(October 21, 2001 - by digitalmediafx.com) Early press reviews of Monsters, Inc. are very positive, coming after analysts given a sneak peek of the film gave it high praise. Here are two quotes from early reviews from Film Critic and the Jacksonville Film Journal:

Jacksonville Film Journal (4 out of 5 stars): "...The latest offering from Pixar (the folks who brought us the Toy Story films and A Bug’s Life), shows more of the same ingenuity and amazing computer animation that the studio has become well known for in the last few years. Even though this is only their fourth feature length film, they are still apparently continuing their dedication to fully realized stories with lovable characters that don’t rely solely on the premise that their worlds are rendered entirely in CGI as plot. In fact, even though the worlds are impressively designed, the stories are so engrossing that one starts to forget that they are even watching an animated feature, allowing full immersion into the intriguing script without the distraction of 'Hey...look at how cool that CGI thing looks!'..."

Film Critic (4 out of 5 stars): "...But it's the sophistication of Monsters, Inc., like Toy Story and its sequel, that makes the film a standout over most animated fare. Sure, the secret lives of toys and bugs have already been explored to death, but Pixar keeps coming up with ways to keep the plot fresh..."