date watched: August 4, 2009
location: Apgujung Cinecity
WHEN IN DOUBT, GO UP. :)
FINALLY. I was so upset that this came out in theaters in the States right about the time I left to come here. It was definitely worth the wait though.
I don't even know how I'm supposed to begin. There's SO MUCH going on in this animation.
First of all, the short that came before was ingenious. Pixar never ceases to amaze me with its cornucopia of creativity and originality.
Well. I had my doubts, since I was blown away by Wall-E and I didn't want anything to ruin such sublimity. Up is just about the most delectable yet heart-wrenching story you could imagine.
In the tradition of its predecessor, this animation also doesn't have much dialogue in the beginning. The montage sequences that follow Ellie and Carl's journey are just enough, and anything to tip the balance of silence would've been superfluous. I especially love how they had flashes of the different ties to show that Ellie tried to keep him somewhat "different" from the others, although judging by the repetition, it was not representative of the explorer in him.
Carl strings the balloons to his house--the final relic that ties him to Ellie--initially to escape the nursing home and the marginalization brought on by the massive construction flanking his sweet abode. When Russell tags along, the incitement is triggered, and thus the adventure begins.
Paradise Falls means many things for Carl: his childhood dream getaway, his first promise to Ellie, and the association it has with his role model, Charles Muntz. He eventually keeps his promise to Ellie by landing his flyaway house successfully atop the waterfall, but the other representations are sullied. Docter and Peterson may be making the point that so often we find our childhood role models flawed and unreliable, even after they may have guided us through all things large and small. In Carl's case, his childhood role model tries to take his life, along with several others'.
Dug reminds me of Brian in the television series, "Family Guy"; both are endowed with exceptional intelligence, but when it comes down to the root of things, they are still the furry four-legged companions underneath it all. This is evidenced by the dogs' propensity for tennis balls and squirrels. Epsilon may cook the greatest meals, but he will drop all cooking utensils in order to get his paws on Russell's hot dog.
Though an extremely simplified and dumbed down version of Ellie, Kevin is a reminder of Ellie's inherent motherhood, one that could not be realized during her living days. When Carl tries to push Kevin up the hill, it is very much like the image of Carl and Ellie climbing the precipice to get to their favorite picnic spot. Speaking of climbing, the "load" Carl carries is reminiscent of the one seen in The Mission. The Myth of Sisyphus also comes to mind.
Russell is the invitation that Carl did not ask for, an introspection into his lively past. After all, he too was once the goggle-clad youngster watching newsreels of Charles Muntz, applauding his hero's every move. Of course, Russell is a much more vociferous version of Carl. That's another detail I couldn't help noticing: when Carl and Ellie are wed, Ellie's family on the right pews clap and holler wildly, while Carl's family on the left pews clap demurely, remaining seated. Russell could very well be the son that Carl and Ellie never had.
I thought it was interesting that the leader of the canine pack was referred to as "Alpha." When his "voice" is reduced to a whiny, chipmunk-y one, his virility is undermined, as if being the "alpha male" isn't all it's cut out to be. He is figuratively emasculated in the end, with his head encased with the "cone of shame." Clever too, that Carl's furry friend is a golden retriever, as if Carl had been blind and needed a seeing-eye dog to lead him out of his misery and darkness. So convinced was Carl of the empty pages in Ellie's "My Adventure Book" that he couldn't stretch the meaning of "exploration" to fit the life he had shared with Ellie before she died; it isn't about the grand discoveries, it's about the details and daily laughter shared together.
