The real-time animated Monsters Funday Football — a version of Monday Night Football featuring Monsters, Inc. characters — will air tonight at 8pm ET on Disney+.
Monsters Funday Football
The Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Chargers game at SoFi Stadium will air as normal simultaneously with the animated presentation beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The players will become motion-enabled, animated versions of themselves. NFL Next Gen Stats, Sony’s Beyond Sports, and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations optical tracking work together to create the real-time animated gameplay.
Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter shared that original Monsters, Inc. actors Billy Crystal (Mike Wazowski) and John Goodman (Sulley) recorded about 30 minutes of new voiceovers for animated segments featuring their respective characters.
The game is set on the Cheer Floor, a new version of the Monsters, Inc. Scare Floor. Since discovering the power of laughter, the monsters have also found cheers to be a powerful source of energy. The Eagles and Chargers will compete for Cheer Canisters, and the game winner will be declared Cheer Champion. The Scarer’s Leaderboard becomes the Cheer Competition Leaderboard. Bedroom doors above the field will show fans viewing the game all over the world.
Mike and Sulley will represent the Eagles and Chargers respectively, playing key moments and performing the halftime show. Roz will appear as a sideline reporter. Billy Crystal (Mike), John Goodman (Sulley), and Bob Peterson (Roz) all pre-recorded lines for the presentation.
ESPN play-by-play commentator Drew Carter and NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky will appear as animated versions of themselves, experiencing the game firsthand with VR headsets. ESPN sports and lifestyle content creator Katie Feeney will serve as the social media correspondent, appearing as an animated character in pre-produced segments.
Disney+ shared a preview of the characters created for Carter and Orlovsky as well as the gameplay, which you can see below.
Monsters Funday Football will be available on Disney+, NFL+, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and the ESPN App. Video on Demand will be available on Disney+ shortly after the live broadcast.
Monsters Funday Football follows The Simpsons Funday Football in 2024 and Toy Story Funday Football in 2023.
NFL on Disney+
Disney+ recently announced the first simulcast NFL Monday Night Football game: the Week 16 San Francisco 49ers – Indianapolis Colts game on December 22 at 8pm ET. This simulcast is a milestone for Disney+, as it marks the first traditional NFL game broadcast to be made available for standalone Disney+ subscribers. The game will also be available on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and the ESPN App.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.