Scaring up a great cast for ‘Monsters, Inc.’

Katherine Tolford

LA CRESCENTA -- Darla Anderson isn’t afraid of finding monsters under

her bed even though she spent the past four years creating a corporation

of them.

Anderson, who grew up in Glendale, is the producer of the new

Disney/Pixar 3-D animated film “Monsters, Inc.” The film, which opens

Friday, takes place in the fictional factory of Monsters, Inc., which

employs teams of monsters in all shapes and sizes to scare children and

harness the power from their screams.

The corporation’s top scare team, James P. Sullivan, or “Sulley” (John

Goodman), and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) experience a series of

misadventures as they cope with the difficulty of scaring a generation of

more sophisticated and skeptical children, including Boo (Mary Gibbs),

who breaks company rules and befriends them.

Unlike some of the jaded children of Monstropolis, Anderson said that

as a child, she was afraid of monsters hiding under her bed.

“I thought if I could get on the bed, I could talk myself into

thinking everything on the surface of the bed was safe. But if any finger

or limb went off the bed -- I wasn’t safe,” said the 42-year-old

Anderson.

Her inventive tendencies would be useful to her eventual career path

into 3-D animation.

After graduating from Crescenta Valley High School, she studied

environmental design in college and worked in a variety of positions for

film and television productions before joining Pixar in 1992 as an

executive producer.

“What I love about 3-D animation is that it doesn’t work out on paper.

We invent it as we go along. I love the challenges of that -- pushing

technology. I love the look of 3-D animation,” Anderson said.

One of the things the “Monsters” team invented was a better way to

depict fur and hair. The shadowing, density, lighting and movement of

Sulley’s fur and Boo’s hair is consistent with the real thing. The result

is the creation of softer, more realistic images that Anderson hopes will

help give these starring roles a definite sense of character.

“The lead characters are likable. They’ve got heart, but they’re

complex. They’ve got strengths and weaknesses. They’re fully fleshed-out

characters -- people will be able to relate to them on a lot of different

levels,” she said.

THE ANDERSON FILE

NAME: Darla Anderson, producer of Disney/Pixar films “Monsters, Inc.”

and “A Bug’s Life.” She was born in Glendale. She moved to La Crescenta

when she was 13 where she attended Crescenta Valley High School. She

lives in San Francisco near Pixar’s Emeryville headquarters.

AGE: 42.

ON WHAT MAKES A MONSTER SCARY: “I think Randall is probably the

scariest monster in ‘Monsters, Inc.’ because of his attitude. He’s not a

good guy. He has devious thoughts.”

WHAT SCARED HER AS A CHILD: The television show “Night Gallery” and

the Big Bad Wolf in the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.”

FAVORITE DISNEY CHARACTERS: Bambi and Thumper (she saw it at The Alex

Theatre). “While Bambi was a traumatic story, I was into critters. I

wasn’t into princesses -- I was more of a nature girl. I was a child of

the animal kingdom.”

HOBBIES: Going to the movies, dining out.