Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

Animated television seriesTemplate:SHORTDESC:Animated television series[[Category:**Script error: No such module "pagetype".** with short description]]**Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".****Expression error: Unexpected < operator.****Script error: No such module "SDcat".**

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## Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

### **Genre**

* Action
* Adventure
* Science fiction
* Comedy
* Superhero
* Space opera
* Fantasy

### **Created by**

Mark McCorkle
Bob Schooley

### **Based on**

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John Lasseter
Pete Docter
Andrew Stanton
Joe Ranft
```

### **Voices of**

Patrick Warburton
Stephen Furst
Larry Miller
Neil Flynn
Nicole Sullivan
Wayne Knight
Frank Welker
Adam Carolla
Diedrich Bader

### **No. of episodes**

62 (65, when counted with the Pilot Movie being split into three parts)

## Production

### **Executive Producer(s)**

Mark McCorkle
Bob Schooley
Tad Stones

### **Production company(s)**

Walt Disney Television Animation
Pixar Animation Studios (co-production)

## Broadcast

### **Audio format**

Stereo

***Buzz Lightyear of Star Command*** is an American animated science fiction action-adventure comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and co-produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It serves as a spin-off of the *Toy Story* franchise and presents a fictionalized account of the in-universe character Buzz Lightyear. The series was preceded by the direct-to-video film *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins*. and aired on UPN and ABC from October 2, 2000, to January 13, 2001, as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning and Disney's One Too programming blocks. While the series is 2D animated, Pixar animated the CGI opening title sequence at the beginning of each episode.

Developed by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, who would later create *Kim Possible* for Disney Channel, the series follows the adventures of Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear. The character first appeared as an action figure in the 1995 American computer-animated comedy film *Toy Story*, which features original voice actor Tim Allen in the role; Allen's friend Patrick Warburton voices the character in the television series. A video game of the same name based on the series was released in 2000. An unrelated CGI-animated feature film fully produced by Pixar, *Lightyear*, was released in 2022, serving as an origin story for the character, voiced by Chris Evans.

This was the last *Toy Story* production for nearly a decade until the release of *Toy Story 3* in 2010.

## Story

*Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* is set in the far future. Capital Planet is the forefront of the Galactic Alliance, a peaceful union of various planets, home to various alien species that coexist in harmony. Star Command is a peacekeeping organization consisting of Space Rangers, who investigate threats to galactic peace. The primary enemy of Star Command, as well as Buzz’s archenemy is the Evil Emperor Zurg, an intergalactic crime boss and warlord that rules Planet Z, with an empire of heavily armed robots and slave races forced to work in opposition to the Galactic Alliance.

The series features Buzz Lightyear, a famous and experienced Space Ranger who takes a crew of rookies under his wing as he investigates criminal activity across the galaxy and attempts to bring down Zurg’s evil plots to rule the universe.

## Characters

### Star Command

#### Team Lightyear

* **Captain Buzz Lightyear** (voiced by Patrick Warburton): Famed Space Ranger known for heroism and bravery and leader of Team Lightyear. Buzz often suggests that his archenemy Emperor Zurg is behind every evil plot and is often proven correct. Like his *Toy Story* incarnation, Buzz is a stickler for procedure, but will tell a cover story if he needs to. However, he has few people skills, and at times displays a lack of integrity. He attended PS- 193 (that's 6859) as a primary school. He wrote at least half of the regulations in the Star Command Manual. He also owns a house on Capital Planet, though as they all look alike and his duties often keep him away, he is confused over just which one is his. To compare this animation and the *Toy Story* films, the button between the red and blue ones is green in the *Toy Story* films and yellow in this animation with the releasing of strings when pressed. He seems to have a little crush on Dr. Ozma Furbanna and vice versa.
* **Princess Mira Nova** (voiced by Nicole Sullivan): A rookie ranger and heir to the Tangean throne. She utilizes her people's ability to phase through walls (called "ghosting") and read minds. Buzz has a tendency to refer to her as "Princess" when he's angry with her. She acts as Buzz's co-pilot and second-in-command. She has the most common sense of the team. Mira also has an estranged relationship with her father, King Nova, who disapproves of her choice of being a Space Ranger, though deep down she still cares about him. She has red hair and turquoise skin.
