ⓒDISNEY/PIXAR
When Walt Disney’s Monsters, Inc. was first out 10 years ago, it was very popular. The idea that so-called monsters go into children’s bedrooms and scare them for profits, which are generated by gathering energy from children’s screaming, was brilliant. 10 years later, the prequel, not a sequel this time, is attempting to go beyond the previous sequel’s success. Monsters University portrays how Mike and Sulley have met and how they end up establishing Monsters, Inc. Mike had dreamed of becoming a professional monster to scare kids since he was young. He succeeds in entering the Monsters University he wanted. However, he was not born to look scary; in other words, he is not actually good at scaring (the job of gathering energy by making kids scream).
However, he is extremely intelligent, good at studying and proficient in theories. On the other hand, Sulley is completely opposite. He does not put any effort at all and relies on his nature that he was born with. It is natural for him because his parents are competent scaring monsters. So he is also good at scaring. He has a big body figure and a sonorous voice. So even though he yells out softly, kids easily get scared. When these two first met at the university, they could not become a duo easily. They have completely opposite characteristics and their styles are different. They hate each other, fight and fall out every day. Even in extreme situations where they must become a team and win to survive at the university, they do not understand each other and argue that their own ways are right. One day, they are given an opportunity to look back at themselves and get to understand that they have different strengths and weaknesses as they are different individuals. They finally use their strengths to overcome their difficulties.
It is the same in our world. Everyone is not the same and cannot be good at the same things. Let’s take a baseball game as an example. One who is good at throwing a ball can be a pitcher. A pitcher does not have to be good at hitting a ball. One who is good at hitting a ball can be a batter, and one who is good at defending needs to be good at defending only. As everyone has their own strengths, we do not need to make judgments about others, blame others, or argue with each other. When a team is made by combining people with different strengths, they can accomplish things that even seem impossible by joining forces together. Say that there are two teams – one is a team of ten people who believe that they are strong and the best, and another is a team of ten people who believes that they are not that good but they do their best in their strengths to contribute to the team. The outcome will be much better with the latter.
Although each one of the team’s members is superior to the other team’s members, it does not have any meaning if their teamwork is bad. For instance, it is easy to break a tree branch but difficult to break ten small branches together. If they complement each other’s weaknesses, try their best in their strengths and go with one voice, everything would be possible. That is coexistence. As a result, Mike and Sulley and their team members have become the best team at school and win the top place. Each one of the members might be weak, without talents and a complete wreck. However, when they join forces and gather their power, they can carry out enormous tasks. Mike’s talent is having an intelligent brain so he takes the role of a coach. Sulley’s talent is his voice of horrible terror so he takes the role as a brilliant scaring master. The duo establishes Monster, Inc. and become successful. This film gives us a big lesson.
Look around you now. Your coworkers around you can do what you cannot do and your coworkers are good at what you are not good at. If everyone cooperates, sets the goal and carries out roles they are assigned to, a good result will surely come along.
