Pixar Invites You To "Monsters University"

Ever wonder how Mike and Sulley met?  No, I don't think anyone else did either.  But we're going to find out next year, courtesy of Monsters University.  Disney revealed the title to the sequel to Pixar's 2001 hit animated film Monsters Inc. today at CinemaCon, according The Hollywood Reporter. 

Story details have yet to be released, but Disney did confirm earlier rumors that movie will indeed be a prequel about how scare champions Mike Wazowski and James P. "Kitty!" Sullivan met in college and went from enemies to best friends.  John Goodman, Billy Crystal, and Steve Buscemi (who played the villian Randall) are expected to reprise their roles in the new film.

Interestingly, Disney did have their own Monsters sequel in the works during the almost-breakup with Pixar a few years back.  Entitled Monsters Inc. 2:  Lost in Scaradise, the sequel had Mike and Sulley venturing into the human world in search of their little friend Boo, who had moved away since their last visit.  Screenwriters Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir recently put together a trailer based on early artwork to give everyone an idea of how that sequel might have looked:

What happened next, of course, is that Disney finally made the deal to purchase Pixar in 2006, and as part of the deal, all non-Pixar produced sequels to their earlier films were scrapped.  So long, Lost in Scaradise.

Honestly, I'm glad they're going the prequel route for the new film.  Aside from being just a terrific movie, Monsters Inc. also had what was probably the best ending of any of the Pixar films (although Toy Story 3's ending belongs in its own universe).  I'd rather see a prequel or an entirely new Monsters story rather than see them try to follow up the original ending.

Monsters University is planned to arrive in theaters in fall 2012.