* **Booster Sinclair Munchapper** (voiced by Stephen Furst): A huge frog-like former janitor from the agricultural planet of Jo-ad (a play on the name of the Joad family, from John Steinbeck's *The Grapes of Wrath*). He has a big appetite and incredible strength, but is sweet and occasionally naive. He is in awe of Buzz Lightyear and has encyclopedic knowledge of his prior adventures.
* **XR** (voiced alternatively by Larry Miller

1. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
2. ↑ "**Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
3. ↑ In the episode "42" Buzz admits to Booster that he didn't lie to Commander Nebula by stating that he only told a cover story
4. ↑ Although he is seen at his house on several episodes."Tag Team
 and Neil Flynn

): A short robot that was originally emotionless and programmed to learn from Buzz, but was blown apart by Agent Z during his first mission. The LGMs rebuilt him, but the temporary loss of the Uni-Mind to Emperor Zurg left them off their game. They rebuilt XR with his slicker, more emotional personality and a variety of attachments. XR stands for Experimental Ranger. (The LGMs have stated that this is the official meaning of the name, though other characters on the show hold the erroneous belief that the X stands for Expendable.) He gets blown apart on nearly every mission he goes on, but is easily rebuilt. He considers Commander Nebula his father (due to him unintentionally signing the paperwork authorizing his creation) and is always seeking his approval.

#### Other personnel

* **Commander Nebula** (voiced by Adam Carolla): The Space Rangers' commander and Buzz's superior, whose left leg was replaced by a pegleg-like plasma cannon. Rather short-tempered and constantly speaks with a loud voice. He has a robotic desk that forces him to do his paperwork. He hates to do so, though, and therefore signs forms without looking at them. By doing so, he inadvertently authorized the creation of XR, which was included on a vacation request form filled by the LGMs.
* **LGMs**, or **Little Green Men** (voiced by Patrick Warburton): The LGMs are small, three-eyed aliens (originally appeared as squeeze toy aliens in the *Toy Story* movies). They are the intensely loyal backbone of Star Command, keeping the station running while inventing/maintaining all of the equipment. When one of their own is kidnapped, the other LGMs will instinctively try to rescue him by any means necessary. LGMs are typically in awe of Buzz. While they generally like the other Rangers, they may not be able to tell one from another. Several of their race are also shown to work for Santa Claus, acting as his toy builders.
* **Ty Parsec** (voiced by Steve Hytner): Ty is the infamous old comrade of Buzz Lightyear, who is fed up with Buzz always coming to his rescue. The Space Ranger was accidentally transformed into the robotic Wirewolf (equivalent of a werewolf) on the planet of Canis Lunis, after being bitten by the villain NOS-4-A2 while exposed to radioactive moonrock. Appeared in two episodes, with a cameo appearance in the episode "War, Peace, and War". He is ultimately cured and reinstated as a Space Ranger.
* **Rocket Crocket** (voiced by Phil LaMarr): Member of Star Command and leader of Team Rocket. He has been Buzz's rival since their academy days.
* **Fop Doppler** (voiced by Rob Paulsen): A Tangean like Mira, he joined as a challenge to win her hand in marriage, but it was called off after he expressed his enjoyment of being a ranger right after helping foil Lord Angstrom's attempt to overthrow King Nova.
* **Petra Hammerhold** (voiced by Nikki Cox): Senator Hammerhold's daughter. She joined Star Command when her father forced her to do so (largely to keep her from her boyfriend Plasma Boy). She was initially resentful of this, but was moved by Buzz's heroism during a crisis.
* **Plasma Boy** (voiced by Michael Showalter): Petra's boyfriend, who has a Plasma Monster form. Booster competed against him for Petra's affection. When Mira and XR fired a laser at his Plasma Monster form, he destabilized enough to the brink of explosion. He was prevented from explosion when Booster used his suit and Ion Stabilization Matrix on him. He's now a member of Star Command.
* **42** (voiced by Joy Behar): Usually the name of Buzz Lightyear's ship, it gained A.I. from one of the encounters with the Valkyran Raiders and a new energy projector device inserted on the ship by the LGMs. 42 doesn't like what Buzz says about her and usually controls the ship herself. XR developed a crush on her. When the Valkyran Raiders were thwarted, 42's consciousness was placed into a robot body and she now helps the LGMs.

