The Kidd Vs. Up, Part Two
After the debacle of trying to see “Up” on opening day, The Kidd was determined to get back to the theatre for a repeat viewing, so I could accurately give you my thoughts and opinions on Disney/Pixar’s latest. Finally, after the weekend, I grabbed my 3D glasses and headed to the movies with the hopes of not being interrupted, disturbed, or pissed-off by idiots. The good news is that this is the most serious and most adult Pixar movie to date. The bad news… well, there is none, because “Up” might just be Pixar’s best. This is a movie we can all identify with. It is for all the dreamers out there, those of you with a grand plan for life, with ideas of doing great things and visiting amazing places. It is for all of you who have had life just get in the way of having things go the way you 
thought they would. It is for all of you who think that there is plenty of time only for time to keep passing you by with each moment. And it delivers it to us through the journey of Carl Fredericksen.
When we first meet Carl Fredericksen, he is still a kid, full of wonder, with designs on living the life of his hero, Charles Muntz, the world-famous adventurer. He wants to travel the world, finding new creatures and lands. He cannot believe it when Muntz is accused of being a fraud, of fabricating the evidence of one of his discoveries. His innocence will not allow him to believe that his idol could be involved in any type of lie or scheme. Muntz is banished by his peers and vows not to return until he can prove he is no liar, while Carl’s imagination keeps him on the path of following in his hero’s footsteps.
While imagining he is Charles Muntz, Carl comes across a broken-down house where he hears a voice inside talking about foreign lands and strange animals. When he finds that the name of Muntz’s ship “The Spirit of Discovery” has been written on the door, he curiously ventures inside to see who he might share this common interest with. It is here that Carl will meet a loud, rambunctious girl named Ellie, who will be a part of his life from that very moment on. She too is a Muntz fan, who dreams of adventure, of one day visiting South America, where Muntz’s great discovery, Paradise Falls, exists. Her rowdy extroverted exterior is the complete opposite of Carl’s reserved shyness which makes them a perfect fit. You get the sense that neither has a great deal of friends, as they are both into their own thing, and no one else really gets it. So the fact that they have such a unique commonality is something that brings them together and keeps them together for the rest of their lives. These are two people that just 
understand each other. Ellie gives Carl a homemade badge made up of a grape soda badge on the first day she meets him, and, being the first gift she ever gives him, it will be one of the most treasured possessions he will have.
We then follow them through their lives, as they get married and get older with each other. They lay around under the clouds together, talking about their hopes and dreams, planning their future. They buy the very house in which they met and repair it to be their dream home. They desire a family of their own, however, they are unable to conceive children. Knowing Ellie’s heartbroken at this development, Carl presents her with the adventure book she showed him as a child, of places she wanted to go, and of stuff she wanted to do once she got there, so they hatch the idea to save up their money and get to Paradise Falls. He makes a promise to her that it will be the adventure of their lives, and they dream of actually having a house overlooking everything, sitting right next to the falls. They begin saving up, but life continues to get in the way, skirting their plans. Carl breaks his leg. The car gets a flat tire. A tree falls on their house. And each time they encounter an emergency, they have to dip into the funds they’ve been trying to set aside to follow their dreams. Days, weeks, years go by, with Carl and Ellie doing the things they need to do in their everyday lives, until they are an old couple, and time has just flown by. Carl remembers the promise he once made his wife, and finally decides they are going to go through with their intended adventure. But it is too late. Ellie is sick, and she is old, and shortly she will be gone. And Carl is left all alone, with only the memories of his wife to keep him company.
And that is where we find Carl as your typical grumpy old man. He’s the kind of guy that just wants to be left alone, that doesn’t want kids on his lawn, that would probably only leave his porch for a game of bingo or to get the early bird 
special if the neighborhood hadn’t changed with the times. Carl’s house is the only house left as real estate developers and corporations have taken over everything around it. High rises and condos and Jamba Juices have gone up all around his quaint little home, and he has refused any attempts to be bought out. This house is one of the lasting memories of the life he shared together with his wife, and he isn’t going to leave it for any amount of money or for any retirement home, no matter how much shuffleboard is there for him to play. He will not be leaving the place they built their life together in unless he’s dead or forced out.
At this point, he meets Russell, a wilderness explorer. He is set on getting a badge for assisting the elderly, and Carl fredericksen is the perfect candidate for him to aid. Russell is just like Carl was during his younger days. He has a wide-eyed innocent view of the world while seeking adventure. Knowing that he won’t be able to get rid of this persistent kid easily, Carl sends him on a wild goose chase to hunt down a bird that’s been eating his garden, which Russell gladly accepts, knowing that’s what needs to be done in order for him to move up in rank within his troop. However, while Russell enthusiastically sets off on his task, Carl is faced with a problem. He attacks a construction worker with his cane, after the guy destroys his mailbox, which happens to be just another memento of his dead wife. As a result of this encounter, he is forced to give up his house to the developer and go into that retirement home. But Carl will not go quietly. This place has been a major part of his life. Many of his memories were there. Times spent with his wife took place within this house’s walls. Giving up the house feels to him as if he is giving away a piece of her, the true love of 
his life. And, as he is set to pack, to accept the inevitable, he comes across the adventure book that keeps popping up. He is reminded of a promise he once made to his wife, to bring her to Paradise Falls, to have that house that overlooked its beauty, and how they never got there. Being the balloon salesman he is, he inflates a ridiculous amount, and when the orderlies come for him in the morning, he flies himself and his house out of there. Carl has turned his house into an airship… destination: South America… with the course set for Paradise Falls. He is going to make their dream finally come true, because he has no other choice at this point. He hatches a ridiculous idea that actually works, and he is well on his way until he hears a knock on his front door mid-flight. It is Russell, who was hiding under the porch trying to complete his mission. With no way to get him off this flying house, Carl has a parter-in-crime for the journey until he can figure out how to get him home.
