History WhatCouldHaveBeen / MonstersInc

** A Sulley-prototype protagonist named Johnson teams up with a human child named Mary and becomes Scarers together. The climax would have involved a FriendOrIdolDecision, with Johnson wondering if keeping Mary's fixed door a secret was worth it to become Top Scarer.

* Mike was going to propose to Celia at Harryhausen's before Sully interrupted. It was cut because it would make his relationship even more strained, and that Boo was enough of a source of conflict. Funny enough, in the [=DVD=] commentary, the directors forgot that reason and had to call Dan Gerson to explain why.

* The DVD and Blu-ray releases have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZKiMAJLq4c story treatment]] narrated by Pete Docter. Among its many differences:

* Boo was originally going to be slightly older, around 6, but was made younger to make her more dependent on Sulley. She was also originally going to be the youngest of ten children, all the rest are boys. They continuously scare her to the point that she wishes she could scare ''them'' for a change.

* Boo was originally going to be slightly older, around 6, but was made younger to make her more dependent on Sulley.

* The original theatrical release was supposed to feature a THX trailer starring Franchise/{{Shrek}} and Donkey, but it was pulled a week and a half before because Disney threatened to blacklist THX over the trailer, which wouldn't be seen for a couple of years after that.

* The original theatrical release was supposed to feature a THX trailer starring WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} and Donkey, but it was pulled a week and a half before because Disney threatened to blacklist THX over the trailer, which wouldn't be seen for a couple of years after that.

* Due to Pixar not renewing its seven-film distribution deal with Disney in 2004 that would also give the latter full rights to its properties and sequel production, a sequel called ''Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise'' was intended to be produced by a newly established studio called Circle 7 Animation, along with ''Script/ToyStory3'' and a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. [[https://lostmediawiki.com/Disney_Circle_Seven_Animation_(partially_lost_production_material_of_cancelled_Pixar_sequel_films;_2004-2006) The plot]] would have involved Sulley and Mike visiting Boo's room to celebrate her birthday, only to find an old woman living where her room used to be. The two would then decide to explore the human world in search of her, only to get lost. With the deal falling through in January 2006, and then-CEO Michael Eisner, who Pixar seriously disdained, getting ousted and being succeeded by Bob Iger, Disney would purchase Pixar and give creative control back to them, with the sequel being scrapped in favor of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity''. Circle 7 would be shut down two months later, with most of the animators going to either the feature animation department or [=DisneyToon=] Studios.

[[caption-width-right:350:This is concept art that shows an early design of Sully and 8-year-old Boo.]]

* Due to Pixar not renewing its seven-film distribution deal with Disney in 2004 that would also give the latter full rights to its properties and sequel production, a sequel called ''Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise'' was intended to be produced by a newly established studio called Circle 7 Animation, along with ''Script/ToyStory3'' and a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. [[https://lostmediawiki.com/Disney_Circle_7_Animation_(partially_lost_production_material_of_cancelled_direct-to-video_sequels;_2004-2006) The plot]] would have involved Sulley and Mike visiting Boo's room to celebrate her birthday, only to find an old woman living where her room used to be. The two would then decide to explore the human world in search of her, only to get lost. With the deal falling through in January 2006, and then-CEO Michael Eisner, who Pixar seriously disdained, getting ousted and being succeeded by Bob Iger, Disney would purchase Pixar and give creative control back to them, with the sequel being scrapped in favor of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity''. Circle 7 would be shut down two months later, with most of the animators going to either the feature animation department or [=DisneyToon=] Studios.

* Creator/RobinWilliams, Creator/EddieMurphy, Creator/JackBlack, and Creator/DrewCarey were considered for the part of Mike before the casting of Creator/BillyCrystal.
* Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/ChrisBarrie, Creator/VincentDOnofrio, and Creator/JeffGoldblum were considered to voice Randall before Creator/SteveBuscemi was cast.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/early_sulley_art.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An early story treatment where Sully was bad at scaring and Boo was eight. Also, there is no Mike in this treatment.]]

!Monsters Inc.

