Copyright wdwnt.com
ESPN, Disney, Pixar, and NFL will present another real-time animated Monday Night Football game, this time set inside Monsters, Inc. Monsters Funday Football will be on Monday, December 8, during the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Chargers game at SoFi Stadium. It follows the success of The Simpsons Funday Football and Toy Story Funday Football in previous years. The Eagles and Chargers players will appear as 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. The presentation will begin at 8 p.m. ET, simultaneous with the traditional Monday Night Football telecast. It will be available on Disney+, NFL+, ESPN2, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and the new ESPN App. Video on Demand will be available on Disney+ shortly after the live broadcast. The regular telecast with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge will be available on ESPN, ABC, ESPN Deportes, and streaming live on the ESPN App. “Each iteration of Funday Football has pushed the boundary of what’s possible in sports technology. By blending real-time NFL data and tracking with cutting-edge animation, we’re transforming the way fans experience an NFL game,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN VP, Graphics Innovation. “Our continued innovation with partners like the NFL, Beyond Sports and Disney+ showcases how technology can turn a live game into a fully immersive world, giving fans an additional way to consume sports.” The game will be 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 from Monsters, Inc. will represent the Eagles and Chargers, respectively. They will play key offensive and defensive moments, plus perform the halftime show, Mike & Sulley’s Cheer Canister Competition. Roz will also appear as the game’s sideline reporter. The CDA will monitor the crowd and game, cleaning up penalty and challenge flags. Billy Crystal (Mike), John Goodman (Sulley), and Bob Peterson (Roz) all reprise their roles through prerecorded lines. Eagles and Chargers players will appear in prerecorded interactions with the Monsters, Inc. characters. ESPN’s Chris “Boomer” Berman makes his Funday Football debut with a special animated segment. ESPN play-by-play commentator Drew Carter is joined by NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky in the broadcast booth as animated versions of themselves. They will experience the game firsthand with VR headsets. New this year, ESPN sports and lifestyle content creator Katie Feeney will serve as the social media correspondent. She will appear as an animated version of herself in pre-produced segments. For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
