A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how two members of my family had tipped me off to a reel librarian featured in the recent release, Monsters University (2013). Since that post went live, I have had five additional friends recommend I watch the movie, which I did over the Independence Day long weekend.

And once again, here’s the film trailer that features the librarian at 1:50 minutes into the trailer:

First impressions? I loved it! Yes, it is VERY over-the-top, but as my fellow reel librarian blogger Maria states over at her Pop! Goes the Librarian blog, “I just can’t bring myself to roll my eyes. Sometimes you just have to laugh.” 😀

Monsters University serves as a prequel to the 2001 hit Monsters, Inc., and has shades of the creation story in it, specifically about the wee monster, Mike (Billy Crystal). He’s thrown out of the School of Scaring because he’s… well, not scary. But to get back into the program, he assembles a team out of fellow rejects, including Sullivan (John Goodman) to enter the Scare Games, a series of trials to crown the top scarer at the university.

So where does the library come into the story? It’s the setting for the second challenge of the Scare Games, and the challenge is… wait for it… “Don’t Wake the Parent.” And standing in for the parents — at 40+ feet tall! — is the ugliest monster librarian EVER on screen. I think I can state that with confidence.

Below is the front view of this monster librarian. From the side, as featured in the trailer, there’s the additional bonus of a grey bun perched on the back of her head.

And SPOILER ALERT, what is this university librarian’s monster power? The ability to hear noises at twenty paces or less — and the ability to make the offenders feel her wrath by scooping them up with her squid-like tentacles and throwing them out the roof into the nearby lake. Another point in the “scaring pros” column is her shushing power.

But an obvious weakness? Her poor eyesight. Ahhh, the bane of almost every librarian. 😉 But I kind of loved how she didn’t wear glasses on a lanyard, but instead carried the horn-rimmed spectacles around on a stick, like they were opera glasses, or like a masque at a fancy ball. YES.

Side note:  The end credits featured rookie cards for each monster, and I was so wishing there had been one for the librarian. Like when she retired, she became the resident scarer at the university library. She WAS scary, so she was fulfilling her monstrous destiny.

I also liked how she unfolded herself from the desk; at first glance, she may look meek and small, but when angered, she turns out to be almost as big as the library! Also, her tentacles make her the best shelver EVER. 😉

The only downer for me was that while the challenge seemed to be about who could be the quietest, it turned out to be a challenge for who was able to not get caught. SIGH. Mayyyyyyybe not such a great lesson in the end. The ends do not always justify the means.

Fun tidbits about the Monsters University library and librarian:

• The library is on the main quad, perpendicular to the School of Scaring (click here for a map of MU)
• There are 89,000 books in the MU Library (click here for “MU At a Glance“)
• The Monsters, Inc. wiki lists one of the librarian’s enemies as “People making loud noises in the library”
• The librarian is a cephalopod, with six tentacles (Pixar Wiki)
• To me, the librarian looks like a cross between Roz from Monsters, Inc. and Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

And, parting quote, courtesy of Mike:

“What are you afraid of? You just angered a 40-foot librarian!”

😉

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Sources used:

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• Atilano, Maria. “Summer Movies Mean… Librarian Cameos?” Pop! Goes the Librarian, 2 July 2013.
• “Margaret Gesner.” Monsters, Inc. Wiki. Fandom, n.d.
• Monsters University. Dir. Dan Scanlon. Perf. Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren. Disney Pixar, 2013.
• “Monsters University.” Disney Movies, n.d.
• “Monsters University Characters: Librarian.” Pixar Wiki. Fandom, n.d.