Monsters At Work - Episode 1 & 2 Review - Uplifting Sequel Series

"Monsters at Work" starts the day after the Monsters Incorporated power plant started harvesting the laughter of children to fuel the city of Monstropolis, thanks to Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully's (John Goodman) discovery that laughter generates ten times more energy than screams. Newbie Tylor Tuskmon (Ben Feldman), an eager young top graduate of Monsters University, always dreamed of becoming a Scarer until he lands a job at Monsters, Incorporated, and discovers that scaring is out and laughter is in. After Tylor is temporarily reassigned to the Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team (MIFT), he must work alongside a misfit bunch of mechanics while setting his sights on becoming a Jokester.

The MIFT workers make Tylor (middle) welcomedCourtesy of Disney

Episode 1 – Welcome to Monsters Incorporated

We see top Monsters University grad Tylor Tuskmon get his letter to immediately work as a top Scarer at Monsters Incorporated. He’s overjoyed. Meanwhile, workers there learn that laughter powers Monstropolis ten times better than scares so the entire place will shift to laughs. Mike and Sully are put in charge as co-CEO’s. They are not sure if they can make the change. Irritating Roz (Bob Peterson) retires but her more annoying sis Roze replaces her as their assistant.  With power going out, jokesters must be trained asap!

Mike is thrilled to be a co-CEO at workCourtesy of Disney

Tylor arrives is told there are no more Scarers and is reassigned, he hopes temporarily, to MIFT where he meets Val (Mindy Kaling), an overly positive monster girl who claims to know him from school although she dropped out. He meets the rest of the mechanic team, Duncan (Lucas Neff) Assistant Supervisor who is sure Tylor wants his job, Supervisor Fritz (Henry Winkler) who is overly welcoming, engineer Cutter and Banana Bread who just makes funny noises. Tylor is depressed. How the heck can he make kids laugh? He makes his way to the laugh floor where Mike puts him on line. He only scares the kid and ends up trashing the floor and breaking things. Sully admits that he recommended Tylor when Scarers were still needed. Mike decides to teach comedy classes and Tylor will try to learn to be funny.  

Mike and Sully must turn the Scare floor into a Laugh floorCourtesy of Disney

Episode 2 – Meet MIFT.

Tylor’s Mom Millie (Aisha Tyler) drops him off at work and agrees that his new co-workers are just weird. Once in the MIFT. office, Tylor has to undergo a singing-dancing and overly weird initiation ceremony. He wants to leave even more. Meanwhile, there are so few jokesters working that Mike has to work fulltime to help keep the power on. He is exhausted and drinks a big energy drink that super buzzes him up. When Tylor leaves at lunch for Mike’s new comedy class, the others follow him to his horror. When Mike gets trapped inside a kid’s room when power to his door goes out, the MIFT team goes into action and are partially successful at a repair but it takes Tylor to tighten a screw that makes the door work and brings Mike to safety. When Banana Bread is recruited to the laugh floor, Tylor gets his desk. Oh joy. Okay, these guys are weird but growing on him.

The MIFT gang is growing on Tylor (right)Courtesy of Disney

Wrapping Up

“Monsters at Work” is a cute, goofy sequel to the Monsters Inc. film and has a worthy premise that brings back fave characters Mike and Sully and their original voice actors Billy Crystal and John Goodman.  What if monsters who scare had to suddenly turn into comedians? Monsters Inc. is turned on its head as is a top-of-his-class Scarer who must adapt or leave. Lots of story possibilities there.

With jobs in our real world changing rapidly to work-from-home or job descriptions being “re-thought”, Tylor’s plight is very relatable to young adults entering the workplace as well as moms and dads.

Tylor checks in at the front desk his first dayCourtesy of Disney

Mindy Kaling voicing Val is my favorite new character. She’s adorably annoying and has some fun jokes written for her. The out of place Tylor is well-voiced by Ben Feldman and is a great, sympathetic straight man setting up the funny action all around him.

Sully and Mike are joined by MIFT worker Val (Mindy Kaling)Courtesy of Disney

The series should please original fans of the movies who would love seeing Mike and Sully still on board trying to run the place while a new generation should get a kick out of Tylor and the wacky MIFT team. With both verbal and visual gags and jokes hitting, the show should be a success. We see nothing wrong so award five stars.

“Monsters at Work” Series Rating: 

Courtesy of Disney

See “Monsters at Work” on Disney+ starting July 7^th.