Urban Studies

Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of amber_h.

I'm fine with a Monsters, Inc. sequel.  But as one of the commenters on io9 says, I'd be much more excited by a sequel to The Incredibles.  I watched Monsters, Inc. (well, part of it) again last weekend with Jamelle and Tess, and one of the things that impressed me about it was the extent to which Pixar populated an essentially normal-looking urban center with a wide variety of critters.  The Incredibles also is a movie about a standard-looking metropolis that's secretly full of extraordinary people.  But the questions The Incredibles raise about how talented people fit into and alter society are wider-ranging (as well as questions of aging, romance, and Anna Wintour Parody), more deeply-explored, and I think ultimately more interesting than the way Monsters, Inc. explores how children are becoming more jaded at younger ages.  And the commentary on the superhero genre was simultaneously witty and useful.  I want to spend more time in that city, and on those issues.  Monstropolis is cute, but it's like a slightly scarier Sesame Street.  I'm familiar with it, I'll look back with nostalgia--but I don't feel an urgent need to revisit it any time soon.