There was a gag on a Simpsons episode a few years back, a fake preview for a Pixar movie called "Cards," which told the story of a bunch of talking playing cards.
At the time -- I think it was the same year Cars came out -- it seemed pretty on-the-mark.
Don't get me wrong: I've never seen Pixar do a bad movie. The animation is always lovely, the writing smart, the voice acting superb. And I know I'm probably coming off as arrogant and ungrateful, complaining about movies that I really enjoyed.
But back then, after years of talking toys, animals and, yes, automobiles, I was hoping they'd expand their storytelling beyond just one word premises. ("Let's do a movie about fish! Monsters! Superheroes!")
And in the past few years, they have. I'd argue Pixar's last three movies -- Ratatouille, Wall-E and now Up -- are its best, because their stories go beyond that simple "Let's do a movie about..." premise. (Ironically, they're all one-word titles that tell you nothing about the movie.)
It would have been great to sit in on the meeting where they pitched Up.
"This is a story about coping with loss, and about learning that your heroes will eventually disappoint you. We start with an old man named Carl. His wife has just died, and a developer is going to tear down his house. Carl is being forced into a nursing home..."
(Pauses as he registers the looks of horror on the faces of the assembled Disney execs.)
"...but then he...um... uses a whole bunch of balloons and turns his house into a giant airship and sails to, uh, let's say... South America with this hyperactive kid who stows away and they have all sorts of adventures and there's...hmmm... a goofy bird and, um, a bunch of talking dogs."
Of course, it probably went down much more smoothly than that. Nothing about Up seems forced or accidental, or done in the interest of placating bean counters or focus groups or even kids.
Sure, there's a lot of excitement here, and some goofiness that children will enjoy. But with each movie -- and the last few especially -- Pixar seems to be saying, "Look kids, we want you to enjoy this now, but we also want you to enjoy it 20 years from now. We want our movies to grow with you, not shrink."
(Contrast that with virtually every other non-Pixar animated movie out there: too-recognizable celebrities voicing shrill, hyperactive cartoon animals who spout outdated pop-culture catch phrases to the tune of Top 40 hits. None of Pixar's movies have ever -- to my knowledge -- contained any of these ingredients. The downside of seeing its movies in theaters, however, is sitting through trailers for such dreck as G-Force.)
And with that credo in mind, it's interesting that Up's heroes are a man well-past retirement age and a young boy. The man is Carl (played by Ed Asner), whom I've already mentioned: buttoned-up and shut down after the death of his wife, Ellie. They were childhood sweethearts who always dreamed of traveling to South America, but just never made it there.
(The scene in which we follow Carl and Ellie through courtship, marriage, old age and her eventual death -- a wordless montage -- is absolutely lovely, and I'm wondering how many other people got as choked up as I did during it.)
The boy is Russell: well-meaning, enthusiastic and somewhat inept in his wilderness explorer skills. (We get the sense that he and his troop don't actually do much exploring.) He's also, in his way, as lonely as Carl.
If you're saying "This sounds really sad," well, you're right. But it's also very exciting, and funny and sweet. Once they get to South America, they run into Charles Muntz, Carl and Ellie's childhood hero (voiced by Christopher Plummer), driven crazy by years in isolation. (Muntz lives like a James Bond villain, with an army of talking -- and highly functional -- dogs working for him).
And although you may get weepy, you know deep down that Carl will learn to let go, and Russell will find a father figure, and Muntz will be thwarted, and our heroes prevail. Of course all those things will happen; it's Disney. But it's also Pixar, which means that the ways those things will happen will be a delight.
Tom Coombe
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