OVERLAY REPORT

In the 2013 film *Monsters University*, several scenes and character interactions were either fully improvised or significantly shaped by the actors' ad-libs. This was facilitated by director Dan Scanlon's decision to have key actors record their lines together in the same booth—a rarity in animation that allows for natural riffing and comedic timing. The following are specific scenes and lines that were improvised or ad-libbed: ### **1. Terry and Terri’s Introduction** Director Dan Scanlon explicitly confirmed that the scene where the two-headed monster **Terry and Terri Perry** (voiced by **Dave Foley** and **Sean Hayes**) introduce themselves to Mike and Sulley was largely improvised. * **The "Dance Major" Line:** When they introduce themselves as being in the "dance major" program, that specific detail was an improvisation by Foley and Hayes. * **"I'm His Prisoner":** During their various takes for the introduction, Sean Hayes (Terri) ad-libbed the line, *"I'm his prisoner,"* which was one of several variations the actors played with to establish their bickering sibling dynamic. ### **2. Art’s "Weird" Dialogue (Charlie Day)** The character **Art**, a New Age philosophy major, was intentionally designed to be an enigma. Charlie Day was given significant freedom to experiment with the character’s "inner weirdness." * **Character Development:** Scanlon noted that Art was a "terrible example of character design" because he had no clear purpose or personality in the early script. He became the character we see on screen because Charlie Day would try "things that were just so funny and so weird." * **Specific Ad-libs:** While many of his iconic lines (like *"I can't go back to jail!"*) were part of the collaborative process, the specific "frantic energy" and random non-sequiturs Art delivers throughout the film were often refined or created by Day during recording sessions. ### **3. Chet Alexander’s "Oh Snap" (Bobby Moynihan)** In the recording sessions for **Chet**, the obnoxious vice president of the Roar Omega Roar (ROR) fraternity, Bobby Moynihan worked with the director to find the most "hateable" persona. * **The "Oh Snap" Scene:** During the scene where Mike and Sulley are being mocked by the RORs, the director encouraged Moynihan to be as annoying as possible. This led to the iconic **"Oh snap!"** line, which Moynihan delivered in multiple variations until they found the one that sounded the most "snappy" and obnoxious. ### **4. Mike and Sulley’s Chemistry (Billy Crystal and John Goodman)** Billy Crystal and John Goodman famously insisted on recording their lines in the same room to recapture the chemistry from the first film. * **The "Howabouts":** Crystal referred to their improvised moments as "the howabouts"—sessions where they would get the scripted lines "in the bank" and then spend time riffing. Crystal, known for his "frantic energy," would often go on long tangents or add small vocal "sass" and reactions that were animated later. * **Bickering Scenes:** Many of the overlapping arguments and bickering matches between Mike and Sulley in the Oozma Kappa house were the result of the two actors talking over one another and reacting in real-time. ### **5. The "Drama Class" (Deleted Scene)** Though not in the final theatrical cut, there is a prominent deleted scene titled **"Drama Class"** where Mike and Sulley are forced to participate in an actual improv exercise. In this sequence, they are told to pretend to be a flower (Mike) and a bunny (Sulley). While the scene itself was scripted to *depict* improv, the actors' performances within it were highly improvisational in nature to match the awkwardness of the situation.