Get A Sneak Peek of The Musical Influence Behind This Year's "Monsters Funday Football" Altcast

Just hours away from this season's iteration of the Funday Football altcast, we're getting a look at how the world of Monsters, Inc. is coming to life on Monday Night Football through music!

What’s Happening: 

• As we’re just hours away from this year’s iteration of Funday Football, this time featuring the worlds and characters from Pixar Animation Studios’ classic film, Monsters Inc., we’re getting a look behind the scenes. 
• This time, we’re looking at the music that will be featured in tonight’s alternative broadcast (altcast) of Monday Night Football, which (appropriately enough) has quite the Randy Newman and Monsters, Inc. influence. 
• In the short video, we see how the classic jazz score from the 2001 film - originally composed by Randy Newman - gets incorporated into the iconic theme of Monday Night Football. 
• The Monday Night Football game altcast will see Mike Wasowski leading the Philadelphia Eagles as they take on Sulley and the Los Angeles Chargers, complete with the hybrid music style featured in the preview below. 
• While Newman scored earlier Pixar favorites like Toy Story and A Bug’s Life, his score really stood out in Monsters, Inc. where he crafted a score that blends jazz, big-band swing, and warm orchestral themes. The soundtrack also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “If I Didn’t Have You.”
• Monsters Funday Football arrives tonight, December 8th, at 8:00 PM ET. Fans can catch all of the animated action on ESPN2, Disney+, and in the ESPN App.

• Monsters Funday Football marks the third animated altcast, after Toy Story Funday Football in 2023 featuring the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars facing off in Andy's room in front of popular Toy Story. characters. Last season, Springfield's Atoms Stadium hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys in a presentation of The Simpsons Funday Football.
• This third edition of the Funday Football program will fully immerse viewers in Monstropolis, using NFL Next Gen Stats along with Sony’s Beyond Sports and Hawk-Eye Innovations technology. 
• Uses of the technology so far have included the aforementioned The Simpsons Funday Football, as well as NHL Big City Greens Classic for hockey, and Disney Dunk the Halls for basketball.
• Funday Football will be available internationally, live on ESPN platforms and/or Disney+, in Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia & New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Canada (TSN+). Video on Demand will be available on Disney+ shortly after the live broadcast.
• The standard Monday Night Football broadcast, featuring Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge, will air on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, and will also stream live on the ESPN App. 
• Both the traditional and animated broadcasts kick off at 8 p.m. ET. tonight, December 8th.