The press was treated to an early look at Up at the New York Comic Con with 45 minutes introduced by director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera.
The press’ reaction? Yet another hit from Pixar! Although they say the style is completely different than that of WALL•E and Ratatouille for example, it’s still another great story. It’s defnitely magical and tear jerking but wackier than most of Pixar’s movies (and that’s saying something!)
Here are a few stats Cinematical shared:
• Up will run for about 87 minutes.
• Pete Docter was imspired by Hayao Miyazaki, The Muppets and classic Disney (Dumbo, Peter Pan), what a range!
• This is the fist time Pixar has had this much animation to share this early.
Cinematical says that even though the movie had a temp score and unfinished animation, it still looked amazing and charming. They also noted that Carl Fredricksen may be one of Pixar’s most sincere characters ever. With Pixar’s track record, that’s a huge statement!
Read the full article (contains minor spoilers) here.
Coming Soon also showed up at the press only screening. They said that the footage looked amazing and that the score drives the picture very well. Pete Docter also promised that the action ramps up after the preview ended.
If you would like to read the first 45 minutes of Up in a spoilerific post, be my guest, but remember, major spoilers lie ahead. The post from ComingSoon.net can be found here.
Exclaim! has a squeky clean post for those who would like to watch Up fresh. They reassure us hat Up will most definitely not be a flop and that the footage left them wanting to know what happens next. Clcik here to read on.
Note: As I write this (2:30 PM EST), Pete Docter is having his Up presenation at the New York Comic Con, so I’ll make updates of what fans thought when the coverage shows up. And don’t forget, if you are there and reading the blog on a mobile device, get in line as soon as possible for the 50 minute preview screening happening at the IGN Theater starting at 6:30 PM.
Update: The public was shown 5 separate clips of Up at the Disney panel. IGN has a quick wrap-up of the clips shown in their article.
P.S. The Up 50 minute screening has just started (6:30 PM EST), awaiting reactions…
Update 2: FirstShowing.net attended the 45 minute (previously reported as 50 minute) screening of Up and loved the movie. They say that the one thing you can expect from this film is that same magical feeling the other Pixar films have and that it’s something you have to watch to believe. In between all the praise, First Showing talks about the other two characters on the poster, Dug and Kevin. This post has a few spoilers, so read with caution.
Note 2: Since the 45 minutes the press saw did not differ from the footage the public saw, I will not make a follow up post, instead I will update here if need be.
Consensus so far: Yet another hit from Pixar Animation Studios, expect the unnexpected.
Last modified: February 7, 2009
No, 87 minutes is so short…(i.e. Pixar films are a pleasure to watch and I never want them to end)
99% of all animated features are under 90 minutes, with almost all Disney Features clocking in at 87 minutes or less. I’d rather them leave the audience wanting more.
While that may be, the majority of PIXAR films are not. As a matter of fact in descending running time order, the PIXAR films are as follows: Cars – 116 min., The Incredibles – 115 min., Ratatouille – 111 min., Finding Nemo – 100 min., WALL•E – 98 min., A Bug’s Life – 95 min., Monsters, Inc. – 93 min., Toy Story 2 – 92 min., Toy Story – 81 min..
So, this would make UP, the second shortest PIXAR movie next to Toy Story.
I do trust that this will be the right length for the movie, but I had been hoping for something a little bit longer, especially since they screened 45 min. of it already. That kind of led me to believe that it would be pushing 2 hours, which would not have been all that unreasonable.
The thing is that some movies feel too long, but others feel too short. I just hope that this one doesn’t feel rushed, and the time feels just right. (I hope that people stay during the credits though. Michael Giacchino’s score will be amazing to hear in it’s entirety, and PIXAR credits usually have something extra, if not more footage of the film, they often, like in Ratatouille, and WALL•E’s credits, show what happened after the story, artistically. Those people that do walk out though, will be turning it into only an 80 min. movie, since credits on films like these are often around 7 – 8 min. long.)
I am guessing that with whatever trailer they feature before it, (probably a 3-D trailer for the re-release of the original Toy Story, since I am betting right now that they won’t have a Toy Story 3 trailer until the re-release of either Toy Story, or even Toy Story 2…), and the short film Partly Cloudy, the whole presentation will run for about 95 min., but that’s just my own guess right now.
– C-3PO
TOOOOOO SHORT! BOOHOOOOOOOO!