Oh, boy. I watched this with Mrs B when it came out on bluray back in 2009 and while we both enjoyed it, we haven’t watched it since. We’d been married about a year at that time and how the movie starts hit a little too close to home.
However, 10+ years seems like enough time and after AVP I needed something good, which Pixar has always delivered.
Synopsis is that we see how Carl and Ellie meet, fall in love and grow old together until Ellie passes away. The movie really starts with Carl being a grumpy old man and refusing to sell his house to a developer while massive construction is going on all around him. A boy scout comes to Carl’s door, Russell, and Carl sends him on a snipe hunt to get rid of him. Carl has an altercation with one of the construction people and a court orders him to a retirement home. He uses a million balloons to sail the house away to South America to fulfill the dream that he and Ellie had but never realized. The complication is that Russell is along for the ride. They make it to the place that Carl wants to go, find a bird that nobody believes exists and meet Carl’s childhood hero, a world renowned adventurer who has been hunting the bird all these years and has intelligent dogs who can speak through electronic collars. It turns into a fight between Carl, Russell and Doug (one of the talking dogs) against the Adventurer and his dogs. The bad guys are defeated and Carl becomes the male authority figure in Russell’s life. A Happy Ending.
This movie starts out with Carl and Ellie meeting because of their love of adventure. It is done in this colored style that is reminiscent of a black and white movie. Once past the initial meeting, there is almost no dialogue but we see how Carl and Ellie’s life goes on. I have to admit, it was the most gut wrenching thing (again) and when Ellie passes, I was just sobbing. I was glad no one could see me. I was astounded how Pixar could pack so much intention into scenes lasting only seconds with no dialogue.
Then the movie goes into the main part and we see grumpy old man Carl meeting Russell and it turns into a Buddy movie. I enjoyed the rest of it, but after having my emotional guts torn out in the beginning the impact just wasn’t the same.
I was glad to watch this but suspect it will be another decade before I watch it again. Not as good as Toy Story or Monster’s Inc, but a solid movie in the Pixar line up.
With my reading of the Lord of the Rings ending soon, I’ve decided to watch the extended edition dvds that I own. However, when I was looking at my shelf, I also saw the 10th Kingdom, a miniseries that Mrs B introduced me to. It is 5 episodes long and would take about 3 posts as well. So your vote for the next three months. Choose wisely (for your own sake!).
Up is a film that looked funny but I never got round to watching. Might need to make an effort. That dog is so cute!
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If you like most of Pixar’s movies, then this is worth watching.
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Nice review.
I have a bone to pick with the Lord of the Ring movies. I am not familiar with ‘The 10 Kingdoms’, so that is my pick.
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What’s the bone with LotR? I’d love to hear about it 🙂
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I hate to ruin the movies for you, but you asked…
I did NOT mind that they left Tom Bombadil out. That is fine with me.
What really bothered me, was a troop of Elves marching up to save the day in ‘The Two Towers’. That shit did not happen. In ‘The Return of the King’, all the elves ARE supposed to come to the rescue, but guess what? There is only Legolas.
These things never seem to bother anyone else, but they bug me.
I hope you can still enjoy these movies.
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Oh, I’ve watched the movies and really like them. Most of the issues you mention simply aren’t big enough to bother me 😀 I guess you’ll have suffer alone 😉
Not trying to make fun of you, mind. It is just I’m not a big enough of a purist. Now, the Hobbit on the other hand, that stuff really bothered me…
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Bombadil being left out was quite an issue for me too. The rest i have forgotten about.
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It would have been even better if this animation did not plagiarise a short titled “Above Then Beyond”.
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Gotta disagree with your assessment based off of my read of this Slashdot article:
https://www.slashfilm.com/did-the-french-short-film-above-then-beyond-inspire-pixars-up/
I’d certainly be glad to hear some counter-articles though. Just be aware that if you include more than 1 link I’ll have to mod the comment as Akismet automatically calls anything with multiple links “spam”. So let me know if you include a bunch of links and I’ll go find it in the spam folder and approve it 🙂
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Unfortunately, I am no longer prepared to get into this debate even though I still believe there were things done wrong in relation to the short. I just thought I would draw your attention to this issue.
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No worries. I don’t automatically discount what you’re saying, as this is Disney we’re talking about 🙂
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I absolutely LOVE this film! I agree, though, that the first ten minutes where Pixar rips your heart out and tears it to shreds makes the rest of the film a little less impactful especially the whole dog storyline. BUT I love the film for Russell and Carl’s relationship. The development is phenomenal.