The odd couple manage to make their way down to the ground safely, with Carl planning on sending Russell back, but once again, things haven’t gone to plan. They are there… in South America… and there is Paradise Falls, right on the other side of the mountain. Just when Carl believed the adventure had ended, it was just beginning. With the house still afloat, and Carl and Russell weighing it down from drifting away, their new plan is to walk the house all the way across to its final resting place, just as it had been drawn up this whole time. Along the way, they encounter a female bird named Kevin that just wants to get back to its babies that quickly befriends them due to her love of chocolate. They also meet Doug, a dog that can talk through a voice box on his collar who has been banished by the rest of his group, mostly for not fitting in. This motley crue continues on this trek together, that Carl had originally intended on taking 
alone. And once again, the idea that things don’t always go according to plan because sometimes life just happens rears its head.
There is a lot of really deep stuff in this movie. In fact, upon first viewing, my wife remarked to me that she had already cried three times within the movie’s first 15 minutes. The relationship between Carl and Russell is unique in that Russell develops into the son that Carl was never able to have, while Carl becomes the father figure that Russell lacks due to his parents’ divorce. Through Russell’s old memories with his dad and Carl flipping through the portions of his wife’s adventure book that were filled in, we also learn that the adventures we plan in life are just things. They may make for great stories and nice pictures, but they are just small pieces that get elevated because of the time and money that get put into them. When you really look back, it is the everyday stuff that really matters. It is the regular interaction, the moments we regularly spend with each other that ultimately stand out in your life. The experiences we treasure the most aren’t always the grandest. In fact, sometimes they are the most trivial, the most boring to others, the most regular. While they might not be impressive to others, they are the ones we hold nearest and dearest to our hearts.
Even when Carl finally meets his hero, Charles Muntz, he realizes he is nothing like the man he once wanted to be. Charles has spent his life searching for Kevin, as the bird he swore to bring back to clear his name. However, Muntz views these creatures not as beautiful pieces of nature, but as things for man to capture and show off. That is why he is at Paradise Falls, to find animals and bring them back, to collect as trophies on his airship, and he will do whatever it takes to make sure others don’t steal what he feels rightfully belongs to him. However, Carl is in South America for the complete opposite reason. He came here to enjoy nature, to take in the beauty of it all. That is why he and his wife 
planned this trip long ago, not to take a piece of nature for profit and recognition, but to embrace it for their own memories and experiences.
“Up” is the type of movie that will have you taking a look around at your loved ones once you exit the theatre and being thankful that they are a part of your life, for they shape who you are and are a great part of how things turn out. No matter what you plan to do with your life, they will be the ones who will be there, whether it actually happens or not. And to top it off, it doesn’t really matter what you’re doing or where you are, because it is the people that truly make the experiences memorable. You can chase your grand plans all you want, but it might just be too late before you realize that you are living the real grand plans day in and day out, and you won’t have the chance to appreciate those who have made it all special along the way.
With each movie, Pixar seems to go above and beyond itself. They continue to improve upon their last movie to give us superior storytelling and incredible animation. Their characters become so real that you never even think that you are only watching an animated movie. Each actor fits flawlessly into their role, not calling special attention to any specific voice, as you become lost in the real feelings of these characters. You want to see Carl Fredricksen follow through 
on paying tribute to his wife’s memory. You want to see Russell help Carl get that house across to the Falls, to help Kevin get back to his family, because the only thing he is trying to do is the right thing. You want to see Doug prove to himself that he isn’t the joke of a dog the others believe him to be. You feel for these characters that you want to see them succeed on the things they set out to do, and we identify with them, because we’ve all been in their situations. We’ve all had life interfere with things we’ve wanted to do, that you can only hope these characters are able to overcome those obstacles of finally fulfilling their dreams.
I believe that no one makes movies as consistently great as Pixar, who time and time again give us movies that entertain us as children and challenge us as adults. I feel that these movies constantly get a raw deal at the Academy Awards, relegated to only winning Best Animated Feature trophies, while never being under serious consideration for Best Picture. Hopefully, this is the year that will change that, as “Up” can hold its own against any live-action film that Hollywood can offer up. “Up” is the type of movie that dares you to dream and makes you believe that anything is possible. Thank you, Pixar. In this day and age where we are flooded with the same, with the predictable, and with the usual, you continue to take risks, surprising us with the different, with the unpredictable, and with the unusual, all of which give us a unique movie experience unmatched by others.
Have a pleasant immediate future.
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