!!Monsters University
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/enhanced_buzz_wide_3230_1371857204_15.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Early concept art of the college's principal.]]
* [[WordOfGod According to Dan Scanlon]], the movie initially opened with Mike's parents dropping him off at the university on his first day there, and Billy Crystal voiced his whole family! It was cut from the film due to Scanlon wanting to remove parental guidance from Mike's college life.
* Other early drafts included Mike and Sulley in grade school together (to respect the "fourth-grade" quote in Monsters Inc.) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-k56HttY5k It reached storyboards process]]. Then Pete Doctor advised Scanlon to disregard the quote to stick to the focus of the University.
* The characters Celia, Fungus, and Waternoose (recast as Creator/KelseyGrammer) were originally going to make appearances. Grammer's cameo was cut from the film; Waternoose and Celia appear only in photographs.
* Not surprisingly, the filmmakers tried to make it Sulley's story until they saw the story potential in Mike's struggles. Some concepts they experimented with was that Sulley initially wanted to be a dentist and suffered a case of DisappearedDad. These scenes would have probably explored Sulley's relationship with the unseen Bill Sullivan.
* Originally, ''Monsters University'' was going to be a sequel to ''Monsters Inc.'' and was called ''Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise'', which was created by Circle 7. It would've been about Mike & Sulley dropping by Boo's room to wish her a happy birthday, only to discover that somebody different is sleeping in Boo's room. It seems that Boo and her family have moved since Mike and Sulley last visited her. Sulley is so determined to see Boo again that he and Mike venture out into the human world to find her. Once Mike and Sulley cross over into the human world, they then aren't allowed to return to Monstropolis until they reunite with Boo. It would also include an older Boo trying to hide Mike and Sulley from other people.
* The "Art of Monsters University" book indicated there was a Bar Fight sequence involving an altercation between Mike and Johnny and the ensuing fight that did not make it in.
* Claire Wheeler was originally designed as an Eta Hiss Hiss girl until the animators thought placing a goth character on the top of the Greek Life Council would be fun. Even earlier drafts had her as a bubbly drama student.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOGqlCa4nLc Sully and Mike were originally redirected to Drama class after their Scare School expulsion.]] Interestingly, Claire's and Terri's personalities seemed switched around. Also, these scenes would have offered a glimpse into the history of Scream energy.
* An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIj2KAbmvfg alternative opening sequence]] showed how the monsters acquired info about the human world.
* The Oozmas were originally humiliated at a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pR_bBssMc Movie Night]].
* Hardscrabble was originally supposed to be male and yelled a lot until Scanlon decided to feature a great female Scarer that was more sophisticated and intimidating.
* Old designs of Mike had him wear braces until Scanlon realized he would have to avoid the argument that "Mike would be scarier without braces" so Mike was redesigned with a retainer he could remove.
* One ending they experimented with was [[spoiler: after Mike's and Sulley's expulsion, Waternoose drives up in a limo, hearing about Mike's and Sulley's brief stint in the Human World, and offers them jobs.]] The idea was unsurprisingly rejected as it would negate the whole theme of hard work.
* Don Carlton originally had fire-breathing abilities which he kept under control with pills. Eventually, he would abandon the pills to make use of his fire-breathing.
* Earlier storyboards seem to indicate that Terri enjoyed experimenting with personas, including becoming a goth, much to Terry's annoyance.
* The movie originally featured a scene where Mike and Sully meet in elementary school when Sully is picked for scare ball instead of Mike.

* Characters of Celia, Fungus, and Waternoose (recast as Creator/KelseyGrammer) originally were to make appearances. Grammer's cameo was cut from the film; Waternoose appears only in a photograph.

[[caption-width-right:350: Early concept art of college's principal.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz_JLiILIXw As shown by this clip]], Mike [[ArmlessBiped wasn't originally going to have arms]], and Sulley originally had tentacles instead of feet.

* In the scene where Boo and Sully found the secret passageway, there were gonna be empty cages lining the walls of the tunnels, hinting at Waternoose's plan to kidnap children. However, the concept seemed too scary so the idea was scrapped.

* Creator/BillMurray read for the role of Sulley before Creator/JohnGoodman was cast. However, Creator/PeteDocter couldn't get back in touch with Murray after his screen-test, which he took as a "no".

* Several other drafts didn't feature Mike at all, and were focused strictly on Sulley and Boo's relationship.
* The DVD and Blu-Ray releases have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZKiMAJLq4c story treatment]] narrated by Pete Docter. Among its many differences:
** A Sulley-prototype protagonist named Johnson teams up with a human child named Mary and becoming Scarers together. The climax would have involved a FriendOrIdolDecision, with Johnson wondering if keeping Mary's fixed door a secret was worth it to become Top Scarer.
** Johnson was going to have a land lady, probably a prototype for Roz.

** Waternoose was to have a design slightly resembling [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Gillman]], all while still having the suit and multiple eyes that carried all the way to his final, crab-like design. In concept art of this same design, Waternoose was also shown to be a CigarChomper.