### Villains

* **Evil Emperor Zurg** (voiced by Wayne Knight): Main antagonist of the series and Buzz’s archenemy. Rules an empire on Planet Z, and wants to rule the entire universe while destroying Star Command. Zurg often takes any opportunity to eliminate Buzz. Most of his subjects are robots. His feet double as rockets and he can transform his arms into a variety of weapons. Despite often breaking the seriousness of otherwise purely evil statements, Zurg is widely considered the most evil person in the galaxy, especially by the other villains. He seems to have some neuroses about being touched. In some episodes is shown being sinister. The episode *War, and Peace and War* was notably the only episode where Zurg teamed up with Buzz Lightyear to defeat the Heed, a common enemy that was trying to take over their galaxy. In *Stranger Invasion*, he claimed to be Buzz's father (a parody upon *The Empire Strikes Back* and a nearly identical scene in *Toy Story 2*), but quickly took it back, using the statement as a 'Made You Look' in order to stun and deceive Buzz and gain the upper hand.
	+ **Grubs** (voiced by Frank Welker): Zurg's equivalents to the LGMs of Star Command (though far less competent). They perform mechanical and technical duties. The Grubs work for Zurg against their will and also desire freedom, but many of them are simply too afraid to try to defect.
	+ **Brain Pods** (Various Voices for each one): Cybernetic brains in mobile jars, who serve Zurg as scientists and researchers. Although they take pride in their creations, they secretly harbor a desire to escape from Zurg's control. (Two of which are shown succeeding in doing so on-screen.)
	+ **Hornets**: The Hornets are Zurg's robotic foot soldiers, extremely expendable, lousy shots and always get vaporized in mass numbers by Lightyear's team. Hornets come in different models, but the most frequently seen are yellow and of average height.
* **Warp Darkmatter** (voiced by Diedrich Bader) was once Buzz's partner and best friend, but he had been secretly working for Zurg since his academy days as a double agent and also betrayed Star Command. He eventually began working for him full-time as "Agent Z." His right arm is robotic (with various weapon attachments) and was grafted to his body after becoming Agent Z. Warp often takes on assignments for Zurg and is paid quite handsomely. (He owns a moon and a summer home.) Though Buzz has vowed to bring him in for treason, he retains some hope that there is still some good in him.
* **Evil Buzz Lightyear** (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is the evil counterpart of Buzz from an alternate universe where he is an evil emperor instead of Zurg due to the fact that Zurg in the alternate universe apparently didn’t have what it took to be the ultimate evil (Zurg now works as a server at Cosmo’s Diner) and has destroyed Star Command along with various other planets and the Galactic Alliance. The Evil Buzz looks exactly like Buzz Lightyear, except having facial hair and wearing armour similar to Emperor Zurg, but with pants and without a cape, and the letter L in the center of his chest instead of the letter Z. He appears to be more dangerous and evil than Emperor Zurg but despite being intimidated, Emperor Zurg teams up with the Evil Buzz to eliminate Buzz Lightyear and Star Command in the original universe but was thwarted by Buzz with the help of the alternate counterparts of Booster, Mira, XR and Nebula. Evil Buzz escapes and later teams up and falls in love with Gravitina.
* **Gravitina** (voiced by Kerri Kenney-Silver): A large-headed female villain with mental control over gravity. One of Zurg's allies and once hired to destroy Star Command. She's in love with Buzz and later his evil counterpart.
* **<templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />NOS-4-A2** (voiced by Craig Ferguson): NOS-4-A2 is a robotic vampire created by Zurg. He is capable of draining any system or entity driven by electrical power, as well as controlling any machine he bites. His bite (in combination with radioactive moonrock) also transformed Ty Parsec into Wirewolf. Using Wirewolf and XL, he briefly usurped control of Planet Z from Zurg and attempted to transform everyone in the galaxy into robots for him to feed on, but was defeated and destroyed by Buzz, XR, Wirewolf and a reformed XL. His name is a pun on the term Nosferatu.
