<P> After Docter scrapped the initial concept of a 30 - year - old terrified of monsters, he decided on a buddy story between a monster and a child titled simply Monsters, in which the monster character of Sulley (known at this stage as Johnson) was an up - and - comer at his workplace, where the company's purpose was to scare children . Sulley's eventual sidekick, Mike Wazowski, had not yet been added . </P> <P> Between 1996 and 2000, the lead monster and child went through radical changes as the story evolved . As the story continued to develop, the child varied in age and gender . Ultimately, the story team decided that a girl would be the best counterpart for a furry, 8 - foot - tall (96 in) co-star . After a girl was settled upon, the character continued to undergo changes, at one point being from Ireland and at another time being an African - American character . Originally the character of the little girl, known as Mary, became a fearless seven - year - old who has been toughened by years of teasing and pranks from four older brothers . In stark contrast, Johnson is nervous about the possibility of losing his job after the boss at Monsters, Inc. announces a downsizing is on the way . He feels envious because another scarer, Ned (who later became Randall), is the company's top performer . Through various drafts, Johnson's occupation went back - and - forth from being a scarer and from working in another area of the company such as a janitor or a refinery worker, until his final incarnation as the best scarer at Monsters, Inc . Throughout development Pixar worried that having a main character whose main goal was to scare children would alienate audiences and make them not empathize with him . Docter would later describe that the team "bent over backwards trying to create a story that still had monsters" while still solving the problem, A key moment came when the team decided "Okay, he's the BEST scarer there . He's the star quarterback" with Docter noting that before that moment "design after design, we really didn't know what he was about ." Disney noted to Pixar early on that they did not want the character to "look like a guy in a suit ." To this end Johnson was originally planned to have tentacles for feet; however, this caused many problems in early animation tests . The idea was later largely rejected, as it was thought that audiences would be distracted by the tentacles . Mary's age also differed from draft to draft until the writers settled on the age of 3 . "We found that the younger she was, the more dependent she was on Sulley", Docter said . </P> <P> Eventually Johnson was renamed Sullivan . The name was suggested by an animator who had attended Texas A&M University, inspired by one of Texas A&M's historic icons, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, nicknamed "Sulley" by students . Sullivan was also planned to wear glasses throughout the film . However, the creators found it a dangerous idea because the eyes were a perfectly readable and clear way of expressing a character's personality; thus, the idea was rejected . </P> <P> The idea of a monster buddy for the lead monster emerged at an April 6, 1998 "story summit" in Burbank with employees from Disney and Pixar . A term coined by Lasseter, a "story summit" was a crash exercise that would yield a finished story in only two days . Such a character, the group agreed, would give the lead monster someone to talk to about his predicament . Development artist Ricky Nierva drew a concept sketch of a rounded, one - eyed monster as a concept for the character, and everyone was generally receptive to it . Docter named the character Mike for the father of his friend Frank Oz, a director and Muppet performer . Jeff Pidgeon and Jason Katz story - boarded a test in which Mike helps Sulley choose a tie for work, and Mike Wazowski soon became a vital character in the film . Originally, Mike had no arms and had to use his legs as appendages; however, due to some technical difficulties, arms were soon added to him . </P>

Who is sully from monsters inc named after