First Public Screening of Up!

5 Replies to “First Public Screening of Up!”

1. Mitch says:

   April 12, 2009 at 4:59 pm

   Ha-ha. The drive was handcuffed to the minder. Sheesh….

   The one time I wish I was back in my hometown (Minneapolis) is when they do stuff like this there. Ah well. As was mentioned, several more preview screenings will most likely be held in additional states, California among them I suspect.

   I kind of wish that more information on the audience’s reaction to the film had been presented, but there’s only a little over a month until the full production is released anyway, so I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. We know it’s going to be incredible.

   Thanks for the information, MPR and martini!

   (By the way, you might want to check this out, if you don’t know about it already: http://www.fmx.de/E.2332.html. Employees from Pixar will be present at the FMX 2009 event in Stuttgart, Germany, from May 5th-8th. Sounds interesting.)

   Reply
2. uruseiranma says:

   April 13, 2009 at 3:26 am

   In my day (when I was a projectionist and we had a sneak with Brad Bird in attendance), the canisters were padlocked, and we didn’t get the combination until 2-4 hours before the start.

   Reply
3. Anonymous says:

   April 13, 2009 at 12:37 pm

   I was at a similar screening. Definitely a treat, for I am a huge Pixar fan, not to mention an active follower of Pixar Planet. While I won’t tell you much about the movie (I wish I could), I can tell you about the audience’s reaction and that of my own.

   I was surprised to find that many of the audience members were not avid fans of Pixar, although like most of the world, they have an appreciation for Pixar. There were several kids and young adults. Only a few older folks. A lot of them before the movie had expressed the fact that they had a bad taste in their mouth for animation in general for one reason or another (something that saddens me- ha ha). These same people all laughed throughout the film and had great things to say about the film.

   I made a point to talk to others around me after the movie (yep, no credits to watch- sadly, and no short at the beginning). Kids were energized and loved it. To my surprise I didn’t see a single person who wasn’t talking very favorably about the movie. Comments like “I don’t normally like animated movies, but I LIKE THIS ONE” and “Pixar doesn’t always do it for me, but this one sure did” or “I think I now have a new favorite Pixar movie” were common. A lot of conversation was around the funny and touching natures of the movie. Women kept saying, “it was so so cute how …..” and “I cried and really felt for the characters.” A lot of people said, “this is such a comedy- something I wasn’t expecting.” One of the best comments was “I wasn’t bored at any moment, I was entertained the entire time, unlike most movies I watch… and it wasn’t too long- the perfect length” (I think it was like 85 minutes..?)

   The screening of Wall-e (which I loved) had much more of a mixed review from the audience members. I feel that UP is much more something that ANYONE can love.

   My reaction: First, there was no 3D, but that’s ok, it still looked great— that gives me something to look forward to when it’s released. It was like watching a beautifully illustrated childrens book- but one that could entertain any adult (and child of course). FUNNY. So surprisingly funny. If you think the trailers and promotional material are remotely funny, you will find the feature to be hilarious. GREAT CHARACTERS. Something that surprised me even more. An old man? A cub scout kid? Really, put them together, add talking dog (a BRILLIANT twist on the talking animal idea), plus a few characters I won’t mention, and you have a FANTASTIC character line-up.

   Reply
4. martini833 says:

   April 13, 2009 at 12:59 pm

   That’s really, really cool to hear!!!!
   I’m getting even more excited for this movie, and that’s saying A LOT!
   I’m most liekly checking out a preview screening late this month or early in May, we’ll see!

   Reply
5. Mitch says:

   April 14, 2009 at 9:32 am

   Agreed. Hearing such reactions to the film is painful in a positive way — painful in that most of the general public still has to wait a little over a month to see this thing, but boy will it be worth it….

   Thanks for the review, Anonymous!

   Reply