Monstrous Battle for Oscar Glory

Everybody knows children are frightened of 'things that go bump in the night'. But what are 'things that go bump in the night' scared of?

The answer, of course, is children, at least according to Disney's Monsters, Inc.

The animated film, on general release this Friday, tells of a pair of monsters who spend their nights sneaking into wardrobes and under beds to scare young people - until they find they are more afraid than their victims.

A computer-generated cartoon, Monsters, Inc. is Disney's answer to the phenomenal critical and commercial success of DreamWorks' Shrek and comes from the same technical team that made the Oscar-nominated Toy Story. Disney's innovative Pixar Studios has become the powerhouse of the entertainment and leisure dynasty, which has recently been suffering a financial downturn, prompting rumours of a possible takeover by Microsoft.

Although American box offices took $62 million (£44m) when Monsters, Inc. opened there last November, the highest amount for an animated film, and despite the fact that ticket sales have outstripped Toy Story 2, the chances of Disney beating its arch rival on Academy Awards night look slim.

Monsters, Inc. may have started out with a big budget promotional campaign and all the usual spin-off merchandise, but it is Shrek that is being tipped as the serious Oscar contender and the competition between the films has become something of a grudge match.

Shrek 's irreverent screenplay deliberately poked fun at the conventions of Disney filmmaking and of fairytales in general, becoming an instant modern classic. It has won 13 awards in the US and has been listed among the top 10 grossing films for a total of 151 weeks, as opposed to Monsters, Inc. with only 41 weeks to its credit so far.

Co-produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg, a former chairman of Disney, Shrek was wickedly full of jokes at the expense of the 'Mouse House', the LA nickname for Disney. What's more, Eddie Murphy, who plays an irrepressible Donkey in Shrek, has become the first film star nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Award as best supporting actor for voicing an animated character.

Disney has hit back with groundbreaking special effects. Monsters, Inc. has developed highly sophisticated graphic tricks that make the monsters' fur appear to ripple as they move.

But in the end, it is the 4,000 Academy Award voters who will decide if they prefer Sulley, a purple-spotted 8ft monster, voiced by John Goodman, to Mike Myers's green Scottish ogre in Shrek.

Monsters, Inc. is set in Monstopolis, a company town where all the monsters work at the scream processing factory. Sulley and his one-eyed friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are an elite team of Scarers responsible for gathering the town's main power source - the fresh screams of children. The monsters are also strictly banned from making any contact with the children, who are considered highly toxic. However, a little girl called Boo follows Sulley and Wazowski back into Monstropolis and threatens to upset their careers.

Steve Buscemi, star of Fargo, plays the villain, Randall Boggs, a monster determined to become top Scarer at the factory. The factory owner is voiced by veteran star James Coburn and the title was suggested to director Pete Docter by Joe Grant, the Disney artist who co-wrote the 1941 feature Dumbo .

For 93-year-old Grant, an Oscar would be particularly sweet, not only because Disney marked its 100th anniversary last year, but also because not even Disney classics such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty won a best picture Academy Award. This year there is at least a chance because the Academy has created a special category for animated features.