Billy Crystal and we at Hypable firmly believe that all college kids will love Monsters University because “it’s them,” as the legendary actor bluntly puts it.

In Monsters University, we see Mike and Sulley entering adulthood and making difficult choices that will define their lives. It’s a common experience all young adults around the two monsters’ age go through.

While speaking with Hypable during the film’s press day, Crystal and co-star John Goodman recalled how they screened Monsters, Inc. in 2001 for 6 to 7 year olds who had lost parents for various reasons. “They kept [bringing in kids for these screenings] – round the clock. We would go out and introduce the movie and so on.”

Those kids are now the same age that Mike and Sulley are in University. “I was at USC a couple weeks ago, and we screened the movie for about 400 film students,” said Crystal. “They went berserk because it’s them. It’s them. They’re making decisions in their lives, like Mike and Sulley are in this.”

“[Mike and Sulley] are – they’re very important characters to [young adults] – to students – and now to little kids. It’s really interesting, of all the things I’ve been fortunate to do, that this guy, Mike, is my favorite character I’ve ever done, but he also has a toe-hold – a claw-hold in people that they mean something to them.”

We have similar thoughts on the film that we’ll be able to share closer to the release. Monsters University opens on June 21.

More from our time with Billy Crystal and John Goodman…
– ‘Monsters University’ stars John Goodman and Billy Crystal admit they were misfits
– John Goodman, Billy Crystal reveal how they created Mike and Sulley’s ‘Monster’ chemistry