[4] Billy Crystal, having regretted turning down the part of Buzz Lightyear years prior, accepted that of Mike.

In his later years, he gets accepted into the titular college's scare program, where he becomes acquainted with classmate James P. Sullivan and his new roommate, Randall Boggs.

During the final event, a scare-simulator, Sullivan cheats by altering the sensitivity on the dummy child, to the point where slight movement will trigger the highest possible score.

This makes Wazowski appear to win the scare games by delivering a record breaking score, much to the shock of everyone there.

Wazowski is initially overjoyed by this, but upon discovering Sully's actions, is distraught and later breaks into the door-lab to unsuccessfully collect a human child's scream.

Rolling Stone considers him the 8th best Pixar character, going on to state "It's weird to think of a lumpy green thing as an everyman, but Billy Crystal's voice helps make Mike a monster of the people.

"[13] Additionally, Victoria Robertson from Screen Rant listed him as the 7th best Pixar character, stating "perhaps it's the little quirks that make him so great, his skittishness, despite the fact that he's a monster, or his comical and romantic qualities that shine throughout the film, but whatever it is, Wazowski made a name for himself.

Mike and Sulley were planned to be featured in the convention hall scenes in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, but they were replaced with He-Man and Skeletor.