Since the movie isn't actually out, this is more of a promotional piece. Also the first image is a bit bigger http://pixartimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Monsters-Un... but is fairly low-quality and for some reason is scaled down to stamp-size on the page.
Comparing raster graphics from 12 years ago to ray-traced graphics from today isn't a fair anyway. Part of why raster has persisted against ray-tracing for so long (despite numerous predictions to the contrary) is that raster graphics techniques are constantly improving.
