“All his life Carl Fredricksen dreamed of adventure. Today, his adventure is finally taking off.”
By tying thousands of helium-filled balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he’s not alone: Russell, an eight-year-old “Wilderness Explorer”, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.
Don’t we all wish after a stressful day that we could just fly off and be transported to a magnificent faraway land? Carl does so, and he and Russell meet many great characters along the way, including “Dug” the talking dog and other unexpected jungle creatures.
On May 29, 2009 Pixar’s new animated film “Up” hits theaters in North America, and Pixar fans won’t want to miss it!
Pixar’s 3-D Film”Up” Opened at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes hosts the world’s most prestigious film festival, and it’s the first time in the festival’s 62-year history that it has opened with an animation. In addition, the film is 3-D, so the audience attending Cannes’ opening night on May 13th were wearing 3-D glasses along with their tuxedoes and designer dresses.
Being chosen to open at Cannes was a testament not only to the financial importance of animation to the film industry, but also to Pixar’s storytelling abilities.
Three dimensional digital effects give the film a remarkable visual depth. Pete Docter, co-director of “Up”, had the following to say about the philosophy behind the team’s use of 3-D: “We really tried to use depth in the same way we use color and cinematography, and that is to further the emotion of the scene.” John Lasseter, –Pixar/Disney’s chief creative officer–, agrees that 3-D should be used to further the storytelling and not just for cheap visual thrills. (Source).
Pixar’s Tenth Hit: Pixar’s Going for 10 Out of 10
Time magazine reported that it looks like Pixar has its tenth success with its new film “Up”:
“[W]e can declare that Up, like WALL-E, will prove to be one of the most satisfying movie experiences of its year.” (Source)
As a young man, Carl Fredricksen and his beloved wife Ellie always dreamed of living a life filled with adventures. However, there was always some obstacle standing in the way and Carl suddenly finds himself at the age of 78, alone–Ellie has passed away–and about to be evicted from his house and sent to live in a nursing home.
Instead of giving up, Carl–who sold balloons his whole life–attaches thousands of balloons to his house and flies away. He’s finally fulfilling his promise to Ellie to go on grand adventures. Soon he discovers that he has a young stowaway aboard who has come along for the ride. The odd duo embark together on the adventure of a lifetime, which includes finding a talking dog named Dug and a 13-foot flightless bird which Russell promptly names “Kevin”.
Here’s the film’s trailer:
Meet Carl Fredricksen
After tackling toys, monsters, rats that can cook, and robots falling in love in a post-apocalyptic world, Pixar decided to center its new feature film around a grumpy old man: a septuagenarian balloon salesman named Carl Fredricksen.
In creating their main character they were inspired by the cartoons of George Booth from The New Yorker. Carl is voiced by Ed Asner, primarily known for his role as Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.
Carl is a square: he’s rigid and set in his ways. Therefore, the designers at Pixar decided to represent his features in square shapes:
- His face;
- His glasses;
- Even his fingers and knuckles.
In addition, the setting in which we meet Carl also gives us clues as to his character. As Carl moves slowly down the stairs of his home in his chairlift you notice the pictures on the wall behind him; everytime Carl is in a picture alone it’s in a square frame, whereas Ellie–his wife–is always in an oval frame. This yin-yang element is depicted once again in the relationship between Carl and the very rounded Russell.
Lasseter explains that “Walt Disney always said that for every laugh there has to be a tear”, and “Up” has both comedy–Russell has been hailed by some as “arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever”–and tragedy as the audience watches a montage of Carl’s life with his wife Ellie,the love of his life, and her eventual death.
In addition, Lasseter adds that the best advice he ever got from his mentor, legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston, was to constantly ask: “What’s the character thinking?” If you answer that question with the right details and feeling, your audience is putty. Critics agree that with Carl, Pixar has taken that advice to heart. (Source).
