Here is a thread for posting your comments and thoughts about the Up Dvd. The very large “…coming to dvd” thread is too unwieldy and commercial for a discussion about the actual dvd’s, now that they have been out for a full day… If you haven’t seen the dvd’s yet, you probably won’t want to read the spoilers here, but maybe some of you want specifics about whether all the extra dvd’s and a blu-ray player are worth it. Some people here have yet to even see the movie.
So please use a format like this:
Oh, I agree with you miafka the Composing feature was just juicy! I especially liked the [spoil] blah, blah, blah, don’t have blu-ray so haven’t seen it yet, blah, blah, blah[/spoil]. And was that your [spoil]toupee on the end of that violinist’s bow? how embarassing[/spoil]!
Ok, so away we go. I liked the Docter/Peterson commentary. It was rich with info about some of the burning questions. For example, how many balloons did the CG have to make, and about some technical guy who figured out how many balloons it would really take to get a house of that weight up.
Dug’s Special Mission. They could have put this into the movie. I found it superior to ‘Burn-E’ from the Wall-E dvd. As you may remember from the movie, [spoil]Dug was on a special mission of unstated nature[/spoil], so this featurette nicely sews things up.
The real Adventure featurette. This was outstanding. It explained so much. For those of you who don’t know, it was well broadcast that a team from Pixar went down to southern Venezuela to do research and collect drawings before delving into movie production. The trip to the second tapui was especially interesting since it revealed the [spoil]labyrinthine nature of these bizarre places. One could easily see why Muntz avoided getting mixed up in the area around Kevin’s nest.[/spoil] It was even more interesting than the research team for The Lion King. Docter reveals why he chose these landforms for the movie. There isn’t any Darkest Africa anymore, but there are unexplored regions of Amazonia.
Yeah, as soon as I finished the movie at about 3 a.m., I sunk my teeth into those features. I still have yet to see the Blu-ray, but I’m probably gonna get to tomorrow, which is nice.
The documentary about the trip to South America was very cool, I didn’t think it would be so eerie up there, very spooky. Lots of really cool info about it, and there’s some great artwork they show the crew making.
By far my favorite feature on the DVD was the commentary. It’s so awesome to hear Pete and Bob talking about the film. They talked a lot about how they could have done the story differently in a bunch of places, and overall, they definitely made the best choices. They sort of have this collaborative warmth when talking about the film, it’s like listening to 2 best friends. That sort of feel made the commentary an absolute treat to sit through. It’s fantastic, and kinda hard to describe. I highly recommend watching it. Great stuff.
Yes, I got the impression that they really liked each other despite having to work on a very expensive film with budgets, schedules, people pulling their hair out, well maybe that’s going too far… they sure seemed to enjoy all of this, even the stuff they couldn’t include in the movie, which was a fascinating treat.
I didn’t believe that there were mountains like that anywhere in the world, that they had just used their imaginations to conjure one up. I was floored the next day when I read about where their ideas had come from.
Wonder why its not possible to make 3-D dvd players? Do they need like 2 projectors or tubes. You can see a flat printed image on a page by crossing your eyes or using stereo viewers. It’s all just computer generated like those computer stereograms from 15 years ago (you know, the dinosaur posters), why so hard?
In response to DarkHand’show-to-format paragraph (yes, it was a joke), I have only one thing to say: Actually, it’s my styrofoam head you see being bounced around from tuba to tuba!
In all seriousness though, I haven’t had a chance to listen to the commentary yet except just in a few random spots to check out the disc, but what I heard so far sounded quite interesting, and I’m waiting to hear it all the way through.
On a side note, I noticed there also seemed to be a “descriptive” audio track as well, where someone describes what’s going on on the screen for those who are, I guess, sight-impared (things like “Russell grabs the rope”, etc). I can’t remember other past Pixar discs having that…?
I’ve got to listen to the commentary over the weekend…
I don’t have this DVD and can’t afford to buy an imported copy, so don’t have that much to add to this discussion yet…
miafka - I remember some past Pixar DVDs that had this feature. It’s really neat. It’s called “English Audio Descriptive” kind of like subtitles but reversed around for blind people. All I remember about one of them is it said “A castle shows on a blue background with the words “Walt Disney Pictures”…” and it goes on to describe the whole movie. The Wiggles (Aussie millionaire entertainers for kids) also have Auslan (Australian Sign Language) where a lady is in a bubble and signs what the talking and singing is about. I guess because little kids can read sign language (heck, even babies can) but not read yet. It would be cool if Pixar also had that feature, but I know US sign language is different to ours.
Well I have the Blu-Ray copy… If you’ll count that. It comes with a bonus DVD copy, anyways.
I’ve pretty much seen all the features on my Blu-Ray by now, and I really enjoyed every moment of it. There’s a lot of informative and entertaining extras that they packed into it that really gives you an idea of what it took to make the movie.
Yeah, lots of good features on the Blu-Ray. In the group of “documentaries” on BR disc 2, I really liked the one about the dogs, and the dog behaviorist who helped them, especially [spoil]his description of how goldens have no short term memory, and the clip of the real lab jumping and circling in excitement, and how Dug does the exact same thing in the “I do ever so want the ball!” bit.[/spoil]
Ronnie Del Carmen made me laugh out loud in the “Balloons and Flight” segment when [spoil]he says the thing about Muntz having a “giant dirigible,” then chuckles and cracks, “That’s a subtle thing.”[/spoil] In the same segment, I also liked them talking about how dangerous the real airships of the era were, and Bob Peterson commenting that [spoil]Muntz is like the airship, in that he’s dangerous and unpredictible and could explode at any moment.[/spoil]
I’ve watched just a brief bit with the “descriptive” track, and a little with the Spanish and French tracks. The human characters sound good in French and Spanish, but Dug just does not translate well at all. The other Dugs sound too “normal” (read “human”) to me, and seem to be missing that goofy, mannered, “literal-translation” feel that Bob Peterson has that makes Dug so appealing.