* **Torque** (voiced by Brad Garrett): Minor alien villain who committed crimes of terrorism, smuggling, arson, and unpaid parking tickets. After being freed from a prison transport by Zurg's Hornets, the Grubs implanted a cell-separation device upon his chest. Torque then possesses the ability to create duplicate versions of himself. They are unstable, however, as a single laser blast is enough to destroy them. In "The Taking of PC-7", he tried to turn Booster evil (and later Buzz) with a memory-altering device built by the Warden of PC-7. The same device also made Torque (temporarily at least) a heroic good guy. Torque rides a motorcycle-shaped spacecraft and his duplication abilities seem to be a reference to the character Lobo (who was also voiced by Brad Garrett in his DCAU appearances).
* **XL** (voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait): XR's predecessor (and technically older brother), who was shut down due to his villainous attitude. When he was reactivated by Zurg, XL rebuilt himself into a larger, more powerful robot with cutting edge (and stolen) robot parts. His head is red, whereas XR's is yellow. He infiltrates Star Command numerous times because its command codes are in his head. Like XR, he considers Commander Nebula his father, though he resents him for shutting him down. He later redeems himself and is converted into an office managing robot capable of photocopying, collating, and other office related functions, but is never seen for the rest of the series afterwards. His name is a pun referring to his size (extra large).
* **Wirewolf** (voiced by Steve Hytner): A Space Ranger (Ty Parsec; see above) who patrolled the planet Canis Lunis until an attack from NOS-4-A2. While Ty was in combat with the energy vampire, NOS-4-A2, flew himself and Ty up into the beam, which gave power to the planet from the moon's radioactive energy, and bit into Ty's skin. After NOS-4-A2 fled, Ty started to mutate into some sort of electronic canine, later given the title of "Wirewolf." Having discovered that this transformation only happens in the light of the Canis Lunis moon, Buzz told Booster to destroy the moon. Once the moon was destroyed, Team Lightyear believed that the Wirewolf was finished until NOS-4-A2 gave Ty a Canis Lunis moonrock. When NOS-4-A2 was destroyed, Ty was turned back to normal, ending the curse of the Wirewolf.

### Galactic Alliance

* **Madam President** (voiced by Roz Ryan): Head of the Galactic Alliance. Her real name is unknown.
* **Senator Aarrfvox** (voiced by Jim Cummings): A Shragorakian senator.
* **Senator Banda** (voiced by Dan Castellaneta): A Bathyosian senator.
* **Senator Hammerhold** (voiced by Corey Burton): Petra Hammerhold's father.
* **Senator Phlegmex** (voiced by Frank Welker): A slime-emitting senator.

### Other characters

* **Becky** (voiced by Russi Taylor): A little alien girl from the planet Roswell. She befriended Booster (whom she calls Pickles) when Team Lightyear's ship crashed on her planet.
* **Brent Starkisser** (voiced by Corey Burton): The Galaxy's reporter.
* **Cosmo** (voiced by Paul Rugg): An alien that owns and runs the diner that Team Lightyear eats at. He has a mechanical arm as well as a foreign accent.
* **Dr. Animus** (voiced by Tony Jay): The Galaxy's therapist.
* **Dr. Ozma Furbanna** (voiced by Linda Hamilton): Lead (and only) naturalist on planet Karn. She favors all animals (even the lethal carnivores) and hates to have them hurt, no matter what. Has a crush on Buzz (won't admit it, though), and vice versa. Zurg once used her help to hatch the Millennial Bugs (entirely ticklish) where Zurg used them on Capital Planet.
* **Ed** (voiced by Paul Rugg): A courier who somehow always knows how to track down Buzz Lightyear.
* **Officer Panchex** (voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray): A fish policeman who helped Buzz Lightyear fight Minister Gularis.
* **Professor Triffid** (voiced by Joel Murray): A scientist from Rhizome. He cares a lot for the plants there.
* **Savy SL2** (voiced by Cree Summer): Her adopted robot parents were attacked by NOS-4-A2 in *The Slayer*, which lead her to hunting him down for revenge.
* **Sheriff of Roswell** (voiced by Stephen Root): Becky's father and ally of Team Lightyear.
* **King Nova** (voiced by John O'Hurley): Mira's father and the ruler of Tangea. Being more tradition bound he clearly disapproves of his daughter being a Space Ranger and therefore has a complicated relationship with her as well as Buzz. But regardless of his pompous nature he still cares about his daughter and also came to her aid when she had developed a power addiction and helped her get over it, though he almost got his wish of getting his daughter back in this instance had Buzz not saved her career through a cover story.
