Since 1995, Pixar has dominated computer animated filmmaking. They constantly win Academy Awards (9 nominations, 7 wins for Best Animated Feature) and are universally praised for their efforts by the critics. Nearly each Pixar movie has a handful of lessons or dominant themes it tries to teach and tell.

Monsters University (DVD) : Dan Scanlon, Helen Mirren, Steve Monsters University (DVD) : Dan Scanlon, Helen Mirren, Steve

It] conforms to [Pixar's] apparent drift toward the average, with toy sales taking priority over originality." - Liam Lacey Disney•Pixar proudly presents the hilarious story of how two mismatched monsters met and became lifelong friends in a movie screaming with laughter and oozing with heart. I had hopes for the deleted scenes, but unfortunately there were no scenes that were cut after animation, so all they are is a mix of very basic animation and storyboarding. They were alright, but I can see why they cut them, nothing really forwarded the story. And that's where he was disappointed. There were a couple hours of extras here, but not really any engaging content for younger kids. Most of the extra content is designed for older people. And for me, as a parent, it was fascinating, hence the 5 star rating despite the things I didn't like about it. They had a bunch of videos behind the scenes, showing the workflow and the things the people deal with while creating the animations, storylines, art, etc... As a grown up I really enjoyed it. My son lost interest in a few minutes and moved on to something else. But these videos had some really neat insight into how the story morphed and changed from the beginning (I never knew originally Sully was going to want to be a dentist like his father, which shows how much they changed as they went). They also discussed how they used light and shadow to help emphasize the differences between the characters, and how whenever Mike and Sully were at odds, one was always in sunlight, the other in shadow. Whenever they started working together, that's when they would both be lit the same. Or whenever they made a major decision, they'd step from shadow into the light. Little things like that, which made subsequent viewings of the movie more interesting as I strove to catch these little things I had missed previously. This is more a review of the Blu-Ray set than the movie. Plenty of others have extolled the virtues of the movie, which I and my 10 year old son loved. So I'm going to focus on what was good and bad on the Blu-Ray.What's nice about the scenes is that director Dan Scalon talks you through the scene in detail and why it was cut. They are of course unfinished, but still interesting to see what could have been part of the movie. They had some really nice artwork as well in a photo show you can do. Again, something that interested me as an adult, but held no interest for my son. We already had this in digital format, but I wanted to get the Blu-Ray for the extra content. My son loves the "extras" in movies like the outtakes in Bugs Life and such, or even the bloopers on Muppets Most Wanted. So I had hoped we would get some good ones on here. This is a safe, predictable, edge-free, nearly bland effort from a studio that rarely hedges its bets." - Richard Roeper

Monsters University (2013) on DVD and Blu-ray - DVD Netflix Rent Monsters University (2013) on DVD and Blu-ray - DVD Netflix

When the Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers throw their first party and no one shows up, Mike and Sulley return to Monsters University with a plan to make sure it's the most epic party the school has ever seen. Disney•Pixar's newest short "Party Central" hits the big screen March 21, 2014, with Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted." of Monsters University is cute, and funny, and the animation, though not exactly inspired, is certainly colorful." - Steven Rae For some, it's been decades of being taught that it is okay to fail, but that with hard work you can still achieve those dreams. For many that's true, but for some it's just not feasible. MU has managed to tell a story that supports that second statement. Failing isn't bad and realizing that some dreams really are out of reach is also okay. The real lesson is to be comfortable with who you are, what you're truly capable of and utilizing your strengths to better yourself and your community. That's what Mike does, he becomes the coach and teacher. His knowledge of scaring helps Sullivan to eventual massive success. He helps the rest of Oozma Kappa reach their dreams. QUALITY: Unsurprisingly, the video quality is stunning. Little else needs to be said about the transfer. It's flawless. If I have one complaint, it's the layout of the bonus features menu. Despite the features being on a blu-ray disc, the menu does not operate like a blu-ray menu. Typically, you're able to operate within the menu while the movie (or features) are playing on screen. Instead, you need to return to the menu screen to select the next option. It's a small caveat, but there we go.

From the age of little monster, Mike is enthralled with the career of being a scarer - the job that every monster dreams of. It's for the cream of the crop. Mike is told continually as a small monster that he's too small and not scary enough to succeed. It's only after he sneaks into a live door on the Monsters, Inc. scare floor that people believe he's capable of great things. He uses that moment to work hard and get into Monsters University to study at the School of Scaring. My wife and I saw Monsters University and both loved it. Many of the Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes however, seemed to miss the point of the film entirely.