Best Footage: UP
Pete Docter’s such a great storyteller, even his storyboards make me weep.
The UP presentation was undoubtedly the most significant of Butt-Numb-a-Thon: until now, all we knew was that it was the story of Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner), an old man who attempts to erase a lifetime of regret by traveling via house to a remote South American jungle. Now we have the backstory: the old man’s love for adventure was stoked by his go-getter wife. The couple’s childhood meet-cute in an abandoned house is followed by a heartbreaking montage which takes us through their entire life together (as piercingly bittersweet as anything in BENJAMIN BUTTON). It’s weighty stuff (and it informs a surprising burst of violence early in the first act), but it’s leavened by the antics of the plucky wilderness scout who inadvertently accompanies Carl to South America and the curious creatures they meet in the jungle. The dogs with leashes that give voice to their every flighty thought shame BOLT (fyi, “Squirrel!” is the new “Mine!”).
Then we got 45 minutes or so with a member of the Crankiest Generation
in Pixar’s UP. Pete Docter has a brilliant movie on his hands. This
wasn’t in 3D, but they confirmed that it is being adapted for
“window-in” view 3D, and I can’t wait. It keeps you wondering “now
what?” or “what’s next” one minute to the next. The creatures we saw
were great
Next was UP. 45 minutes of UP to be exact, brought by co-directors
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson to show to the BNAT crowd. Much was
incomplete, with only storyboards in some places, but it didn’t
matter. Those 45 minutes were probably my favorite 45 minutes in a
BNAT ever. This film WORKS, another home run by Pixar, and if its
makers were nervous in presenting it to us, they were visibly relieved
when the footage went over as well as anything I’ve ever seen at a
BNAT before. Moving, emotional, and uproariously funny and the
Paradise Falls dogs scored huge with the crowd (you’ll know what they
are in May 2009). “Squirrel!” As with WALL-E, there was imagery to
take your breath away, and this story of an old man going on his
greatest adventure is sure to do well next year. I can’t claim any
kind of unbiased opinion here - my sun rises and sets on Pixar.
They’re easily my favorite film studio. And UP looks to be yet
another triumph for them.
mediamorgue.blogspot.com/2008/12 … -thon.html
Up next was 45 minutes of Pixar’s Up. Pardon the pun. Two guys from Pixar showed up to present it. This movie will be the first 3D movie for Pixar. The clip that we watched wasn’t all finished. Some of it was complete, some of it was un-rendered animation, and a tiny part of it was black and white story boards. I was happy to see any of it. The hubby was sad that we saw only forty-five minutes of it. To him, he knew it was going to be great and of course we were going to see this movie. And he’s right. Just seeing the trailer, I thought the movie looked amazing and couldn’t wait to see it. From the trailer, I didn’t know where the movie was going, story wise, but now I know. Again, I’m not going to ruin anything, but it’s a beautiful story. I’m a little surprised how far Pixar is going with the depressing beginning. This is a must see. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
chud.com/articles/articles/17414 … Page1.html
My brain is still a little fried from having been at Butt-Numb-A-Thon, but the 45 minutes of Pixar’s Up that I saw is still rattling around in my damaged brain pan.
While there may have been more clips shown at BNAT than is needed at a film festival, the first 45 minutes of Up is footage I wouldn’t trade in at all. What we saw was sometimes fully rendered and finished, sometimes flat and undone and often just sketches and storyboards with a temp music track and voices dubbed over, but it was completely engaging and often beautiful, visually and emotionally.
What you know about the movie is that it’s the story of an old man who floats his house away with a ridiculous number of helium balloons and that a Cub Scout-type comes along with him for the ride. But that’s just the opening of the film, and there’s more going on than just that. Giant crazy birds, talking dogs and primordial South American jungles soon come into the picture. I have a feeling that the film continues to expand even beyond what we saw, as Pete Docter said that Christopher Plummer plays a major character who had barely been seen (and who is likely the antagonist).
The reason a 45 minute presentation of mostly still or barely animated images can work so well is that Pixar places so much importance on the story and the characters. The animation is gravy. Based on what I saw, Pixar has again created a couple of great characters that manage to be funny and completely human at the same time. That humor/humanity split is also present in the story; there’s a montage showing the lives and love of Carl, the crotchety old man played by Ed Asner, and his wife Ellie that’s more touching (in rough form!) than the entirety of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but is still filled with humor.
If the rest of the film continues building in quality from the excellent 45 minutes I saw,Up is guaranteed to be one of the best films of next year. My biggest hesitation is one that seems restricted to just me, namely that this film could be another Wall*E: a movie with great promise and a great build up that doesn’t quite stick the landing. I know that Up will have adventure elements in the second half, and I almost wish it didn’t.
But all of that is the future. For now Up stands as the most promising Pixar movie in years, and certainly one of the most exciting films of 2009. I can’t wait to see the rest.
[/spoil] And welcome to the boards! 