Movies Mayberry Movie Club Week 9: Up (2009)

[Cubo de Sangre]

Each week club members will vote on a film to watch. Then the following week we'll discuss it. Anyone is welcome to join in the discussions. If you want to become a member then let me know.

For week #9 the club selected Up.

Premise: 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.

Director: Pete Docter

Director: Bob Peterson

Starring (the voice of): Ed Asner

Trivia:
(via IMDB)​

• Before the film's worldwide release date, Pixar granted a wish from 10-year-old Colby Curtin to see the film before she died. Colby had been diagnosed with cancer and was too sick to go to a theater. A Pixar employee flew to the Curtins' house with a DVD of the finished film and screened it for her and her family. Curtin died seven hours later at 9:20 pm, shortly after seeing the film.
  
• The villain Charles Muntz has a similar name to Charles Mintz, the Universal Pictures executive who in 1928 stole Walt Disney's production rights to his highly-successful "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" cartoon series. This led Walt Disney to create Mickey Mouse, who soon eclipsed Oswald in popularity.
  
• When Carl and Ellie go picnicking, their destination is a spot under the same tree from A Bug's Life (1998).
  
• All characters are based upon circles and rectangles, except for the villains who are triangles. Not only are Carl and Ellie based on squares and circles, but objects around them are based on their shapes, like their chairs and picture frames. When they both appear in a photograph, the frame is both circle and square.
  
• Pixar is known (at least by devoted Pixar fans) for referring to a character in their next movie to come out in their most recent one. A stuffed Lotso bear (from Toy Story 3 (2010)) appears (along with the ball from Luxo Jr. (1986) and the plane from Toy Story (1995)) in the room of a little girl Carl passes when his house first takes off.
  
• About halfway through the film, Carl and Russell are trying to put up a tent. Carl is surprised that Russell, with all his badges, never put up a tent before. When he asks Russell why he didn't ask his dad for help, Russell reveals (albeit indirectly) that his parents are divorced (during the conversation where Russell says "Phyllis isn't my mom"). This is the first time in a Disney full-length animated feature where divorce is even hinted at as being a reason for a character having a single parent (most of Disney's single parents are assumed to be widowed).
  
• The very first animated film, as well as the first 3-D film, ever to open the Cannes Film Festival. When the film was over, the Festival audience remained completely silent. During a panel at the 2011 D23 Expo, executive producer John Lasseter said that it was actress Tilda Swinton who broke the silence by applauding and leading the audience in a standing ovation.
  
• Up's musical score has become the tenth musical score (and the third from an animated film) to win the Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award for "Best Original Score". The other previous winners are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Jaws (1975), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Out of Africa (1985), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The English Patient (1996), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
  
• Dug's 'point' pose, where his entire tail, back, and head is in a perfectly straight line, is an homage to the identical pose that Mickey's dog Pluto often makes. Dug also has a color scheme similar to Pluto's.
  
• On May 26, 2009, Disney attached balloons to the roof of Edith Macefield's house in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, Washington. Edith fought building developers and her little house still stands in the center of a large development known as the Ballard Blocks. However, development on this film began a full two years prior to the incidents in Washington, so any similarities are purely coincidental.
  
• Film debut of Jordan Nagai, who voices Russell. Originally, his older brother Hunter was auditioning for the part, and Nagai simply came along with him. About 400 children had showed up for the auditions, but Nagai stood out because he would not stop talking, and they realized he had the same personality and mannerisms as they envisioned for Russell. Director Pete Docter later said that "as soon as Jordan's voice came on we started smiling because he is appealing and innocent and cute and different from what I was initially thinking."
  
• Carl Fredricksen's face and gruff personality are based on Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau.