* **Santa Claus** (voiced by Earl Boen): The holiday figure, who delivers presents to all the good people in the galaxy during the Holiday. He previously used a sleigh powered by belief and later time manipulation to accomplish this massive task. Zurg stole his time manipulation device to destroy the Holiday for everyone, prompting Santa to seek Team Lightyear's help.
* **The Fixer** (voiced by Ed Asner): A character from Trade World. He sells robotic parts to people around Trade World, and once tricked XR into delivering a package to XL.
* **Crumford Lorak** (voiced by Jon Favreau): A conman, informant and criminal commonly seen on Trade World. When this guy gets the chance, he always tricks or turns on the first ranger he sees.
* **Rentwhistle Swack** (voiced by French Stewart): An unscrupulous conman who will do anything for money.

1. ↑ In "Good Ol' Buzz", an LGM mistakenly refers to Mira as "Booster". Upon being corrected, he says the Rangers all look the same to them.

## Episodes

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## Broadcast and syndication

The series was aired during UPN's Disney's One Too programming block from October 2000 to August 2003. One episode, "Super Nova", only aired twice during its original run. It also aired on Disney Channel from June 5, 2006, to May 16, 2008, when it was taken off the air in the U.S.. Two episodes, "Conspiracy" and "Inside Job", were rarely seen after 2001. The show also aired on Toon Disney from 2003 to 2007 as well as on the network's Jetix block for a brief time in 2004. As of 2022, Disney doesn’t plan on releasing the show on Disney+.

## Awards and nominations

* **Daytime Emmy Awards**

2001 – *Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class* – Jennifer Mertens, Paca Thomas, Otis Van Osten, Rick Hammel, Eric Hertsguaard, Robbi Smith, Brian F. Mars, Marc S. Perlman, and Dominick Certo (won)
## Video game

A video game titled *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Activision, and released for PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows, and Dreamcast in 2000. The gameplay revolves around Buzz chasing down the various villains from the show, and defeating them using different color coded weapons.

## External links

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## Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

### **Genre**

* Comedy
* Fantasy

### **Based on**

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### **Voices of**

* Billy Crystal
* John Goodman
* Ben Feldman
* Mindy Kaling
* Henry Winkler
* Lucas Neff
* Alanna Ubach

## Production

### **Executive Producer(s)**

* Bobs Gannaway (season 1)
* Kevin Deters (season 2)

### **Producer(s)**

* Sean Lurie
* Ferrell Barron

## Broadcast

### **Last aired**

present

***Monsters and Animals and Aliens and Dinosaurs and Clown Monster Beasts and Jaw Monsters and Sea Monster-Like Animals and Martians and Beasts and Dragons and Sea Monsters and Creatures and Demons and Croodaceous Creatures and Hybrids and Dragon Hybrids and Demon Dragons and Alebrijes and Imaginary Animals and Monster-Like Animals and Demon Animals at Work***  is an American computer-animated streaming television series that debuted on Disney+ on July 7, 2021, as part of the *Monsters, Inc.* media franchise.

A direct continuation of the original 2001 film, it features the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprising their roles as Mike Wazowski and James P. "Sulley" Sullivan from the original film and the 2013 prequel *Monsters University*; several other voice actors from the films reprise their roles as guests. A second season was announced and is set for release in 2023.

## Premise

*Monsters and Animals Dinosaurs and Aliens and Clown Monster Beasts and Jaw Monsters and Sea Monster-Like Animals and Martians and Beasts and Dragons and Sea Monsters and Creatures and Demons and Croodaceous Creatures and Hybrids and Dragon Hybrids and Demon Dragons and Alebrijes and Imaginary Animals and Monster-Like Animals and Demon Animals at Work* begins the day after Henry J. Waternoose III's arrest, with the Monsters, Incorporated factory making the transition to laugh power. Tylor Tuskmon, a recent Scare Major graduate from Monsters University, having previously received a letter of acceptance from Waternoose to be a scarer at the factory, is excited to work at the same company as his idol Sulley. However, Tylor is devastated to learn that the company is no longer in need of scarers, and he is reassigned to work as a mechanic on the Monsters Inc. Facilities Team (MIFT). Meanwhile, Mike and Sulley encounter the trials and tribulations of running the company.

