The Things You Missed

Does Monsters, Inc. have a post-credit scene?

2001 · Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich · 92 min

The answer

Yes — 1 post-credit scene

Yes. Blooper-style outtakes run through the credits, and at the very end Mike stages the company musical — 'Put That Thing Back Where It Came From or So Help Me' — as a full theatrical production. Both were added to prints on 7 December 2001, about five weeks into the original run, so the earliest theatrical screenings did not have them.

Runtime
92 min
Scenes
1
Where to look
Stay through the credits
Verdict
Worth the wait

What actually happens

Yes, Monsters, Inc. has a post-credits scene, and it is one of the best in Pixar's catalogue.

The credits open with a reel of fake outtakes in the style Pixar had established on A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 — Sulley tripping over the top scarers on the Scare Floor, monsters blowing takes, the CDA corpsing. Then, once the credits have run all the way out, comes the real payoff: Mike has produced the company play. 'Put That Thing Back Where It Came From or So Help Me' is staged as a full musical version of the entire film, with a set, a chorus of Monsters, Inc. employees, songs and an audience.

The joke reaches back to the middle of the movie. When Mike and Sulley are caught trying to smuggle Boo's door onto the Scare Floor, Mike improvises a cover story — they were rehearsing a musical number — and belts out the line as if it were a lyric. The post-credits scene takes that panicked ad-lib completely literally and produces it on stage, which is why it rewards anyone who sat through eight minutes of credits: it is a punchline whose setup was forty minutes earlier.

One genuine caveat for collectors and completists: neither the outtakes nor the musical were in the film on opening day. They were added to theatrical prints on 7 December 2001, roughly five weeks into the run, as an incentive for repeat viewings. Every subsequent home-video, streaming and re-release version includes them, so unless you saw Monsters, Inc. in its first few weeks in cinemas, you have seen the complete version. Stay to the end.

The short version

Is there a post-credit scene in Monsters, Inc.?
Yes — Monsters, Inc. has 1 post-credit scene. Yes. Blooper-style outtakes run through the credits, and at the very end Mike stages the company musical — 'Put That Thing Back Where It Came From or So Help Me' — as a full theatrical production. Both were added to prints on 7 December 2001, about five weeks into the original run, so the earliest theatrical screenings did not have them.
Do you need to stay through the credits of Monsters, Inc.?
Yes. Monsters, Inc. hides 1 post-credit scene in the credits roll, so leaving when the lights come up means missing it.

While you’re here

Monsters, Inc. hides 10 more things worth catching

The credits are the last thing this film hides, not the only one. 2 of the 10 entries are confirmed by an official source.

All 10 easter eggs in Monsters, Inc.

Last updated 2026-08-19 · Verdicts are checked against the theatrical cut. Spotted a change?