Hogwarts Jr.

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2013)

Like most cartoon sequels, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (a follow-up to MONSTERS, INC.) plows more existing ruts than new territory. Helen Mirren is added to the cast as a counterpart for Hogwart's new principal (after Dumbledore was ousted in a Nazi coup), Dolores Umbridge. Apparently, Imelda Staunton--who played Umbridge in HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX--was unavailable to voice her MONSTERS clone, Dean Hardscrabble, so Queen Elizabeth II--I mean, Mirren, took over in her stead. This being aimed at a younger audience than the Potter series, the threat of expulsion is about as serious of a menace as Hardscrabble can pose; there are no monster hands dripping blood from compulsory writing assignments here. The final test of the monster decathlon smacks somewhat as a parallel to the climax of HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, as an ostensibly academic situation becomes a foray into the threatening adult world. Unlike in the Potter storyline, no students die for real here, however; everyone has a H.E.A.-type outcome.