Ehhhh I gotta disagree on Dug’s Special Mission being better than BURN-E, and no, not just because I’m a WALL-E fan. xD; It was… cute, but rather short and kinda formulaic. It was just cute to me. Cute and chuckle worthy. BURN-E was hysterical. To me, it actually caused some plot holes. [spoil]In the movie, the dogs comment that master won’t give them a treat for leaving Dug, but Dug started the short already by himself. Also, if Dug wanted a new master so much from the start, why was he spazzing about how good and smart Muntz was when he first showed up?[/spoil]
I haven’t watched all the features yet, but my fav so far is[spoil] The Many Endings of Muntz[/spoil]. Lots of great writing info right there.
Netbug, I actually do agree with you on the issue in DSM of Dug [spoil]wanting a new master[/spoil] - that kind of threw me the first time. (And we’ve already talked about the fact that Alpha [spoil]shouldn’t have his squeaky voice).[/spoil] But, typical for me, I’ve managed to excuse this away:
[spoil]As far as Dug being out on his own: In the movie, Alpha and the others are going to get in trouble for sending Dug out on his own (to find the Bird). In DSM, it looks like Dug has wandered off voluntarily, and is just out enjoying the day while the other dogs are working.
As far as Dug wanting a new master - this bugged me at first, because he does call Muntz “good and smart,” and doesn’t seem to have a problem with him. But I’m still in the camp that believes Dug started life as someone’s pet, and, while Muntz may be “good and smart,” he’s not fun He’s not the sort of master who will play fetch, or just go for a walk in the park to have a picnic and chase squirrels. This is the kind of New Master Dug is wishing for.
Related to this - I wondered, does Alpha actually radio Muntz to tell him Dug is a Bad Dog, or is he just pretending to do this to scare Dug (since Dug can hear Alpha’s transmission through his own collar)? How often has Dug actually gotten in trouble with Muntz, and how often has Alpha just played the “I’m Telling Master” card to keep Dug in line?[/spoil]
Ok, that got way longer than intended. I’ll admit, I find Dug so adorable, I’m happily willing to overlook any flaws with the short.
Hmm, [spoil]didn’t Alpha get damaged and should have had a squeaky voice in DSM? And didn’t DSM largely take place before we first meet Dug in Up?[/spoil] I will have to see this again, but might wait a bit since it’s best to see it for enjoyment instead of looking at it analytically. I don’t have any problem with the story in DSM, the idea of a new master. As you all know, we had talked about this last summer: that [spoil] Dug might have been the pet of one of the eliminated explorers and Muntz took him in. Maybe Carl reminded him of his former owner, and even smelled like him, altho this is sheer speculation on my part. As Dug was in trouble[/spoil], he may have been in the market for a new master, feeling he was about to be canned.
And I thought too that Alpha’s conversation with Muntz [spoil]seemed contrived, as a warning.[/spoil] Glad that others had the same feeling.
I think [spoil]Alpha’s calling Muntz was supposed to be viewed as a mistake, but Beta and Gamma’s comments afterwards, practically talking TO Dug, made me rethink that after reading on here. I still think it’s intended to be mistakenly overheard for the casual audience, but I can see how it can be viewed as a sarcastic threat towards Dug.[/spoil]
All in all, I love the short, if not for the great connection it has at the end or the absolute adorable nature of Dug, for the simple fact that it’s just more of Up (which I want SO much more of). I think it gives the audience a slightly more personal view of Dug and how serious his dilemma with the pack is. Dug was more of a ‘love at first sight’ character, some backstory I think really helped him out.
The issue we discussed with Alpha’s collar was that [spoil]in the movie, the first time we the audience hear Alpha’s squeaky voice, Beta and Gamma, then Dug, all react as if they haven’t heard this before (“Your voice sounds funny!”). But on the other hand, Muntz seems aware that Alpha’s collar keeps malfunctioning, so it’s obviously done something goofy before.[/spoil]
It’s not really a big deal, and they obviously used the [spoil]squeaky voice[/spoil] on Alpha in the short because it’s just plain funny.
The only Easter Egg I’ve ever known about is the one that’s been publicized for a while: [spoil]On the main menu for Disc 1 of the Blu-Ray (I don’t know if it’s on the DVD), you can click on a left arrow and get a link to “The Egg,” a short segment about the original Muntz plotline about using Kevin’s eggs as an eternal youth potion.[/spoil]
I tried to search online for any info about other Easter Eggs and came up dry. I’m never any good at finding them on my own.
Newbie here really enjoying the observations made about DSM short. You catch everything!
My favorite piece, though, was the documentary on their trip to Venezuela. I’m an adventurer traveler myself, and not only was that one of the aspects of Up that I loved dearly as a film, but the research behind the film.
I loved seeing how exactly the artists would sit and capture the landscape and feeling of these tepui mountains and the local flora in their little watercolor paintings. And one scene showed how it was translated directly into the movie.
The details of showing how plants looked like little Inkebana floral arrangements was sooo cool. I love the little details. And the towers of stones they saw and how they put that in the movie as scenery at the entrance to Muntz’s cave. I love that.
