I have had a hard time thinking of some topics to write on for this weeks blog post. This past weekend I watched UP! for about the 200th time, and realized…I have cried every time. SPOILER ALERT: there are sad portions to this movie. Call me a wimp, but I believe that with the movie UP! Pixar wanted to branch out and create a not so perfect story.
In all of the previews of UP! there were fun characters, a grumpy but adventurous old man and a boy who just wants to fit in. But it was what they didnt show the audience that made this film different than all the others that Pixar has created over the years. There was still the message of perseverance and believing in oneself, but the situations that the different characters faced in their every day life were what caught the attention of so many people.
The story of UP! is a generally happy one, but it is not what many thought it may be when they walked into the theater. It was not their usual movie. It was a story of two people who came together out of tragedy that happened to them. Carl, a man who had fallen in love as a child with a girl named Ellie, grew up and married her. Carl and Ellie spent a good portion of their lives together trying to fulfill their dreams. This is the first not so perfect part of this movie. The movie touches on the subject of Miscarriage when Ellie becomes pregnant, then we see her in a doctors office crying. This is something that cartoons for children do not normally touch on. It is a subject that most children do not even know about. Tragedy then hit the family when Ellie passed away and Carl was left alone. His life is turned upside down by this and other things. Then we are introduced to Russell, a small boy who lives only with his mother and is out looking for an adventure. He is desperate for his fathers attention who does not come around all that often. They accidentally end up on a journey that helps both of them become better people, and allows them to gain back something that they had lost in the friendships they discovered.
Pixar did something new and different with this movie. They touched on things that most animated movies had not touched on at that level. It was something that today’s audience needed to see, and could relate with, possibly on many levels. I can imagine that some were upset with the way that this was portrayed though. The question that comes to mind in this instance is: is this appropriate for the ages that this movie was geared towards? Or should animated movies be happy-go-lucky all the time. I think this goes back to the messages and jokes that many movies put out in order to appeal to the parents that take the kids to go see the film. This movie was not geared towards children, it was geared towards family. I wouldnt imagine that a child would understand the scene with Ellie at the doctors, but the parents would. It opens up a line of communication from the parents to the children. A topic that maybe some people are uncomfortable talking about could be brought up in a way that would make children understand that not everything always goes according to plan. While this film has its dark moments, it has the ability to touch almost everyone at some point.
Pixar certainly is not the safe animation studio, and with this film they proved that. I believe that this not so perfect story is exactly what the public needed to launch a new acceptance of a different kind of film. Hopefully in the future this trend will continue.
This movie was pretty sad with some things meant for an older audience than younger. Yet there were still things in it that little kids could relate to like the house being able to fly around by the help of balloons, the little boy scout kid, and the talking dog. I think with CG animation as opposed to hand drawn animation, animators will touch on some things that are more adult oriented than child, yet still keep some elements for children to understand, because adults tend to watch more of the computer animations. They are usually the ones who will take their young kids to the theaters to watch the movie, and get a few laughs themselves. I recently re watched the cartoon movie “Beauty and the Beast” after a couple of years and realized how different my perception of the movie was now compared to when I was a kid. It was a cute movie, but I had more fun watching a movie like “Shrek” that had some humor aimed at adults, and some at kids, each understanding the comedy aimed at them. Having said that, I don’t think its necessarily a good idea to add anything perverted or graphic to a computer animated movie that is overall aimed at children.