Monsters University Becomes First Animation to Open SIFF

The computer-animated 3D comedy Monsters University will open this year\'s Shanghai International Film Festival, the first time in its 20-year history an animated film has launched the program.
The Shanghai screening of the Pixar Animation Studios production will be the film\'s world premiere.
Also on opening night, renowned actor Zheng Xu and famous TV host Jiong He – the Chinese voices of the film’s lead characters James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski - will walk the celebrity red carpet.
Monsters University is the prequel to the 2001 box office blockbuster Monsters, Inc. and traces the story back to the school days of James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski when the two enemies become friends through their adventures.
Pixar, a subsidiary of Disney, has redrawn the main characters to appear younger and more student-like. And the location and settings of Monsters University are based on the design of some of the world’s most prominent universities.
The film, produced in both traditional and 3D formats, will have its U.S. premiere on June 21. It will be released in China during the summer holiday.
SIFF Business Director Kan Yu said while it is the first animation to be chosen as opening film in SIFF’s 20-year history, the festival is not setting an international precedent. Up was chosen to open the Cannes film festival in 2009, he said.
Now that 3D films have become so popular worldwide, it is necessary that SIFF should keep up with the times, Kan added.
 Monsters University is sure to move audiences as well as make them laugh with its intriguing and creative representation of a story about friendship, he said.
Apart from Monsters University, Walt Disney Pictures will also present the new 3D edition of its classic Finding Nemo, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, and introduce the Pixar Short Film Series which includes 16 brilliant classic animated short films.
The 16th SIFF will be held from June 15-23.