This version of Monsters being cancelled would be a win. It’s a poor representation of the franchise and a ride type MGM doesn’t need and Disney has overbuilt badly. It’s the worst kind of pandering to fans (and I generally don’t mind pandering to fans). If this were the Tokyo Monsters ride, the calculation would be different. But this would be a bad addition.
I’ve got to respectfully disagree with you on this. One of the most recognizable iconography of the franchise are doors. Even without the concept of the door coaster, they are so pivotal to the franchise I’m not sure how you’d come to the idea it’s a “poor representation of the franchise”. I don’t mind the tokyo ride, it’s very unique and cool in its own way but the studio doesn’t need another shooter-esque attraction like TSM. I believe the door coaster is the best way to represent Monsters Inc. I don’t think ride and go seek is probably the best way to represent the franchise not that it’s a bad ride I just think this coaster is the best way to show off the franchise.
From the videos I saw, the most impressive thing I’ve seen is their queue. That first room you walk into with the mural of the Monsters world and the reception desk is very impressive. I hope we get an exact copy of that room for our queue. I however believe you can expand upon this for our coaster, have us walk the entire factory. Beyond this first room I believe this is where Tokyo fumbles a missed opportunity. Think of it like the Mario Kart, or Gringotts queues have us really explore the area. Add multiple rooms from the movie or even made up areas and really build out the factory. For load, give us a huge laugh floor that we board our “doors“ in and make the initial reveal of the door vault impressive. The premise of the Tokyo ride is cute, but I don’t think flashlights as the best representation of the franchise or even the best way to show off this franchise in a practical theme park “fun” kinda way.
You can even argue that the laugh floor is the best representation of the franchise if you want to look at it from a representation angle. Not that I think the laugh floor is high art or anything like that, but it represents the actual plot of the franchise the best out of the built attractions. Sometimes, a scene in the movie lends itself so well to attraction and it’s just a natural fit. I’ve wanted this for years, and really feel it’s one of the strongest announcements for WDW.
The entire point of Monsters is that it’s a boring, mundane setting full of fantastic characters. A ride that emphasizes the setting and not the characters misunderstands the IP. The Tokyo ride is focused on the characters, so it works very well.
The door scene in the movie was meaningful because we cared for the characters. It was clever because the heroes opened the doors and hopped from exotic setting to exotic setting. From what we’ve seen of the ride, that’s not going to happen in the MGM attraction.
To your first point you aren’t wrong, that is true. You are forgetting about one key thing in Monsters, world building. Monsters Inc as you said may appear mundane and to some extent it is however the film features some generally great world building. This is why I’m happy we are (kinda) getting a full on land of Monstropolis versus just the door coaster, ride and go seek, or a straight up clone of the laugh floor as a single attraction addition. The film does take place in a general factory that yes, is mundane however the Monsterized world that these great characters live in is half the charm of the film. Even when looking at things like Monsters University (one of the most under appreciated Pixar films IMO) lots of the charm of that movie is seeing a Monsterized college campus and typical college hijinks is these characters get themselves into this is a direct byproduct of the world they live in. They have some land to truly make this amazing if they are willing to make this a grand land.
To your second point, while I don’t disagree with your idea we don’t really know what’s going on in terms of story so I think you’re judging it way too quickly. The fact they show Sully, Boo, and Mike on a door alongside our ride vehicles in the concept I feel bodes well for showing a decent representation of this movie. Of course, no one will know till they ride it.