## Cast and characters

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### Main

* Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski: The self-appointed Senior Co-president of *Monsters, Incorporated* and Chief Executive Vice-Deputy Administrative Director of Comedy Resources Management, and Sulley's best friend. He is also a top jokester and was Tylor's teacher in comedy during season one.
* John Goodman as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan: The CEO of *Monsters, Incorporated* and Mike's best friend.
* Ben Feldman as Tylor Tuskmon: A scare graduate from Monsters University who was reassigned to the *Monsters, Incorporated* Facilities Team. During season one he took part-time classes to be a jokester.
* Mindy Kaling as Val Little: Tylor's acquaintance from Monsters University who shared a class with him during their freshman year before she dropped out. She is an enthusiastic mechanic. As season one progressed, she and Tylor become friends.
* Henry Winkler as Fritz: The friendly and scatterbrained one-eyed Tapir-nosed boss of the facilities team.
* Lucas Neff as Duncan P. Anderson: A cunning, self-centered winged four-eyed plumber who is obsessed with getting Fritz's job, and has a one-sided rivalry with Tylor.
	+ Neff also voices a human father in "The Damaged Room" and Richard, a small winged monster in "Little Monsters".
* Alanna Ubach as Katherine "Cutter" Sterns: the officious crab-like rule follower.
	+ Ubach also voices several minor characters, such as Carla "Killer Claws" Benitez, "Roaring" Rosie Levin, a human mother in "The Damaged Room", and the narrator of the orientation film in "Welcome to Monsters, Incorporated".

### Recurring

* Bonnie Hunt as Ms. Flint: A monster who runs the simulation room at *Monsters, Incorporated*.
* Curtis Armstrong as Mr. Crummyham: A monster with Gecko-like abilities who is a supervisor at *Monsters, Incorporated*.
* Jennifer Tilly as Celia Mae: Mike's one-eyed and snake-haired girlfriend who has been promoted from *Monsters Incorporated* receptionist to Laugh Floor supervisor.
* Bob Peterson as Roz: The leader of the Child Detection Agency who previously was undercover as a secretary at *Monsters, Incorporated*.
	+ Peterson also voices a monster who shares his name, as well as Roze, Roz's twin sister who takes over Roz's old job.
* Stephen Stanton as Needleman and Smitty: Two workers of *Monsters, Incorporated* that operate the Door Shredder. They were originally voiced by Dan Gerson in the film.
	+ Stanton also voices George Sanderson, a scarer who was the victim of the code "23-19", a role played in the original film by Sam Black.
* Christopher Swindle as Jeff Fungus and Thaddeus "Phlegm" Bile, roles played in the original film by Frank Oz and Jeff Pidgeon, respectively.
	+ Swindle also voices several minor characters such as Theodore "Ted" Pauley and Chuck, roles played in the original film by Katherine Ringgold and Danny Mann, respectively.

Other cast members include Bobs Gannaway as Otis, the *Monsters, Incorporated* receptionist, and Roto, Duncan's pet, Gabriel Iglesias as Gary Gibbs, Mike Wazowski's arch-nemesis who appears in "The Big Wazowskis" and "Bad Hair Day", and Dee Bradley Baker as Winchester: the non-verbal member of the *Monsters, Incorporated* Facilities Team, nicknamed "Banana Bread".

Alfred Molina reprises his role as Professor Derek Knight from *Monsters University* (2013) in "Welcome to Monsters, Incorporated". John Ratzenberger reprises his role as Adorable from the original film and *Monsters University* in "Adorable Returns" and "Little Monsters". Ratzenberger also voices Tylor's father, Bernard, who appears in "Adorable Returns".

Aisha Tyler guest stars in "Meet Mift" as Tylor's mother, Millie and John Michael Higgins guest stars as Argus Blinks in "The Cover Up". Bob Uecker guest stars in "The Damaged Room", as a parody of himself named Bob Yucker. Gannaway's daughter, Hadley, guest stars in "Little Monsters" as Ms. Flint's daughter, Thalia. In addition, Devin Bright, Cooper Friedman, Lucian Perez, and Isabella Abiera voice monster children in "Little Monsters".

Additional monster voices include Carlos Alazraqui, Ferrell Barron, Hiromi Dames, Michaela Dietz, and Dave Wittenberg.

