At this point in time we as an audience are used to seeing sequels being spit out into cinemas left and right. If a movie has some form of story that can be continued through several other films, a franchise is born. Who can blame them? If they end up with a franchise it could mean loads of cash in their pockets. Then again we’ve seen a few other films that have tried to get past the starting line towards a potential sequel only to putter out after the race begins. Regardless, it’s a risk no matter which way you look at it, unless you’re Pixar.

Pixar Animation Studios has been churning out one great hit after another, even with their sequels. “Toy Story 2,” “Toy Story 3” and “Cars 2” respectively have made millions upon millions of dollars for the company. The different between Pixar and other production companies that create sequels is that Pixar continues to make original stories with our favorite characters. They don’t just throw your favorite characters from the previous film into another adventure just to cash in a check, they take the great time and effort to tell a great story to all of us.

Prior to the big movie presentation yesterday at the D23 Expo, many people weren’t too interested in seeing Pixar create a prequel film to “Monsters Inc.” That changed the minute we got a good look at what the creative minds at Pixar were making for “Monsters University.” The behind-the-scenes video presentation showed off some wonderful concept art that presented the Monsters University campus. They spoke about how they “monsterized” the campus with the statues, different buildings and how even doorways were carved out. Of course we have to mention how great it was to see Billy Crystal just say hello to the D23 Expo audience.

Billy Crystal and John Lasseter. Does Crystal ever age?

However, that wasn’t the only thing we were able to see with “Monsters University.” Later on I slipped into the presentation where the filmmakers gave us a better look at the younger Sulley and Mike. They described the long process it took for them to create their younger looks, along with a large array of new monsters that we’ll be seeing alongside them in “Monsters University.” They’ll range from the grouchy old teachers, jocks, goths, and even the poor little nerds.

You can see more images of Mike and Sulley below (courtesy of FirstShowing.net):

A younger Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal), retainer and all.

A more slender James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman.

A better close-up look of Mike and Sully’s faces in “Monsters University.”

“Monsters University” arrives in theaters everywhere on June 21, 2013.