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The Monsters, Inc. Factory

We scare because we care

It's laughter we're after

Monsters, Inc. is the energy-producing factory in the film of the same name. Its logo is the "M Eyeball."

The commercial for the company is seen at the beginning of the film after Sulley is woken up and told to do some chores and warm-up exercises by his partner Mike Wazowski.

The Company[]

Waternoose: "James, this company has been in my family for three generations. I would do anything to keep it from going under."
Sulley: "So would I, sir."
—Waternoose and Sulley, foreshadowing Waternoose's role in the film

Monsters, Inc.'s main duty is to provide all citizens in Monstropolis with energy in the form of captured screams collected from children. They accomplish this by crossing into the Human World through the closets of children's bedrooms and scaring them to the best of their ability. The screams are then collected in special canisters for use as energy.

The factory is an immense facility equipped to fulfill the needs of its employees. Scaring takes places in rooms called "Scare Floors," where the monsters cross over into the human world using the doors of the children's closets. The doors are stored in an immense "Door Vault" and are brought to and from the Scare Floor by an automated system. Each Scarer has an assistant to help coordinate the energy collection. Any door belonging to a child who has no fear of monsters is promptly destroyed in the Door Shredder, as their screams cannot be collected.

During the events of Monsters, Inc., it is clear that the company had fallen on hard times, and screams are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in large amounts because kids have become desensitized to their scaring. Facing a worsening energy crisis, the company sought out new, borderline-criminal means by which to obtain screams in large quantities. This is eventually resolved by James P. Sullivan, who has discovered that laughter produces more power than scream has done and reestablishes the company to have the monsters make children laugh.

Initially as shown during the event of Monsters At Work, the implementation of laugh as alternative energy went into difficulty due to the lack of manpower to generate enough energy needed by the city since only a few scarers could easily transit to become Jokesters like Mike, Tylor or Bile. Almost all former scarers either have to be retrained to be Jokesters in course taught by Mike or quit their jobs as they unable to cope with the change in the industry. Furthermore, the art of comedy is very difficult compared to the art of scaring, causing many Jokesters to unable to meet energy quotas. As the result, power outstate became common and the Monstropolis Energy Regulatory Commission once threatened to shut down Monsters Inc. and give the energy contract to Fear Co. However, eventually Sully and Mike and with the help of Tylor succeed in generating enough energy to keep the energy contract.

In Monsters University, the factory only appears three times in the entire film, as neither Mike nor Sulley have any knowledge about the factory and working there yet: The first appearance of the factory was during Ms. Graves' kindergarten class field trip where a young Mike sneaks off into a child's bedroom used by Frank McCay without permission resulting in him being persuaded by McCay to attend MU; the second time during team Oozma Kappa's "field trip" as a result of them being fed up with Roar Omega Roar's prank at their house party only to be chased out by security guards, and the third and last time being when Mike and Sulley are both expelled from the university resulting in them starting a new life by working at the factory as mail sorters before finally becoming Scarers.

During the event of Monsters At Work, It is revealed that there was a fatal casualty in the past as one monster was mauled to death by a dog during a repair of a child room.

Areas in the Factory[]

  • Lobby: This is the lobby located in front of the factory, which depicts various clocks depicting various time zones around the world placed over a mural depicting a world map. On one wall is a "Scarer of the Month" gallery, which for some reason always only showed Sulley (and occasionally Mike). Celia, the factory's receptionist and Mike's girlfriend, works in this area.
  • Scare/Laugh Floor D: Seen at the very beginning of Monsters University, this is the scare floor Ms. Graves' class visited on their field trip to the Monsters, Inc. factory. It is also where scarers like Frightening Frank McCayEarl "The Terror" Thompson (the latter who actually works on Scare Floor F in Monsters University) and Hank "The Tank" Knapp work at. During the field trip, Mike Wazowski sneaks into the scare floor without permission, which is often considered to be very dangerous to monsters, resulting in Frank giving Mike his hat and inspiring him to go and attend Monsters University.
  • Scare/Laugh Floor F: This is the Scare Floor where Sulley, Mike, Randall and the other scarers and their assistants work. It is a large room where various children's closet doors are brought in from the Door Vault by an overhead conveyor belt and are brought down by lifts on the ground. Then, the scarers enter the doors and try their best to scare as many children as possible to collect more screams. During a decontamination exam with the CDA, the overhead windows are shuttered off and doors on the ceiling open up to let the CDA in. Near the entrance is a giant clock and monitor display showing the Scarers' ranks and a map showing the area the Scarers will scare children. Its supervisor is Jerry. At the end of the film, Sulley after becoming the new CEO converts this (and possibly all of the other scare floors) into "laugh floors" to reflect the company's new premise of making children laugh. In Monsters University, it is shown that Earl "The Terror" Thompson, Carla "Killer Claws" Benitez, and "Screaming" Bob Gunderson once worked at this Scare Floor before either retiring, being reassigned to another Scare Floor, or possibly laid off since neither of them were seen in the original film.
  • Roz's Office: This is where Roz the paperwork inspector works. Her office counter can be separated from the rest of the factory via a retractable shutter.
  • Men's Locker Room: This is where all of the male scarers and their assistants go to use the restroom and store their belongings.
  • Women's Locker Room: This is where all of the female scarers and their assistants go to use the restroom and store their belongings.
  • Simulation Room: This room, featuring a simulated child's bedroom and an animatronic boy dummy, is often used to introduce newcomers to working at the factory. The room is supervised by Flint. At the end of the film, Sulley and Mike both go to this room to trap Waternoose and expose his evil plans, leading Waternoose to be arrested by the CDA.
  • Hallways: These are just hallways located throughout the factory.
  • Trash Compactor: This is a trash compactor located in the basement which destroys all waste material left in the factory. The compactor scene is a parody of the Looney Tunes short, Feed the Kitty, in which Sulley exhibits the same reactions as Marc Anthony did with Pussyfoot, when Sulley thinks Boo has been crushed in the trash compactor.
  • Boiler Room: This hidden room, accessed only behind several pipes in a certain part of the factory, is where Waternoose and Randall secretly built the Scream Extractor to help with their evil plans.
  • Door Vault: This is the largest room in the factory. It is a large area where all of the doors are kept when not in use, and are transported to the scare floors via a series of overhead conveyor belts arranged in a manner similar to rollercoaster tracks.
    • According to the audio commentary for Monsters, Inc., Pete Docter, the director of the movie stated that there are about 36 million doors stored in the vault. It is also stated by Docter that the vault is taller than the Empire State Building, it's about half a mile long (2640 ft), and Lee Unkrich, the co-director says that on any one given level in the vault, you can fit an entire Statue of Liberty in there.
  • Mail Room: The mailing room is where Mike and Sulley stared working at this factory when they were both first hired at Monsters, Inc. after being expelled from Monsters University by Dean Hardscrabble, but before being promoted to scarers and ultimately the new CEO following Waternoose's exposure and arrest. According to his backstory, Yeti the Abominable Snowman used to work here as Mike and Sulley's mailing assistant but was unfortunately banished to the Himalayas for accidentally messing up with his job.
  • Scream/Laugh Can Storage Room: Where the Scream/Laugh Cans are stored; seen only as a photograph in the epilogue of Monsters University.
  • Cafeteria: Where the Monsters, Inc. employees go to eat; seen only as a photograph in the epilogue of Monsters University.
  • MIFT Quarters/Basement: Where the Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team is located; seen only as a photograph in the epilogue of Monsters University.
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