## Episodes

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## Production

### Development

During The Walt Disney Company's earnings call, in November 2017, CEO Bob Iger announced that a new series set in the universe of *Monsters, Inc.*, was in development for their planned streaming service Disney+. The series is produced by Disney Television Animation. Longtime Disney Television producer Bobs Gannaway served as showrunner for the first season. He was asked to work on the series after development began, due to his experience on both TV animation and films, having directed the *Cars* spin-off *Planes: Fire & Rescue*.

During the 2019 D23 Expo, Gannaway and producer Ferrell Barron revealed that employees from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar were also involved in the production, to create a series that Barron described as "unique and special". *Monsters, Inc.* filmmakers, including director and Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter, provided the team with both used and unused concept art from the film, with the unused concept art being recycled for the series. Gannaway stated that the creative leaders at Pixar were, "very supportive of the show" and additionally stated, "they were also very much like 'Go out and create new characters and have fun.' So, it wasn't by any means any kind of policing situation. It was go have fun in the world with your new characters."

In February 2020, Stephen J. Anderson revealed that he would serve as one of the directors on the series. Anderson joined the series eight months before Disney Television Animation was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after being approached personally by Gannaway. In early 2021, Billy Crystal revealed that production had slightly slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it should be released later that year.

In September 2021, cast member Henry Winkler indicated that a second season is in development. The second season was officially announced at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022, with Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers (the *Prep & Landing* shorts, *Olaf's Frozen Adventure*) replacing Gannaway and Anderson as showrunner and supervising director, respectively.

### Writing

According to Anderson, Pixar assisted the producers on the series by providing notes during its writing and early storyboarding process in order to "keep [them] on track as far as the legacy of the project". He also said that the series would differ from the films by further exploring "different areas of Monsters, Inc.", and that the series would further explore the transition in the company from screams to laughs seen at the end of the first film. Anderson also said that the series would feature an overarching story, but certain episodes would focus more on character development than the overall arc.

The series expands the role of the female characters in the original film, with receptionist Celia Mae being promoted to Laugh Floor supervisor in order to "move a female character up into a leadership role", as well as featuring trainer Ms. Flint's reaction to the transition from scares to laughter. The series also features a new character named Roze, who is Roz's twin sister, as the producers felt that, due to the latter being revealed as the head of the "Child Detection Agency" at the end of the first film, "she wouldn't be back outside the laugh floor". In addition, Bob Peterson, story supervisor on *Monsters, Inc.*, serves as a creative consultant for the series.

According to Gannaway, it took the producers almost a year to conceive the series' premise. He also compared Tylor's struggles with the transition with the current world status due to the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling that both the character and the audiences had "the universe [throw them] a curveball", which he felt made Tylor a more relatable character by having flaws the audience could connect with. Gannaway also said he wanted the series to have "the sort of feel of a Pixar story" by making the audience care about Tylor and his personal journey.

Gannaway was originally not going to include the characters of Smitty and Needleman out of respect for their voice actor, the late Dan Gerson. However, he eventually incorporated them into the series when he felt Gerson would want the characters to continue even after his death. Gannaway paid an homage to Gerson by including a "Gerson Industries" logo in the trash cans the duo push.

In order to get a sense of what it was like working in a factory, the production team visited two power plants and would interview the workers about their day. Gannaway stated, "You want to tether everything to truth. You can't make a movie about a power plant if you haven't walked one; otherwise you're just making stuff up."

### Casting and recording

John Goodman and Billy Crystal reprise their roles for the series alongside John Ratzenberger, Jennifer Tilly, and Bob Peterson, with the new cast including Ben Feldman, Kelly Marie Tran, Henry Winkler, Lucas Neff, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Stanton and Aisha Tyler. In February 2020, director Stephen J. Anderson revealed that recording for the series had already begun. In March 2021, Mindy Kaling and Bonnie Hunt joined the cast, with Kaling replacing Tran as Val Little and Hunt reprising her role as Mrs. Flint from the original film. In an interview with *The New York Times*, it was confirmed that Boo, the human child that Sulley and Mike befriended in the original film, would not be making an appearance. Bobs Gannaway stated that he had discussions with *Monsters, Inc.* director Pete Docter, and they both agreed that they wanted to keep the relationship ambiguous, with Gannaway stating, "Everyone agreed that we wanted to leave it to the world to decide how that relationship continued."