Spoiler: Weeks 1-8

1. Rampage (2009)
2. Creep (2014)
3. Victoria (2015)
4. The House of the Devil (2009)
5. The Platform (2019)
6. Cam (2018)
7. Happiness (1998)
8. Audition (1999)

Members: @Cubo de Sangre @Dirt Road Soldier @MusterX @sickc0d3r @Tufts @Zer @newjerseynick

Honorary tags: @chickenluver @JayPettryMMA @europe1 @the muntjac @HenryFlower

 

[MusterX]

Pete and Bob, the directors of Up, can go fuck themselves. This film is just a little reminder that life almost always ends catastrophically and its wrapped in a nice animated kids wrapper. Carl's Ellie dies and the world moves on taking all the land around his house. Carl eventually gets enough balloons together to float his house to he and Ellie's dream spot but did he really float the house up there to Paradise Falls? Nah, the dude had Alzheimer's and not only did he lose everything he also slowly lost his mind. Carl was talking to dogs that talk back, how much evidence do you need that the old man was coming to the end of the line after all those hard years without his Ellie. I'm telling you this is one of the most depressing films ever made.

The picture of Carl and Ellie sitting in their chairs with the caption hand written on the bottom, "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one! --Love, Ellie" is almost enough for me to find Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson and kick them in the balls. I'm not even gonna say why, I'm just going to walk away and say, thanks for the adventure! Carl was so lonely for Ellie I don't even think he realized what was going on around him by the end. Listen to me, I'm telling you that this entire film is like an insidious tumor of regret. Oh look, Carl and Russell are finally having all the adventures that Carl and Ellie always wanted to have but never could. Yay! Its almost like Ellie never even existed, everything has been set right! Isn't it uplifting? I mean, it is called Up.

The montages of Carl and Ellie's life are so effective at making me sad I want to take hostages. Carl finding "My Adventure Book" in the closet so he can reminiscence about all the lost opportunities was a nice touch. Better get outside and bungy strap that Carl and Ellie mailbox on to the post, its beginning to fade. Eventually all those pictures and pieces of furniture that were memories of Ellie are weighing Carl down, literally, and so he pushes them out the door because the house is too heavy. Isn't that a cute metaphor? Oh wait, maximum gut punches have not been reached so we find out Russell is from a broken home, never mind that he's pre-diabetic at age 10, and oh look its a new character. What's your name! Kevin! Fuck you Kevin! Lets break his fucking leg and the let some wild dogs get him. Yes, that will do nicely.

Pixar, I'm looking at you. One way or another you will pay for this.

This gif illustrates Pixar and the viewer.

Existential Crisis/10

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

This is just a great movie. You laugh, you cry. There's adventure and relationships built through it. Likable characters. And talking dogs!

One thing I find particularly impressive is that it had me teared up in the first 10-15 minutes. Usually you've gotta spend the movie with the characters and develop some feelings over an extended period of time. So you wind up crying at the end. Can't think of any other movie that chokes you up at the beginning like this one does.

The animation nailed it. The looks on faces were so well done. Even Doug felt similar to my own pups. And the old man's face was built to be curmudgeonly.

Russel was the perfect chatterbox. Kevin was the right amount of goofy. The alpha dog's voice with his malfunctioning collar was hilarious. Don't know how Up could have been better executed.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Pete and Bob, the directors of Up, can go fuck themselves. This film is just a little reminder that life almost always ends catastrophically and its wrapped in a nice animated kids wrapper. Carl's Ellie dies and the world moves on taking all the land around his house. Carl eventually gets enough balloons together to float his house to he and Ellie's dream spot but did he really float the house up there to Paradise Falls? Nah, the dude had Alzheimer's and not only did he lose everything he also slowly lost his mind. Carl was talking to dogs that talk back, how much evidence do you need that the old man was coming to the end of the line after all those hard years without his Ellie. I'm telling you this is one of the most depressing films ever made.

The picture of Carl and Ellie sitting in their chairs with the caption hand written on the bottom, "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one! --Love, Ellie" is almost enough for me to find Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson and kick them in the balls. I'm not even gonna say why, I'm just going to walk away and say, thanks for the adventure! Carl was so lonely for Ellie I don't even think he realized what was going on around him by the end. Listen to me, I'm telling you that this entire film is like an insidious tumor of regret. Oh look, Carl and Russell are finally having all the adventures that Carl and Ellie always wanted to have but never could. Yay! Its almost like Ellie never even existed, everything has been set right! Isn't it uplifting? I mean, it is called Up.

