Daily Dialogue — June 1, 2016

“Scariness is the true measure of a monster. If you’re not scary, what kind of a monster are you? It’s my job to make great students greater, not make mediocre students less mediocre. That is why at the end of the semester there will be a final exam. Fail that exam, and you are out of the scaring program. (Crowd reacts.) So, I should hope you’re all properly inspired.”

— Monsters University (2013), screenplay by Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird and Dan Scanlon, story by Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson and Robert L. Baird

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Teacher. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: As the students enter the School of Scaring building, they all touch the front paw of the statue in front of the building. This is a reference to a tradition at Harvard University where students touch the left foot of the statue of John Harvard for good luck. As a result, the foot of the statue of Harvard is shiny and polished down. The animators included that onto the statue in the movie as well.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “ Just prior to Dean Hardscrabble’s address, Professor Knight invited her to give a “few words of inspiration” at the start of the first day of scaring class. In her short speech, she both sets the stakes for the story and starts the countdown timer. Through both where she looks, and the camera’s POV that returns to Mike, we know exactly who she believes is going to wash out of the program. The story’s prologue established that being a professional scarer is Mike’s lifelong dream. This is the key scene that sets Mike’s motivation to overcome the obstacles that threaten to keep him from graduation, whether Sully’s arrogance or the less-than-stellar attitudes of the members of Oozma Kappa.”

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