John Goodman voices James P Sullivan or 'Sulley', a big furry monster with teeth and claws. His partner is Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), a monster that is almost entirely one enormous eyeball, and the two of them work at Monsters, Inc. This is the power company of the city of Monstropolis at Monsters, Inc. the monsters travel through doors matched to those in children's' bedrooms and scare the children in order to make them scream. The screams are collected as the source of the city's power. Sulley is the number one scream-generator at Monsters, Inc. as well as being popular and respected by everyone except his work rival Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi). Mike basks somewhat in Sulley's glory, handling his paperwork and changing his collecting cylinders.
Sulley and Mike's successful careers at Monsters, Inc. are suddenly under threat when they accidentally let a human child into the monster world. The problem is that monsters are terrified of children, and anything associated in any way with children is banned in Monstropolis. The little girl is called Boo (Mary Gibbs), and Sulley and Mike will have to find a way to hide her while they try to figure out how to get her home. This is difficult in the presence of the sneaky and suspicious Randall, who has evil plans of his own.
This is a fine animated film with plenty of action, humour and a fair bit of emotion. The story is fresh and interesting, and is also extremely intelligent it doesn't succumb to talking down to its audience. The animation is sharp, colourful, and beautifully done with plenty of attention to detail, so that the furry monsters really do look furry. Boo is charming and sweet, and perfectly voiced by the little girl who plays her. If the film has one flaw, it is that on some occasions it seems to be trying to be cuter than it needs to be.