The montages of Carl and Ellie's life are so effective at making me sad I want to take hostages. Carl finding "My Adventure Book" in the closet so he can reminiscence about all the lost opportunities was a nice touch. Better get outside and bungy strap that Carl and Ellie mailbox on to the post, its beginning to fade. Eventually all those pictures and pieces of furniture that were memories of Ellie are weighing Carl down, literally, and so he pushes them out the door because the house is too heavy. Isn't that a cute metaphor? Oh wait, maximum gut punches have not been reached so we find out Russell is from a broken home, never mind that he's pre-diabetic at age 10, and oh look its a new character. What's your name! Kevin! Fuck you Kevin! Lets break his fucking leg and the let some wild dogs get him. Yes, that will do nicely.

Pixar, I'm looking at you. One way or another you will pay for this.

This gif illustrates Pixar and the viewer.

Existential Crisis/10

lol

Damn, man. We clearly watched the same move, but we seem to have seen different films. I don't think there's reason to think Carl imagined the whole thing. The fact the end credits show his further adventures with Russell and Doug are more reason to believe we're to talk everything at face value. It's a Disney cartoon. Talking animals are pretty standard in these films.

It's a beautiful message that Carl did the only thing he could think of to honor his dead wife. In the process he bonded with a young boy, a relationship he wasn't able to have due to them not being able to conceive. When he accomplished his final wish of getting the house to the falls, he sat alone in the empty house and realized it didn't really matter. This is reinforced by seeing the pics of him with Elle that she'd pasted into her adventure book. She didn't need to go to Paradise Falls. She loved and cherished her life with Carl. So her saying for him to go have new adventures means that she wanted Carl to get the most out of his life even if she wasn't there to share those moments.

Yeah, life went on for Carl. But that didn't diminish his love for his wife. He just happened to create some more love and joy in the world with Russell and Doug. To me that's a powerful and positive message.

 

[MusterX]

lol

Damn, man. We clearly watched the same move, but we seem to have seen different films. I don't think there's reason to think Carl imagined the whole thing. The fact the end credits show his further adventures with Russell and Doug are more reason to believe we're to talk everything at face value. It's a Disney cartoon. Talking animals are pretty standard in these films.

It's a beautiful message that Carl did the only thing he could think of to honor his dead wife. In the process he bonded with a young boy, a relationship he wasn't able to have due to them not being able to conceive. When he accomplished his final wish of getting the house to the falls, he sat alone in the empty house and realized it didn't really matter. This is reinforced by seeing the pics of him with Elle that she'd pasted into her adventure book. She didn't need to go to Paradise Falls. She loved and cherished her life with Carl. So her saying for him to go have new adventures means that she wanted Carl to get the most out of his life even if she wasn't there to share those moments.

Yeah, life went on for Carl. But that didn't diminish his love for his wife. He just happened to create some more love and joy in the world with Russell and Doug. To me that's a powerful and positive message.

So you don't find it odd in the slightest that while Ellie was alive there was none of this magical world bullshit? No flying houses, talking dogs, or facing the superhero/villain of his childhood? All that shit is imaginary as Carl ages and he can't process the loss of Ellie. Talk about an existential crisis. Carl had to go on a heroic quest just to make his life make sense to him. I mean, you know, I'm going with the old Alzheimer's angle but some think Carl was dead, and the balloons lifting him into the sky, the battle with Muntz, was just him transitioning to the next place if you will. Russell being his guardian angel helping him to peacefully pass over.

Russell even says he needs one more badge to ascend to the next rank, which in this case is him "getting his wings." Carl was seen at Ellie's funeral with the very balloons they used to communicate with, blue ones specifically, and then Russell tells a story of how he and his dad would have a game and Russell would count all the "blue" cars and his dad would count all the red ones. Watch this fade out after the funeral, this is probably the exact moment in the film when Carl dies.



You don't find any oddity at all that prior to Ellie's death the world was normal, and after that fade to black the film took on a fantastical quality with magical flying houses and talking dogs, etc. Breh, there were dogs that were...flying planes. What about the fact when Carl encounters Muntz they look the same age? Muntz was a 40 year old man when Carl was a kid, how old is he when they have their showdown? 120? Him and Carl look the same age even though you know, clearly, they can't be.

Lets also tackle the odd connection Carl has with all of Ellie's items. Isn't that what ghosts do, they form attachments to things and can't move on to the afterlife until they let them go. And Muntz forced Carl to let these items go so he could move on? Seems really to be a common trope both with ghost people and with films. Look at the movie The Sixth Sense, same situations. Bruce Willis doesn't know he's dead. He can't move on because he's still attached to the world. He has to help a boy before he can accept his own death and move on to the afterlife. We see this sort of story told over and over in literature and film. Its a Wonderful Life (1946), Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol from 1843, Ghost with Patrick Swayze, we can go back and back and see these same stories told, over and over, with the same ideas in place.

The story of Carl after Ellie's death follows the same sort of plot points and resolution as all these films. The protagonist dies, either knows it or doesn't know it, is still attached to the world, usually to a love interest, and they must let go to move on, usually by understanding something or letting something go. At the end of UP Carl even watched as his house and all of Ellie's stuff that was left just, floated, away. Why was Russell, his guardian angel a kid? Because he and Ellie never could have children. Its another point of his life he has to come to grips with so Russell appears like the son he never had.

And lastly, the name of the film is Up. They are spelling it out for you with the fantastical imagery.

 

[I Am Legion]

A modern classic. This is on Mount Rushmore of Family Friendly Animation along with Toy Story, Lion King, Monsters Inc....

 

[Candy Routure]

Up is a piece of magic. If you don’t let Dug into your life you’re doing yourself a disservice.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

So you don't find it odd in the slightest that while Ellie was alive there was none of this magical world bullshit? No flying houses, talking dogs, or facing the superhero/villain of his childhood? All that shit is imaginary as Carl ages and he can't process the loss of Ellie. Talk about an existential crisis. Carl had to go on a heroic quest just to make his life make sense to him. I mean, you know, I'm going with the old Alzheimer's angle but some think Carl was dead, and the balloons lifting him into the sky, the battle with Muntz, was just him transitioning to the next place if you will. Russell being his guardian angel helping him to peacefully pass over.

Russell even says he needs one more badge to ascend to the next rank, which in this case is him "getting his wings." Carl was seen at Ellie's funeral with the very balloons they used to communicate with, blue ones specifically, and then Russell tells a story of how he and his dad would have a game and Russell would count all the "blue" cars and his dad would count all the red ones. Watch this fade out after the funeral, this is probably the exact moment in the film when Carl dies.



You don't find any oddity at all that prior to Ellie's death the world was normal, and after that fade to black the film took on a fantastical quality with magical flying houses and talking dogs, etc. Breh, there were dogs that were...flying planes. What about the fact when Carl encounters Muntz they look the same age? Muntz was a 40 year old man when Carl was a kid, how old is he when they have their showdown? 120? Him and Carl look the same age even though you know, clearly, they can't be.

Lets also tackle the odd connection Carl has with all of Ellie's items. Isn't that what ghosts do, they form attachments to things and can't move on to the afterlife until they let them go. And Muntz forced Carl to let these items go so he could move on? Seems really to be a common trope both with ghost people and with films. Look at the movie The Sixth Sense, same situations. Bruce Willis doesn't know he's dead. He can't move on because he's still attached to the world. He has to help a boy before he can accept his own death and move on to the afterlife. We see this sort of story told over and over in literature and film. Its a Wonderful Life (1946), Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol from 1843, Ghost with Patrick Swayze, we can go back and back and see these same stories told, over and over, with the same ideas in place.

The story of Carl after Ellie's death follows the same sort of plot points and resolution as all these films. The protagonist dies, either knows it or doesn't know it, is still attached to the world, usually to a love interest, and they must let go to move on, usually by understanding something or letting something go. At the end of UP Carl even watched as his house and all of Ellie's stuff that was left just, floated, away. Why was Russell, his guardian angel a kid? Because he and Ellie never could have children. Its another point of his life he has to come to grips with so Russell appears like the son he never had.

And lastly, the name of the film is Up. They are spelling it out for you with the fantastical imagery.

But then there's this.

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Dug_Days

Dug Days is a television series based on the 2009 Disney/Pixar animated feature film, Up. It premiered on Disney+ on September 1, 2021.

After the events of the film, Carl sells the Spirit of Adventure to afford money for purchasing a new house in Suburbia for him and Dug to live in. The series focused on the duo living together and getting into Dug's antics.

And the director's researching how many balloon it would realistically take to life the house.

https://www.dvdizzy.com/up-interview.html

Q: I love the amount of research that's been put into the look of the mountain tops; were any similar tests conducted into using helium balloons to lift an entire house?

Docter: The first thing our technical team did when they started working on the balloons was to figure out how many balloons it would take to lift a house in real life. Here's his math: Carl's house is 1,600 sq ft. He found some figures saying that the average 1,600 sq ft house weighs about 345,000 lbs, of which 160,000 lbs is from the foundation, and about 30,000 lbs is from the garage. Since Carl lifts off and leaves the foundation behind, that leaves about 155,000 lbs, which is 77.5 US tons or 70,306 kg, which the canopy needs to lift. Accelerating toward the ground at 9.8 m/s2, that's 688,998 N of force from gravity that the canopy has to overcome. With the density of helium at .1786 kg/m3 and representing a balloon as a sphere with a radius of 2.78 ft (like weather balloons), each balloon can generate 4.5 N of buoyant force. To generate at least 688,998 N of force to overcome gravity, you'd need 153,053 helium-filled, 5.56 ft diameter balloons. If you're trying this with big party balloons, at about one foot diameter, then you'd need a whole lot more: about 26.5 million balloons. None of this takes into account the weight of the balloons themselves or the strings to tie them to the house.

Why put that research in if they didn't intend for it to be an occurrence beyond the character's imagination?

 

[MusterX]

Why put that research in if they didn't intend for it to be an occurrence beyond the character's imagination?

Imagination in relation to the Alzheimer's angle, but the movie is much better from the angle that Carl is dead. Look at Carl at the beginning of the film, he can barely stand and move, he can't even walk down the stairs.



Now look what happens after Ellie is gone and Carl is in this magical doesn't exist world. Carl is legit super hero level by the time the house floats away by itself.



Nevermind the fact that Muntz has to be old as shit, he was a grown ass man when Carl was a kid so how is it they both look the same age. Even if you assume Carl is 70 or 80 years old, that would make Muntz more like 110+. Dogs flew planes flew planes, alright, they flew planes. These things only make sense in the context of Carl being dead and trying to let go of Ellie's things and move on to the afterlife.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Imagination in relation to the Alzheimer's angle, but the movie is much better from the angle that Carl is dead. Look at Carl at the beginning of the film, he can barely stand and move, he can't even walk down the stairs.



Now look what happens after Ellie is gone and Carl is in this magical doesn't exist world. Carl is legit super hero level by the time the house floats away by itself.



Nevermind the fact that Muntz has to be old as shit, he was a grown ass man when Carl was a kid so how is it they both look the same age. Even if you assume Carl is 70 or 80 years old, that would make Muntz more like 110+. Dogs flew planes flew planes, alright, they flew planes. These things only make sense in the context of Carl being dead and trying to let go of Ellie's things and move on to the afterlife.

I personally disagree it's a better movie if Carl is dead.

I think the movie is littered with unrealistic shit and that it's a hallmark of Disney cartoons. It's not very convincing evidence here.

You are ignoring that if Carl moved on to the afterlife he'd most assuradly be tehre with his wife, not some imaginary dog and kid that isn't his. She is not in the pics at the end of UP when they return back to the hometown for ice cream and colored car counting. Nor is she in the Disney + episodes that take place after UP and where Carl is still hanging out with Dug.

I appreciate the imagination of the theory, I just don't buy it for one second. And won't until one of the film's creators suggests it to be the case. This is Pixar, not Kubrick.

 

[Tufts]

This film is just a little reminder that life almost always ends catastrophically and its wrapped in a nice animated kids wrapper.