### Animation and design

Animation for the series was produced by ICON Creative Studio, in Canada. Animation work on the series began shortly before Disney Television Animation was closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the producers to continue work remotely. According to director Stephen J. Anderson, work on storyboards and layouts for the second and third episodes were done remotely during the pandemic.

### Music

British composer Dominic Lewis (who previously scored the 2017 reboot of *DuckTales*) was announced as the series composer. Lewis said the score was mainly inspired by Randy Newman's jazzy score from the first film. Lewis also performed the theme song, which is an a cappella rendition of Newman's opening credits music from the first film. The soundtrack album was released digitally and on streaming on July 9, 2021.

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#### Track listing

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## Marketing

A teaser trailer for the series was released on May 18, 2021. The first trailer for the series was released on June 11, 2021.

## Release

*Monsters at Work* debuted on July 7, 2021, releasing weekly on Wednesdays, and consists of 10 episodes. It was previously set to release sometime in 2020, but then changed to early 2021, then to July 2, 2021, then finally to its current date, with a two-episode premiere. The series will make its linear premiere on Disney Channel on January 6, 2023.

## Reception

### Audience viewership

According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, *Monsters at Work* was the 3rd most anticipated new television series of July 2021. According to Whip Media, *Monsters at Work* was the top rising show, based on the week-over-week growth in episodes watched for a specific program, during the week of July 11, 2022.

### Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 65% approval rating with an average score of 6.20/10 based on 26 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "If *Monsters at Work* doesn't quite capture the magic of the original film, it's charming and silly enough to entertain fans of all ages." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Petrana Radulovic of *Polygon* praised the animation of the series, complimented its humor, and found the premise interesting, writing, "With a huge cast of characters and humor that waddles along the line between silliness and sharp societal commentary, *Monsters at Work* balances a whole lot." Brian Lowry of *CNN* gave the show a positive review and said, "The show doesn't deliver belly laughs, but it nimbly slides into the Monsters [Inc.] timeline and cleverly builds on a particularly fertile Pixar concept." Ashley Moulton of *Common Sense Media* rated the series 4 out of 5 stars, praised the depiction of positive messages, citing perseverance and acceptance, and complimented the presence of role models, saying, "Most characters model pro-social behaviors like friendliness and working hard." Alan Sepinwall of *Rolling Stone* rated the show 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Combine them with some well-executed slapstick set pieces that evoke the two movies without feeling like rehashes, and the early episodes set up the foundation for a solid all-ages comedy." Ben Travers of *Indiewire* gave the show a 'B−' score and stated, "If you love original movies and were expecting a third, *Monsters at Work* might be a bit disappointing. But if you can still appreciate the world-building, [the] series might still hit its laugh quotas." Richard Roeper of *Chicago Sun-Times* gave the show 3 out of 4 and stated, "*Monsters at Work* isn't on the same level as the two feature films, but it's miles ahead of the likes of *The Return of Jafar* or *Kronk's New Groove*."

Scott Bryan of *BBC* gave the show a negative review and stated, "As someone who loves the films, I wonder ... do we need more of it? The films are so well self-contained. This feels like an excess of something we don't really need." Chris Vognar of *San Francisco Chronicle* rated the show 2 out of 4 and wrote, "This is a solid effort, even if it doesn't quite shimmer like your top-of-the-line Pixar favorites." Brian Tallerico of *RogerEbert.com* gave the show a negative review and stated, "Any hope that the Pixar charm would rub off on a Pixar show like *Monsters at Work* doesn't pay off in the first two episodes." Lucy Mangan of *The Guardian* gave the show 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "It feels like a long wait at times. The first two half-hour episodes (the only ones of the 10 that were available for review) are extraordinarily slow." Anita Singh of *The Daily Telegraph* gave the show 2 out of 5 and stated, "Bafflingly, it's a workplace comedy. Note to Disney: children don't go to work."

## Notes

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14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Interview: Director Stephen Anderson Talks *Monsters at Work*, Upcoming Book, and More (Exclusive)
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56. ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/2022/12/natas-announces-individual-achievement-in-animation-winners-for-1st-childrens-family-emmys/

## External links

* Production website
* Template:Disney+ series
* **Script error: No such module "String".**/ ***Script error: No such module "String".*** at IMDb**Script error: No such module "EditAtWikidata".**

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