(Image taken from the New York Times article: “Well Rounded Boy, Meet Old Square”.)
Meet Russell: The Wilderness Explorer
Russell is an eight-year-old who needs to win his “Assisting the Elderly” badge in order to become a full-fledged Wilderness Explorer. Having targeted Carl Fredricksen as the elderly person whom he’ll be assisting, he knocks on Carl ’s door and the following dialogue ensues (from the trailer):
Russell: “Good afternoon. Are you in need of any assistance today, sir?”
Carl Fredricksen: “No.”
Russell: “I could help you cross the street.”
Carl Fredricksen: “No.”
Russell: “I could help you cross your yard?”
Carl Fredricksen: “No.”
Russell: “I could help you cross…”
Carl Fredricksen: “No!”
[closes the door on Russell's foot]
Russell: “Ow.”
(Image take from “Jim Hill Media”).
Here are more YouTube videos featuring Russell:
Meet Dug – The Talking Dog
Carl and Russell find Dug in the jungles of Paradise Falls in South America. This lovable, overweight dog is part of a pack sent out to search for a rare bird.
He’s been fitted by his owner with a collar that allows him to vocalize his thoughts so, in essence, he’s a talking dog. However, Dug talks like you would expect a dog to (from the trailer):
Russell: [pets Dug] “Hey, I like dogs!”
Carl Fredricksen: [calling out] “We have your dog!”
Russell: [Dug walks around Russell] “Whoa.”
Carl Fredricksen: “I wonder who he belongs to?”
Russell: “Sit boy.”
[Dug sits]
Russell: “Hey look, he’s trained! Shake.”
[Dug shakes his paw]
Russell: “Uh-huh. Speak.”
Dug: “Hi there.”
Russell, Carl Fredricksen: [surprised exclamations]
Carl Fredricksen: “Did that dog just say ‘Hi there.’?”
Dug: “Oh yes.”
Carl Fredricksen: “Whaa!”
Dug: “My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.”
[he jumps up on Carl]
Carl Fredricksen: “Wha …”
Dug: “My master made me this collar. He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may speak. Squirrel!”
(Image taken from www.itsartmag.com.)
Meet Kevin: The Undiscovered Species
When Carl and Russell come across an extremely rare, 13-foot flightless bird in the jungle, Russell names it Kevin, even though it’s a girl. Kevin was based on the Himalayan Monal pheasant, one of the world’s most iridescent birds.
To create Kevin designers took a road trip to the Sacramento Zoo and they brought ostriches to Pixar’s campus in Emeryville, California. You can watch an epidsode of “Up” entitled “Meet Kevin” by clicking here.
(Image taken from here.)
Of Course, There’s A Villain – Charles Muntz
What’s an adventure story without a villain? “Up” begins with a young Carl Fredricksen watching a 1930s Fox Movietone newsreel celebrating the exploits of an explorer named Charles Muntz who was reporting on his exploits in Paradise Falls, South America.
Charles Muntz vanished after his claims of discovering a rare breed of giant bird were contested by skeptical scientists, and Carl finds him in South America. However, he’s radically different from the inspirational character Carl once thought him to be. Muntz comes complete with a pack of vicious dogs–including Alpha, Beta, and Gamma–, flying biplanes armed with machine guns, and a zeppelin. (Because, what self-respecting villain doesn’t have a zeppelin?)
(Image taken from here).
Conclusion
It looks like Pixar has done it again. The film sounds like a combination of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Indiana Jones”, and “The Wizard of Oz”.
Given my current obsession with all things Pixar, I’ve created two squidoo lenses which are Pixar-related. The first one is called “Pixar Short Films” and contains all 16 of Pixar’s short animated films, including a 30 second teaser of a new short film that’s going to be released with “Up” which is entitled “Partly Cloudy”. I also have a squidoo lens about “Up”.
So I guess the question for you to answer in the comments section is: how badly do you want to see Pixar’s new film? 
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