14 years ago, Mary Gibbs voiced the cutest Pixar character ever.
Let’s get the big, blue, furry monster in the room out of the way first: Boo from Monster’s Inc. is a cartoon. So there is no “grown up” version of Boo -- at least not until Monster’s Inc. 4 inevitably comes out in 2020, and Sulley and Mike Wazowski return to help Boo’s daughter.
(Make it happen, Pixar! There’s a reason Monster’s University wasn’t as good as the original, there was no Boo!)
But there was a real little girl who voiced Boo and her name is Mary Gibbs.
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Monster’s Inc. came out when Mary was just 5-years-old and in kindergarten. Fourteen years later, she’s a freshman in college, “an avid hoop dancer,” and has left voice acting behind. This is what she looks like now:
It’s Boo, all grown up! And before you ask: No, she can’t do the voice anymore. “I was three and since then I have gone through puberty,” she explains on her blog.
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Gibbs recently did a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” and fielded questions about what her life has been like as the voice of Boo.
How did she get the job? “My dad was a story board artist for the film and the director asked if anyone had a little girl they could sketch and use for scratch dialogue. Boo was originally going to be older, but they wanted to explore different age possibilities. Normally they have adults do kids voices, but since it was my dad’s work and I was comfortable around everyone. they ended up using my voice for the actual movie.”
How did they get her to say all of Boo’s cutesy dialogue? “They would follow me around the recording studio, use puppets to talk to me, and have my mom tickle me or take money/candy away from me to make me laugh and cry...All real emotions.”
How many times has she seen Monster’s Inc.? “Especially when the movie first came out EVERYONE wanted to watch it with me. I’ve probably seen it a couple hundred times. Now that I'm older it’s a little weird knowing that’s my voice, for sure! It really hit me when I rode the Monster’s Inc. ride at California Adventures and my voice was all over the ride.”
Would she want to voice Boo again as a grown up? “Yeah, I would love to return as Boo in the future, and knowing Pixar, in another ten years there might be another sequel! Who knows!”
Then there’s this gem that might ruin Monster’s Inc. for you for life: “People are pretty dirty, asking if anyone has made me call them ‘Mike Wazowski’ in bed,” she said. “The answer, if you're curious, is no.”
While you’re here, watch for five more thing you didn’t know about Pixar films: