D23 Expo 2011- The Characters of Monsters University

At this year's D23 Expo, my fiance and I were able to attend the presentation, The Characters of Monsters University.  The presentation was led by the director Dan Scanlon and production designer Ricky Nierva.  They were both very enthusiastic about their upcoming film and shared several photos of different versions of Mike and Sulley that were designed before the Mike and Sulley we all know and love were decided on.  Here are some of the photos they shared with us!

Sketch of Mike and Sulley

An earlier drawing of Sulley

Another early drawing of Sulley and of Boo

Early drawing of Mike

After going over the different possibilties for Mike and Sulley before Monsters Inc. they discussed the challenge of Monsters University- how to make Mike and Sulley look 18 years old?  Monsters University is a prequel to Monsters Inc. where we get to see how Mike and Sulley's friendship is formed.  So to make them look younger, they went through several ideas and possibilities for their new look.
Here are a couple of the photos they showed us of different versions of Mike and Sulley they created as they were trying to figure out how their younger versions will look:

Then they showed us the finished product!  Here is Mike when he's 18!  There are subtle differences that are hard to see in the photo but he has a retainer, less spots, thinner, and overall has a younger look.

Older Mike next to younger Mike:

Close up of younger Mike:

Here is younger Sulley!  Again subtle differences- his hair, horns are shorter, and he's thinner.

Older Sully next to younger Sulley:

Younger Mike and younger Sulley together:

Overall this was a very fun part of D23 for me!  I love Mike and Sulley and am really looking forward to seeing them again on the big screen!