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Yeah, the relationship between Carl and Russell is a great one. Every time Russell reveals a little tidbit about his life you can see Carl realizing he has no idea how kids are surviving.
I’m not a dog person but even I found the whole Doug storyline pretty funny 😀
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Sheesh, yeah, Up has got some killer emotional moments. We usually start rewatching it because we remember that we liked Doug, then get to THAT bit you mentioned and both start sobbing. At which point we have to turn it off and find something else to watch! 😀
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I don’t think Mrs B will be watching this again. I probably will, but it will be years down the road. I have to admit, I’m glad not all movies have that impact on me…
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Oh, drat. Meant to add – I vote for The 10th Kingdom too, because I haven’t headr of it and am intrigued.
‘Kay. Thanks. Bye. 😀
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A later vote is just as legit as an early vote 😉
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I’ve never seen Up. I did finally bite the bullet and signed up for Disney+, so I look forward to catching up on my Pixar movies (although no-angel isn’t quite to where she will let us really watch a movie).
I vote LotR, obviously, although I think the ideal combination is the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring followed by the theatrical versions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
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I only own the Extended Versions. So one vote for LotR!
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LotR.
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And another vote for LotR!
the voting is neck and neck. I hope it doesn’t come down to a die roll 🙂
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Up is a pretty cool movie, and I like how it introduces an older character – a rarity in animations. Wouldn’t have guessed it would be so emotional for you, though!
I can’t stand LotR movies and never heard of the other one, so I vote for 10th Kingdom 😉
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And 10th Kingdom pulls into the lead once again.
I was happy that they showed Carl as positively as they did. Most “older” characters are either cardboard for one scene or a badguy
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10th Kingdom sounds interesting, so it gets my vote!
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And another vote for 10th Kingdom.
goodness, I’m going to actually have to count up the votes this time! 😀
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For me it would be a non-choice: LOTR, of course!
There are some moments, in the course of the trilogy, where P.J. lost all restraint and/or contact with the original characters, but at the end of the day I enjoyed that… Middle Earth Visual Tour 😉
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It has been a long time since I’ve watched them. No matter which series I end up watching I’m going to have a good time 😀
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So glad to hear such positive thoughts about UP. I look forward to finally checking it myself. Maybe even this month too. To be determined. I’d vote the LotR trilogy just because I want to hear your thoughts on it now hahah
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Man, the voting is fast and furious this month! I guess I picked some good candidates 😉
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I do enjoy Pixar films! But they all make me cry. The question is never “will I need a tissue” but “how many tissues will I need”…
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen 10th Kingdom, but I forgot everything about it, so it’s my choice. That way you can remind me about the thing I forgot. 😉
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😀
Always glad to be a helpful neighbor!
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😀
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Yeah, I loved the poignancy of the beginning, and the message about living a life without regrets. It was still good during the “buddy” parts, but yeah, became more silly and less meaningful at that point 🙂
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If they had toned down the beginning or upped the connection between Carl and Russell I think it would have seemed less uneven.
Not sure I could have handled a movie that was as intense as the beginning though 🙂
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Yeah, I agree this is really an emotional one. My husband and I watched it in the theater.
Seems like it’s generally agreed that the 10 or so minutes showing Carl and Ellie’s back story can stand by themselves as a work of art. But for me, the emotional impact went on after that because the whole movie seems to be about loss. Like when the house is floating away and enters a storm, and Carl’s precious pictures and other remnants of his life with Ellie are getting smashed. So symbolic of what age has done to him.
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I don’t usually look that deep into my movies. That’s what my books are for! 😀 😀 😀
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Oh gosh, I didn’t have to look! It just grabbed me!
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I really like this one- but, yes, I hear you about how it’s hard for the rest of the movie to live upto the fact you’ve had your emotional guts pulled out in the beginning. And I watched this a few years back- as good as I thought it was, I’ve no desire to be reduced to a sobbing mess rewatching it any time soon!!
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Definitely not a movie I’d recommend just casually watching 🙂
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Recon i am a bit late to the party but Up will always hit me in the feels. It was the last animation i watched with my dad before he passed away further. That opening scene will always hit close to home. Regarding which of the two choises, i guess i am gona find out who won the vote in the coming posts🙂. Prepare for incomming likes and comments in the next few days…
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Great to see you back! Hope your trip went well.
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Was a hard trip to make. Do not know if i am gonna write a post about it yet. I have a few books i can talk about though. Ill be typing up as soon as i have some free time.
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Privacy is a good thing…
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