Yeah, he was tampering with mail.

God. So funny. I like to think that it somehow was Mike and Sully's fault.

I also, I will say, like, I feel like the biggest positive though is Mike and Sully's relationship. Seeing their friendship blossom. I feel like there's got to be a better word for that. But like, you do feel it. You're like, man, I don't know.

Something about friends. I like it. Yeah.

I also mean that.

Really natural fit for Keith Hart. Yep.

The scene where they get stuck in the human world and have to scare a room full of adults, like cops, park rangers, actually.

Awesome. This is a good scene.

That's. But it's like the. It's the emotional climax of. Of the movie, and it's really. It's really good. And, yeah, I would be scared, too.

Yeah.

But in real life, they would have shot him a lot.

Yep.

Yeah.

Anyway, so this year, as you know, our annual theme of this Magic Ecology is the Faces behind us.

And part of what we're doing, prequels for our drive in is so that we can kind of look at some of the faces, the original films and, like, who inspire people, who shaped our main characters from those films. So we have a few here that are really interesting that I wanted to kind of mention briefly.

Dean Hardscrabble, I think, is the big face behind that we don't know about in Monsters, Inc. That really impacted who Mike and Sully turned out to be. So let's start with her. Who's Dean Hardscrabble? And how does her role in this film change who the characters are when we see them in Monsters?

Important.

Dean Hardscrabble is kind of the antagonist of the movie. She was the dean of the Scaring department at Monsters University.

And, you know, Mike and Sully get up to a little funny business and they ruin Memento from when Dean Hardscrabble set the Scaring record. And she doesn't like that. So she kicks them both out of the Scaring program and they give the chance to get back in if they win the Scare game.

And then obviously, they are the main characters. They do win the Scare Games through cheating.

What?

They cheated. They cheated with their lovable cast of misfits.

What's funny is they almost didn't even need to be. That's almost.

If it wasn't for Mike.

Which is why that, you know, that scene matters so much, because one of the other characters we're about to talk about really is, you know who he says he is? The legacy. Great Scarer. Good student. And he. He stands on that. He. He's really good. Scarer doesn't have to cheat. Yeah.

The leader of the fraternity, Roar Omega Roar. Is that right?

Roro Nega. Roar.

Yeah. Johnny Worthington, of course. Nathan Fillion found a way to make it into the Monsters franchise. Love it. What's really cool about him, too. Is like.

He's not only can we say he's one of the faces behind our main characters in Monsters, Inc. He also. His role in Monsters University really impacts what happens to Tyler in Monsters at Work, which is a TV show. I actually really like the show.

Yeah.

It's so ugly. The show is so ugly. It looks. It's just. It just doesn't look that I was watching it last night. It just doesn't. It's impossible to watch.

For me, every time Mike is on the scene on screen or Sully, I'm like, oh, man, you look rough. When the other monsters are there, it's fine.

But when you get that comparison between the movie Mike and Sully to the show Mike and Sully, you're like, oh, man.

Yeah. This budget is not high budget for a TV show. Yeah. And it's a.

Which is why I think the main characters in Monsters at Work are monsters that aren't as hard to animate.

Yeah. Which I think they did, but it makes sense.

Yeah. But Johnny Worthington Roses Pratt Show Off Family Legacy is all that he says he is and really inspires the characters by being good and also.

And not a great guy.

Yeah.

Being a jerk, but also being good. And it shows solely who he should be. And it shows Mike who he can't be.

Yeah. He's a really hard foil there.

But it does have to suck to, like, you know, you're going to the Harvard of Scaring, and of course, one of your classmates is a Kennedy. That's got to be annoying because Mike's a. Mike's an actual no name. Sully at least has some prestige.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, the thing is, he never admits that the two main characters actually are good. He just remains full of himself and annoying.

What I like about Dean Hardscrabble is even at the end, when they find out the cheating, she expels them because she kind of has to. They actually did do some illegal stuff. But she still goes out to them and says, hey, I was wrong. You guys can do this.

Yeah.

And to me, that was a really big emotional moment. And that's where I'm like Dean Scarborough. To me, she's probably the one that's more the face behind the characters than any of the other people.

Yeah. Because not only does she take that stance where she's like, hey, you both suck. Get out of my program. But she pushes them to do better.

And because of that, they become better and they become. Well, one of them becomes a good Scarer.

Yeah. One of them becomes a Great comedian.

Yeah. And that becomes huge because can you imagine Hardscrabble's reaction to finding out staring no longer matters?

And it's because of these two guys that you expel.

Started. Show Me that. That.

That's so funny. Because not only does she see them generate more scare power than she ever could because they scare a room full of adults.

Imagine, you know, she expels them, like, 10 years later. She reads the newspaper.

He's like, oh, I think the best part is where Mike Wazowski generated more power than her and a singer and a single canister. So they had to create a new canister and it passed through comedy like that would be so.

But I do really. I do really like the tiny little Randall, you know, because, like, they had to put Randall in there, but they're just like.

Mike's like, hey, man, take the glasses off. You look like a dweeb.

Meanwhile, he's got the retainer.

He's got the retainer and the glasses, and he's like, ditch both of those. You know, look scary. Get set up.

It's great. Yeah. Funny stuff. So if you had to convince someone that they should watch Monsters University, how would you.

How would you tell them they need to watch?

Well, a softball question. It's a Pixar movie. You should probably watch all of them. Easy place to start, but it still is very Monsters.

You know, I think it's okay if someone doesn't watch Lightyear.

Oh, yeah, that's true.

Rest of the Pixar film. You should probably.

Yeah, but, like, it's more Monsters Incorporated. I do think it's better than the show.

Disagree. Apparently, Cho, a Lot More is better.

Than the show, but it is a really good movie.

Better music, though.

That's. That's maybe true, but it's good.

It's a movie. It's a lot of.

If you like.

If you tried to watch Freaks and Geeks and you were like, oh, I wasn't alive in the 80s enough for this to be a good movie, then Monsters University is the perfect movie for you.

Yeah. Yeah, Right. And on that note, we are going to go ahead and start wrapping the phone up. These are shorter episodes. It's fine.

We are asking in every episode, if you were to go to the drive in for this film, what flavored tea or lemonade would you take with you to the drive in to watch this movie? I'll go first because for me, it's pretty easy.

Or doing a blueberry lemonade, because either it's going to be blue and it's going to like match solely or it's going to be green. It's going to match Mike and I love blueberry so either way seems like it's themed correctly and I'm going to enjoy it.

Limeade Limeade that's a good one.

Screen my screen if you really really wanted push it you can get go to Sonic you can just buy this somewhere cuz Sonic is awesome you get blue raspberry limeade and you can put.

Purple nerds in it. Ooh that sounds like the perfect you're drinking Sully that sounds less per that sounds creepy.

On that note rate review our show wherever you get your podcast. Spotify podcast yeah Spotify, Apple podcast, whatever. Written review helps other people see that our show exists helps us out.

If you want to see other Drive in films there's a link in the show notes. Make sure you tune in next Friday as we continue our prequel summer series of Drive in Films. And remember we are all a chosen people.

A geek of priest.