The new Monsters University short film Party Central was originally going to make its theatrical debut with Pixar's The Good Dinosaur this summer, but with the feature pushed back to 2015, the movie will now be screening with Muppets Most Wanted - hitting theaters in late March. If the short were still coming during the blockbuster season we would probably have had to wait a few more months in order to get our first wide-released look at it, but fortunately that's no longer the case. Moviefone has premiered a brand-spanking new clip from the short, which you can watch above.
Directed by Kelsey Mann, a story supervisor on Monsters University, Party Central follows the nerdy brothers of Oozma Kappa as they try to throw a big on-campus shindig. Being as unpopular as they are, however, when the time comes for the event to start, nobody shows up. Fortunately, as you can see in the clip, Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman) have a plan to lure people in using the very special door system that allows monsters to enter into the human world.
While the release date is still a few weeks away, the short has actually been finished for a number of months now - and I know that because I've actually already seen it. A special screening of Party Central was held during the Walt Disney Animation/Pixar presentation at the D23 Expo last August, and without giving too much away I can tell you that you're all in for quite a treat. In addition to just being a clever expansion of the Monsters universe, the whole thing is packed with some really funny moments and clever gags. I can highly recommend looking for it when it hits theaters, plus you'll be able to stick around and watch Muppets Most Wanted!
In an interview earlier this year, Mann explained the impetus for the story actually came from a throwaway line in Monsters University that you probably didn't think about for more than a second after it was said:
"When you first meet the Oozma Kappas, they go to their fraternity house and the first thing they say is, ‘Welcome to party central! We haven’t thrown a party yet, but when we do we’ll be ready.' I kept telling [Monsters University director] Dan [Scanlon], ‘I really want to see their party. We have to do it in the credits or something.’ Then when the idea of doing a short came up, we were like, ‘That could be the party!’"
Look for Party Central attached to Muppets Most Wanted in theaters on March 21st!