Goodness. Someone is in a

 

[Tufts]

Nah, the dude had Alzheimer's and not only did he lose everything he also slowly lost his mind.

My dad had Alzheimer's and he forgot me, my sister, and my mom. Carl never forgot Ellie or their dreams. I, therefore, do not agree. When daddy's mind went, it was gone. He would react to music when my sister and I sang to him, but he was gone. There was nothing left. His eyes were empty. There was no processing. All that was left was reactive emotion. There was certainly no maudlin dreaming taking place. This is why movies like The Notebook PISS ME OFF.

 

[Tufts]

Carl was talking to dogs that talk back

This was science dude! They were wearing a special collar that was essentially google translate for dog. Everything they said made sense. While I do not speak dog, I can attest that via body language and soulful eyes, my pups say the same shit those dogs did. We are still working on their bottle opening skills. Even the movie dogs needed to work on that, as they wasted a fair bit of wine. Next thing you know, you're gonna say dogs can't play poker!

.

 

[Tufts]

I'm telling you this is one of the most depressing films ever made.

You are feeding the wrong wolf!

 

[Tufts]

I'm telling you that this entire film is like an insidious tumor of regret.

I take umbrage! This movie was about hope, and it was about love, and it was about how it is never too late for people to find another chance of happiness. Carl had a hole in his life left by Ellie's passing, Russell had a hole left by his father's abandonment. When they found each other, they were able to heal. Plus they have a dog to share, which is just the cherry on top of this delightful, joyful film.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I take umbrage! This movie was about hope, and it was about love, and it was about how it is never too late for people to find another chance of happiness. Carl had a hole in his life left by Ellie's passing, Russell had a hole left by his father's abandonment. When they found each other, they were able to heal. Plus they have a dog to share, which is just the cherry on top of this delightful, joyful film.

The most concise way in my mind to say what UP is about is the importance of building relationships.

 

[Tufts]

Its almost like Ellie never even existed

For being dead and offscreen, I never forgot about her. It is not unheard of for widowers to fulfill common dreams of the marriage.



In this case, the dream was that of a little boy that then grew into a marital dream when he met Ellie. Life happened, they grew up, and that dream was replaced by the dream of starting a family. When that was no longer an option, they went back to their original dream. This is what saves relationships that face infertility, finding something else to work towards. The movie did a lovely job of showing how life kept getting in the way, until Carl decided to act on the dream, only to get one more fuck you when she died. They were happy and she did not feel like she missed out on anything, as her life with Carl was a beautiful adventure. Hence the pictures in the book. But with that adventure being over, Ellie did not want Carl to give up and be a grump. It took a series of events outside of his control, but finally he had the adventure that had both dreamed about. She was still in his heart the entire time. Their shared dream was still his motivation. He learned, however, that she did not exist in her things. She existed in his memory, so he was able to shed the material things that were weighing him down and not letting him flourish in a present that did not include her. The house represents his original love for her. His resistance to accepting her loss is tied into his resistance to giving up the house. He felt that losing the house, would mean losing her all over again. At the end of the movie, he recognizes that love is independent of material things.

This is why people accumulate clutter. They think they need shit to have memories. You don't. You just need the memories. Take a picture, it serves the same function.

 

[Tufts]

The montages of Carl and Ellie's life are so effective at making me sad I want to take hostages.

I encourage you to look at the flip side. They had a life together few do. Instead of the sadness, embrace the joy of the montage.

 

[Tufts]

The animation nailed it. The looks on faces were so well done. Even Doug felt similar to my own pups. And the old man's face was built to be curmudgeonly.

I'm not a fan of animation, and this movie makes me want to watch more Pixar. Plus, whoever made it, really got dogs. Squirrel. The ball chasing. The cone of shame. The dog drool. The dog dialogue. Love, love, loved it!

 

[Tufts]

Russell being his guardian angel helping him to peacefully pass over.

Why was his guardian an Asian American kid with divorced parents? Can't imagine this was the sort of person Carl thought too much about. Why wasn't it Ellie? And why was his death full of creatures that annoyed him like Dug and Kevin. Also, naming a bird Kevin is something a little boy would do, not a grumpy old man.