Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is an attraction within the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...

, a theme park at Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...

. It opened on April 2, 2007 within the park's Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland

- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...

 section, where it replaced the Circle-Vision attraction The Timekeeper

The Timekeeper

The Timekeeper was a 1992 Circle-Vision 360° film that was presented at three Disney parks around the world. It was the first Circle-Vision show that was arranged and filmed with an actual plot and not just visions of landscapes, and the first to utilize Audio-Animatronics...

.

The main theater is equipped with 400 seats and utilizes digital puppetry

Digital puppetry

Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers...

 technology similar to Epcot

Epcot

Epcot is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, located near Orlando, Florida. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named...

's voice-directed Turtle Talk with Crush

Turtle Talk with Crush

Turtle Talk with Crush is an interactive attraction that has appeared at several of the Disney theme parks. It first opened on November 16, 2004 at "The Seas with Nemo & Friends" pavilion at Epcot, and was duplicated at Disney California Adventure in July 2005. The attraction was open in Hong Kong...

. Live actors perform voices behind a large digital screen, while computer-rendered monsters appear with the actors' voices.

Plot synopsis

This attraction is set after the events of the Disney/Pixar

Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...

 animated film Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...

Monstropolis is running on safe, clean "laugh power," but even now it still needs more laughs to provide for the needs of the monster world. To that end, Mike Wazowski suggests opening up Monstropolis' first comedy club.

Humans will temporarily enter the monster world via a door the monsters have placed in Tomorrowland. During their visit, guests will be entertained by Monsters, Inc.'s top comedians, where their laughs will be collected and converted to electricity.

Characters

The Laugh Floor only features two characters from the original movie, Mike Wazowski and Roz. Here, Mike is the "monster of ceremonies" and introduces the show's comedians. The most common characters are:

• Buddy Boil (sometimes Beznos, or "no nose" Boil from Russia), a purple monster with long eye stalks atop his head, whose sketches include a mind-reading act and a "comedy-in-a-box" do-it-yourself kit
• A yellow, two-headed monster whose name changes based on who is performing the characters' heads at the time (common names are "Sam and Ella" or "Mac and Jeeves"). The duo will feature a "geography quiz," where the monsters demonstrate their knowledge (or lack thereof) of geography, and a fast-paced re-telling of the Monsters, Inc. story, using guests as stand-ins for the major characters.
• Marty Wazowski, a smaller, orange version of Mike, and Mike's nephew. This character will often interact with children in the audience.

Running gags

The show's unscripted nature is designed to make each performance unique. However, there are some common jokes that appear more frequently than others.

• As the guests are seated, the theatre's cameras will locate guests and provide humorous captions, early Saturday Night Live style, such as "will treat everyone to churro
  Churro
  A churro, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry-based snack that has disputed origins. Churros are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, Morocco, the United States, Australia, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. There are two types of churros in Spain....
  
  s" or "has no idea where s/he is" or "doesn't know they're on the screen" or "always hides a third eye."
• The show will always focus its attention on a single guest, known as "that guy," throughout the performance. Usually, the use is as part of a punchline of a joke; for example, a monster might say, "I know how I'm going to dress up for Halloween
  Halloween
  Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
  
   ... I'm going as 'that guy." This guest will receive an "I Was 'That Guy'" sticker at the end of the show.

Disney Imagineers have stated that as the show continues to evolve, more acts and jokes will be added and others will be retired based on guest reactions and feedback.

Interactivity

One of the Laugh Floor's key components is the level of interactivity with the guests. Prior to the performance, guests are invited to use their cellular telephones to send text messages with jokes that could be used during the show. The message begins with a short code-word, followed by the guest's first name and their hometown, then their submitted joke. Generally, three to four jokes will be used during the final portion of the show (featuring Marty Wazowski).

In the theatre, movable cameras are used by performers backstage to locate guests with whom they would like to interact. A Disney cast member in the theatre will then take a microphone to the selected guest so that the guest can talk to the performers.

Name change

The working name of the show during production was the 'Laugh Floor Comedy Club'; prior to soft openings it was renamed 'Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club'. Promotional materials and a logo were also created using this name. On March 19, the official name of the attraction was changed from this to the current name.

Awards

In 2008, the attraction was honored with a nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project by the Visual Effects Society

Visual Effects Society

The Visual Effects Society is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of...

.
The producers and artists singled out for the nomination included Roger Gould, Liz Gazzano, Joe Garlington, and Daniele Colajacomo.

External links

• Attraction page at Disney
• Attraction page at WDWinfo
• Attraction page at WDWmagic