Party Central

Party Central is a 2013 computer animated short produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Kelsey Mann. It premiered on August 9, 2013 at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California[1] and was shown in theaters with Muppets Most Wanted on March 21, 2014. Party Central is the second short in the Monsters, Inc. franchise and is an epilogue to Monsters University.[2] The short involves Mike and Sulley helping their Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers make their party a success.

For political bodies also known as Party Centrals, see Central Committee.

Party Central
Poster for Party Central
Directed byKelsey Mann
Produced byLaurel Ladevich
Written byKelsey Mann
Story byAustin Madsion
Adrian Molina
Manny Hernandez
StarringBilly Crystal
John Goodman
Peter Sohn
Julia Sweeney
Charlie Day
Nathan Fillion
Dave Foley
Sean Hayes
Bobby Moynihan
Joel Murray
Colleen O'Shaughnessey
James Kevin Ward
Cristina Pucelli
Music byDieter Hartmann
Edited byTim Fox
Production
company
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
Running time
6 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Mike and Sulley are visiting Monsters University for the weekend to see how their Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers are doing. The group is throwing its first party, but no one has shown up. Fortunately, Mike and Sulley have a plan to liven up the house, to which using a borrowed door station, they sneak into a party at the Roar Omega Roar fraternity and steal all of its food and guests to fill the Oozma Kappa house. The supply runs take them through the closet doors of a married couple's bedroom, repeatedly disturbing their sleep.

Once they have the party fully stocked, Scott "Squishy" Squibbles' mother Sherri walks in on it while doing a load of laundry. She is angry with the fraternity, but only because they did not invite her. After lighting a bonfire on the lawn, Sherri introduces the crowd to "door jumping"/"door jamming", involving jumping from the roof with the help of two doors to land safely on the lawn.[3] The guests congratulate the Oozma Kappas for throwing a great party, and many of them decide to pledge the fraternity.

In a post-credits scene, the husband and wife wake their son Timmy up and ask if they can sleep with him, saying that there are monsters in their closet. Timmy vehemently replies, "That's what I've been trying to tell you!".

Voice cast
Main article: List of Monsters, Inc. characters

Production

According to the short's writer/director Kelsey Mann, "When you first meet the Oozma Kappas, they go to their fraternity house and the first thing they say is, 'Welcome to Party Central! We haven’t thrown a party yet, but when we do we’ll be ready,'... I kept telling [director] Dan [Scanlon], 'I really want to see their party. We have to do it in the credits or something.' Then when the idea of doing a short came up, we were like, 'That could be the party!'" The short took around eight months to make, to which the voices were recorded near end of production of Monsters University. Mann stated "We would do a couple of pickup lines with Billy Crystal and the other actors for the movie and then we’d get the stuff we needed for the short." Party Central was initially considered as a bonus feature for the Monsters University DVD, but the decision was later made to release the short theatrically.[5] It was originally scheduled to accompany the theatrical release of Pixar's The Good Dinosaur until the film was shifted from 2014 to 2015.[6]

Release

Party Central premiered on August 9, 2013 at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California and accompanied the theatrical release of Muppets Most Wanted on March 21, 2014.[5] Unlike the two feature-length Monsters, Inc. films (which are both rated G by the MPAA), Party Central received a PG rating from the MPAA for "some reckless behavior."[7] As a result, it is currently the first Pixar short to receive a PG rating from the MPAA to date (unlike all of the previously-released theatrical Pixar shorts, which were rated G by the MPAA) and also the second Disney animated short film to have been designated that rating, after 1990's Roller Coaster Rabbit.[8]

The short was released for streaming on March 22, 2012, on the Disney Movies Anywhere application for iPhone and iPad, and on the Disney Movies Anywhere website.[9]

Home media

Party Central was released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download as part of Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 3 on November 13, 2018.[10]

Critical reception

After being screened at the D23 Expo, BigScreen Animation noted "judging from Twitter, the response was tremendous."[11] Newsday said "It starts with a simple plot idea and escalates in classic comedy form."[12] Rotoscopers wrote "This short film was a cool, funny idea. Not a story. It was literally a sequence of jokes with no emotional core whatsoever."[13]

gollark: RFID is generally rather short-range, so no.
gollark: Computer vision is hard, RFID tags would be easier.
gollark: Google occasionally does good things for privacy, weirdly.
gollark: My own phone has WiFi drivers which apparently allow randomizing MAC address on every connection, thus good.
gollark: Although MAC randomization countermeasures are present in most mobile OSes now.

References
  1. Graser, Marc (August 9, 2013). "D23 Expo: Disney Fanfest Starts Off Strong with Animation Lineup". Variety. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. "The Story Behind the Story of Pixar's Party Central Short". Oh My Disney. January 22, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  3. "Door jamming", "door jumping" are used in different translations.
  4. "Just Released: First Look at Party Central Short". Oh My Disney. January 7, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  5. Rottenberg, Josh (January 7, 2014). "Disney to showcase new Pixar short 'Party Central' ahead of 'Muppets'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  6. Eisenberg, Eric (February 10, 2014). "Monsters University Short Film 'Party Central' Debuts Its First Clip". Cinema Blend. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  7. Brevet, Brad (January 21, 2014). "'Need for Speed', 'Blended', 'Enemy' and 'Party Central' in Today's MPAA Ratings Bulletin". Coming Soon. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  8. Gallagher, Brian (February 10, 2014). "Monsters University Short Party Central Clip and Photos". MovieWeb. WATCHR Media, Inc. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  9. Alter, Ethan (October 20, 2014). "Exclusive Clip: Mike and Sulley From 'Monsters University' Party Down in a New Short". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  10. Hunt, Bill (September 10, 2018). "Ant-Man and the Wasp, Incredibles 2, X-Men Trilogy, Pixar Short Films 3, Carpenter 4K, Sharp Objects, Space: 1999 & more". The Digital Bits. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  11. Bastoli, Mike (August 9, 2013). "D23 Expo Roundup: New Disney, Pixar Projects, Casting Announcements, and More". Big Screen Animation. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  12. Lovece, Frank (March 20, 2014). "'Muppets Most Wanted' review: Caper for 'Muppet Show' lovers". Newsday. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  13. Ruiz, Pablo (April 1, 2014). "'Party Central' Review". Rotoscopers. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
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