* In early development, the city of Monstropolis was designed with a more gothic and sinister aesthetic, similar to Halloween Town from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. When later drafts established that being scary was just a job for the monsters rather than their natural behaviour, the city was redesigned with a stronger resemblance to an average human town.

* A rejected concept was that Celia actually had the abilities of Medusa (hence having snakes for hair), having [[TakenForGranite turned her ex-boyfriends to stone]] and putting extra pressure on Mike.
* Ted's original roar was that of a "famous movie monster" according to Pete Doctor on the audio commentary, most likely ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''. Unable to get the rights, they swapped it out for the sound of a chicken. An EarlyDraftTieIn of this idea can be found in one of the TV spots prior to the film's release, where Ted lets out a low roar when stepping up to home plate.
* Due to Pixar not renewing its seven-film distribution deal with Disney in 2004 that would also give the latter full rights to its properties and sequel production, a sequel called ''Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise'' was intended to be produced by a newly established studio called Circle 7 Animation, along with ''Script/ToyStory3'' and a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. [[https://lostmediawiki.com/Disney_Circle_7_Animation_(partially_lost_production_material_of_cancelled_direct-to-video_sequels;_2004-2006) The plot]] would have involved Sulley and Mike visiting Boo's room to celebrate her birthday, only to find an old woman living where her room used to be. The two would then decide to explore the human world in search of her, only to get lost. With the deal falling through in January 2006, and then-CEO Michael Eisner, who Pixar seriously disdained, getting ousted and being succeeded by Bob Iger, Disney would purchase Pixar and give creative control back to them, with the sequel being scrappd in favor of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity''. Circle 7 would be shut down two months later, with most of the animators going to either the feature animation department or [=DisneyToon=] Studios.

* [[WordOfGod According to Dan Scanlon]], the movie originally opened with Mike's parents dropping him off at the university on his first day there, and Billy Crystal actually voiced his whole family! It was cut from the film due to Scanlon wanting to remove parental guidance from Mike's college life.
* Other early drafts included Mike and Sulley in grade school together (to respect the "fourth grade" quote in Monsters Inc.) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-k56HttY5k It reached storyboards process]]. Then Pete Doctor advised Scanlon to disregard the quote to stick to the focus of the University.
* Characters of Celia, Fungus and Waternoose (recast as Creator/KelseyGrammer) originally were to make appearances. Grammer's cameo was cut from the film; Waternoose appears only in a photograph.

* Originally, ''Monsters University'' was going to be a sequel to ''Monsters Inc.'' and was called ''Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise'', which was created by Circle 7. It would've been about Mike & Sulley dropping by Boo's room to wish her a happy birthday, only to discover that somebody different is sleeping in Boo's room. It seems that Boo and her family have moved since Mike and Sulley last visited her. Sulley is so determined to see Boo again that he and Mike venture out in the human world in order to find her. Once Mike and Sulley cross over into the human world, they then aren't allowed to return to Monstropolis until they actually reunite with Boo. It would also include an older Boo trying to hide Mike and Sulley from other people.
* The "Art of Monsters University" book indicated there was a Bar Fight sequence involving an altercation between Mike and Johnny and the ensuring fight that did not make it in.
* Claire Wheeler was originally designed as an Eta Hiss Hiss girl until the animators thought it would be fun to place a goth character on the top of the Greek Life council. Even earlier drafts had her as a bubbly drama student.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOGqlCa4nLc Sully and Mike were originally redirected to Drama class after their Scare School expulsion.]] Interestingly, Claire's and Terri's personalities seemed switched around. Also, these scenes would've have offered a glimpse into the history of Scream energy.
* An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIj2KAbmvfg alternative opening sequence]] actually showed how the monsters acquired info about the human world.

* One ending they experimented with was [[spoiler: after Mike's and Sulley's expulsion, Waternoose drives up in a limo, hearing about Mike's and Sulley's brief stint in the Human World and offers them jobs.]] The idea was unsurprisingly rejected as it would negate the whole theme of hard work.
* Don Carlton originally had fire-breathing abilities which he kept under control with pills. Eventually he would abandon the pills to make use of his fire-breathing.

* The movie originally featured a scene where Mike and Sully actually meet in elementary school when Sully is picked for scare ball instead of Mike.

[[caption-width-right:350:An early story treatment where Sully was bad at scaring and Boo was eight. Also, there is no Mike in this one]]

[[caption-width-right:350:This is from an early story treatment where Sully was a terrible scarror and Boo was 8 years old and there is no Mike.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:This is an early design of The collages principle.]]