Monsters, Inc./Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• The energy metaphors. The Monster world had hit 'peak scream' due to the cynicism of our world, though screams were also form of renewable energy. Waternoose's solution was strip mining screams, leaving a trail of damaged or destroyed children and hastening the end. Sulley's discovery that children's laughter had far more power then their screams was something like the Monster World discovering fusion...near limitless energy that wasn't in the least diminished by our world's cynicism. That most of the Monsters' jobs got much more pleasant afterward was a very big bonus.

Fridge Horror

• The Scream Extractor becomes a great deal scarier when you imagine that it's not Mike or Fungus, but rather a kidnapped child strapped to a chair with a metal pipe descending on their mouth literally ripping their screams from their lungs. Keeping in mind that the targeted children mostly would not have even been old enough to fully talk yet! There's no telling how long Boo would have been kept in the machine, having the screams sucked out of her, and her life slowly drained away.
• Also, just think of what Boo's parents must have gone through when they went to wake up their little daughter the morning after she follows Sulley...
  • Alternatively, think of the many reasons why her parents wouldn't care that she was kidnapped.
• Remember when Boo's laughter activates all the doors in the vault? Now imagine yourself opening up your closet door, not realizing there's a portal open, and falling to your death.
  • Consider what might have happened during the 15-minute sequence where Mike, Sulley, Boo, and Randall are riding around in the vault. There are millions of doors, so it's likely that at least 20 people died in the above fashion, and that quite a few doors were discovered. Now imagine how much effort we would put into getting through one of those doors–and given the nature of what's through them, it's likely we'd come in all guns blazing.
• An in-universe example is the entire "Top Scarer" thing and the competition to earn that title earlier in the movie involving all the monsters going through many doors and whoever scares the most children is Top Scarer. Naturally, Sulley keeps his title. At one point, he even comes out of a door and simply says "slumber party", which boosts his points. This suggests that he scared an entire room full of children and it's Played for Laughs. Flashforward to later in the movie when Sulley accidentally scares Boo was his roar and "scary face" that he's forced to demonstrate. Boo's reaction is recoiling and sobbing in absolute terror. Then Sulley undergoes a Heel Realization of just how bad scaring has messed up a kid. That brings about the Fridge Horror; just how many kids has he left as scared and sad as Boo is now? Knowing that, even the "slumber party" moment becomes much Harsher in Hindsight.
• Early on, during a conversation between Cecila and Mike, she mentions she might get her hair cut. The thing is, her individual snake-hairs have eyes and brains of their own.
  • Made worse when you see them cringe in horror and shock at her announcement onscreen, then quite literally slump and sigh in relief when Mike told her he liked it the way it is.
    • This troper always assumed they would've grown back; it would've been painful, but by no means lethal.