Happy 10th anniversary to this masterpiece! I celebrated by watching the movie today, and Joanna posted some of the most unforgettable moments from Up on our twitter feed. There’s so much I can say about Up that would fill pages. I could talk about it for hours, if not days. If I can be honest though, there was a time in my life when I thought Up was childish. This was before I watched it. The trailers for the film did not interest me. The flying house made me think it was over the top silly, something that only children could enjoy. I was wrong of course. Up is for everyone. And that silliness is one of its strengths.
Up is just magnificent. Absurd, devastating, colorful, imaginative, funny (so, so funny), and hopeful. I love how completely bonkers it is, precisely balanced with the heartbreak. It is one the many reasons I love animation so much. Down with realism! I want balloons and flying houses and fantasy and dazzling colors. And just how many movies out there give us triumphant elderly heroes? As big as Up is, it’s also intimate: a meditation on grief that lets us revel in silliness and joy.
Nia wrote beautifully on the wordless impact of Married Life which Pete Docter discussed on Rotten Tomatoes.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Director Pete Docter takes us behind-the-scenes of the opening sequence from #Up. pic.twitter.com/3eLvtIgAhF
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) May 28, 2019
When Carl finally sees that Ellie did fill up her adventure book, he’s surprised by the snapshots of their life together. All those boring moments that Ellie was wise enough to cherish. Seeing their shared adventure in the film’s opening sequence still inspires me with their inexhaustible optimism. I want to be just like that; cheerful even when life wrecks my carefully laid plans and dreams.
I was lucky enough to see Up in theaters in 2012 after I missed its theatrical run in 2009. I had even brought my dad along. It’s still the only Pixar movie he’s ever seen. He’s simultaneously a curmudgeon and a softie just like Carl. And most of the time, I’m like Carl too. A little withdrawn. (The joint pain also makes me see a kindred spirit in him. I haven’t reached my 30s yet, but still. I’m old). In the foreword to The Art of Up, Pete Docter writes that he wanted to escape the world. It’s a universal feeling. And who wouldn’t want to fly away from all the mess down here? But though Up started out that way, it evolved into something else – something greater. The reality is that we can’t just escape the world like Carl tries to, but Up shows us what we can do instead.
Don Shank
Although Carl and Russell embark on a grandiose adventure on the other side of the world, Up is really about having adventures right where you are. It’s about paying attention to moments we might easily take for granted.
“That might sound boring, but I think it’s the boring stuff I remember the most.”
When you reach adulthood, and sometimes even before, you’re resigned to the mundane. You put away childish things, you stop reading fairy tales, you get settled into the same old routines. But Up tells us to embrace the mundane; the small, simple joys that break up monotony. I think we’ve all just got to make room for adventures both big and small.
Lou Romano/Don Shank
