Billy Crystal, John Goodman talk ‘Monsters University,’ ‘subtle’ changes to being young again and the final trailer

Billy Crystal and John Goodman return to Pixar in this summer’s Monsters University, a prequel to the highly successful Monsters Inc. Both actors talked about the film with Collider, beginning with the subtle changes to regain their youth. The PR is in full force with the final trailer also landing, see below.

“The first day that we reported to work together, they showed us renderings of the guys.  We just started laughing because they made us look younger,” Crystal recalls. “Sulley is a little trimmer and slimmer.  Mike has got this retainer, and there’s a little more youth in his eye.  They just carry themselves differently.  It’s subtle, but it’s there.”

Goodman adds: “With the voice thing, I thought I was gonna come in and talk like the kid from Our Miss Brooks, but after a couple of passes, it just happens, organically.  You pick up on other energies, and it just happens.  It’s a subtle difference, but it’s there.”

The stars had to convey how advanced the technology has become.

“Before, we were just flabbergasted by the fact that they could animate fur and hair.  That was a big deal then,” Goodman says. “It just seems like they’ve gotten so much better with their technique.  It’s amazing.  So, the thrill is still there because they’re such wonderful storytellers and great writers, and everything is reality-based and grounded, so you can believe in it, which makes it fun.”

Crystal adds “The difference is that it’s maybe a little bit faster than before.  And the imagination is even broader because they can do even more.  I first saw the movie two weeks ago, and you forget what you’ve done because we started about two years ago, but the imagery is phenomenal in this movie.  The art design on the first movie was astounding, with the door sequence and the chase sequence.  This has moments in the Scare Games.  You almost take it for granted, but it took years for them to think these things through.  That obstacle course is a phenomenal segment.  Then, that dramatic scene with us at the lake, when Mike goes into the real world at the camp, we acted together in the booth.  For a movie to have room for those two segments is kinda epic.”

Check out the full interview here