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The arrival of a new movie from Pixar is as much a major event for the graphics industry as it is for moviegoers. From Toy Story onwards, the studio's output has combined peerless cutting-edge graphics technology with universally acclaimed storytelling talent. It's an approach that has made the 15-year-old company the most widely acclaimed and best-loved CG animation studio in the world.

Monsters, Inc, is the latest full-length film from Pixar, the studios fourth and the second in a five-picture deal with Disney. The previous movies have dealt with toys and bugs, now it's the turn of the monsters in the closet. Monsters, Inc, opens up the world of Monstropolis, a town teeming with strange creatures and home to the largest scream-processing factory in the monster world. Here monsters use door portals to venture out into the human world, scaring children and collecting their screams for use as a natural power resource. When top scarers Mike Wazowski and James P Sullivan (Sulley) accidentally let a young girl back into Monstropolis, all hell break loose as the monsters frantically and farcically try to deal with what they believe to be a toxic life-form. With Mike sporting just the one large eye, Sulley standing eight feet tall and covered in shaggy blue-green fur, the movie is home to Pixar's most outlandish CG creations yet.

Monsters, Inc, marks the feature-directing debut of Pete Docter, a Pixar veteran whose previous credits include the role of Supervising Animator on Toy Story and story contributions to A Bugs Life and Toy Story 2. Co-directors on the project are Lee Unkrich (Film Editor on Toy Story and A Bug's Life), and David Silverman (whose directing credits include episodes of The Simpsons). Also involved are Andrew Stanton, screenwriter of all Pixar movie projects to date, and John Lasseter, Executive vice-president of creative and director of Toy Story.

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