I’m very nearly arriving at a place where I can’t do prequels anymore. It’s become apparent that Hollywood’s idea of prequelizing is two hours fitting a narrative into a status quo with which we’re already accustomed. It’s the reverse of character progression, as the story works to take what is slightly unfamiliar and work its way back to an all-too-familiar beginning. That said, I’m willing to make a few exceptions.

One of those exceptions is Monsters University, a film that sees Pixar revisiting the world of Monster’s Inc. It’s hard to hate on a kid’s film about monsters going to college to get jobs at the child-scaring factory. Most of the original cast is intact save for James Coburn, who’s traversing the afterlife currently. He’ll be replaced here by Kelsey Grammar as Monsters Inc. CEO Henry J. Waternoose III. And cast additions like JB Smoove and Ken Jeong have my interest piqued.

So enjoy this new character art from the film and hope that Monsters University bucks prequel conventions when it attempts to pay off some student loans on June 21, 2013:

Sad Shih Tzu Update: Art Removed at Disney’s Request