# Up \*\*SPOILERS\*\* (it has balloons) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011 "2009-05-29T09:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/61 "2009-06-03T13:59:49Z")
You can’t draw the villain to look like Terence Stamp and then make him sound like Christopher Plummer. On the other hand, Terence Stamp’s voice would give little kids nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/62 "2009-06-04T00:59:42Z")
I bawled like a baby through the whole thing. I think I might have cried more times than I laughed! I’ve never cried so much at a movie before. It was kinda like when we went to Pan’s Labyrinth expecting a fairy tale… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/63 "2009-06-04T06:31:08Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > I bawled like a baby through the whole thing. I think I might have cried more times than I laughed! I’ve never cried so much at a movie before. It was kinda like when we went to Pan’s Labyrinth expecting a fairy tale… It had two really emotionally parts, (the montage of Carl and Ellie’s life together and Ellie’s adventure book), and I can see getting misty at some of the Dug stuff (“Bad dog!” and “I hid under the porch because I love you!”). But it also has some wonderfully funny bits, so you’ll get a full emotional workout. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/64 "2009-06-04T13:27:01Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > It had two really emotionally parts, (the montage of Carl and Ellie’s life together and Ellie’s adventure book), and I can see getting misty at some of the Dug stuff (“Bad dog!” and “I hid under the porch because I love you!”). But it also has some wonderfully funny bits, so you’ll get a full emotional workout. The part where the chairs fall over and Carl sets them back in place and looks at them sadly got to me too. My grandparents each had their own recliner like that, and when my grandmother died and we had to get my grandfather to a smaller apartment, he chose to keep her chair instead of his. So that scene really resonated with me! ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/65 "2009-06-04T16:41:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I loved it. And, yeah, I cried at the beginning. > > When the “dogfighers” came flying out, did you catch the Star Wars reference as they checked in over the radio? 🙂 > > One thought…how the frak old is Charles Muntz? He was an accomplished adventurer when Carl was 6 or so. Now Carl is, what, 70? Muntz is pretty darned spry for an centenarian. Must be the warm weather in the jungle! 😃 Of course, there is the secondary Star Wars reference when they all hear “Squirrel” and the three planes smash into each other (Vader and his two wingmen). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/66 "2009-06-04T17:43:51Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Of course, there is the secondary Star Wars reference when they all hear “Squirrel” and the three planes smash into each other (Vader and his two wingmen). Ooooh, that’s true!! I hadn’t thought of that!! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/67 "2009-06-05T04:43:57Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Not sure if that’s always true. Certainly, at least one of them had narration (the one with the hopping jackalope). Oops. You are right. I don’t know why I didn’t remember _Boundin’_. Okay, amended rule: Almost every short shown with a feature has no dialogue (exception _Boundin’_) Almost every short made for the DVD (involving characters from the feature) does have dialogue (exception _BURN-E_). There, I think I got it covered. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/68 "2009-06-07T18:44:03Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > The part where the chairs fall over and Carl sets them back in place and looks at them sadly got to me too. My grandparents each had their own recliner like that, and when my grandmother died and we had to get my grandfather to a smaller apartment, he chose to keep her chair instead of his. So that scene really resonated with me! The part that really got to me (other than the ones people mentioned already) was when Carl went out to get his mail and paused to put his hand on Ellie’s handprint on the side of the mailbox. Just a little throwaway thing, but so perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/69 "2009-06-08T00:56:57Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > You can’t draw the villain to look like Terence Stamp and then make him sound like Christopher Plummer. > > On the other hand, Terence Stamp’s voice would give little kids nightmares. I thought he looked like Kirk Douglas. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/70 "2009-06-08T01:34:33Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > The biggest problem for me was that they turned Charles Muntz into a villain at all. It was so sudden and pointless. It was neither, in my opinion. For one thing, Muntz’s descent into madness is logical given the events of the film. And it certainly was not pointless. In fact, without Muntz, the move LOSES much of its point. Muntz’s obsession with finding the snipe, or whatever you want to call the bird, was thematically central to the entire movie. The film is deliberately contrasting Muntz and Carl - two old men near the end, both of whom feel their lives are incomplete. In the case of Muntz it’s because he hasn’t found his snipe and greatness was taken from him; in the case of Carl, he feels he was never great enough _because he was never like Muntz._ More specifically, he feels he failed his wife by not being like Muntz. But what we find at the end is that Carl was, in fact, the more successful one, because he was loved. It was Carl, not Muntz, who lived a life worth living, because he had Ellie; while Muntz was futilely pursuing his white whale, as the world moved on and forgot about him, Carl was enjoying a life that wasn’t what he’d originally hoped for but was more than happy enough. The man from the newsreels was the failure; the man who watched them and lived a humble life was the success. In the end it’s also how he defeats Muntz, because he cares for others and Muntz does not, but that’s just what makes it a happy ending and not a dark one. What matters is that Carl succeeded without realizing he was doing it, while Muntz’s life was a lonely failure because of his obsession with greatness. It is not accidental that Muntz’s conveyance of choice was a zeppelin - a huge, brash, white whale of a vehicle - while Carl’s is his house. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/71 "2009-06-08T05:30:31Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I thought he looked like Kirk Douglas. Well, you say “potato.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/72 "2009-06-08T13:59:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It was neither, in my opinion. For one thing, Muntz’s descent into madness is logical given the events of the film. > > And it certainly was not pointless. In fact, without Muntz, the move LOSES much of its point. Muntz’s obsession with finding the snipe, or whatever you want to call the bird, was thematically central to the entire movie. The film is deliberately contrasting Muntz and Carl - two old men near the end, both of whom feel their lives are incomplete. In the case of Muntz it’s because he hasn’t found his snipe and greatness was taken from him; in the case of Carl, he feels he was never great enough _because he was never like Muntz._ More specifically, he feels he failed his wife by not being like Muntz. > > But what we find at the end is that Carl was, in fact, the more successful one, because he was loved. It was Carl, not Muntz, who lived a life worth living, because he had Ellie; while Muntz was futilely pursuing his white whale, as the world moved on and forgot about him, Carl was enjoying a life that wasn’t what he’d originally hoped for but was more than happy enough. The man from the newsreels was the failure; the man who watched them and lived a humble life was the success. In the end it’s also how he defeats Muntz, because he cares for others and Muntz does not, but that’s just what makes it a happy ending and not a dark one. What matters is that Carl succeeded without realizing he was doing it, while Muntz’s life was a lonely failure because of his obsession with greatness. It is not accidental that Muntz’s conveyance of choice was a zeppelin - a huge, brash, white whale of a vehicle - while Carl’s is his house. I could’ve sworn I said that. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/73 "2009-06-08T14:16:53Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Another stereoblind checking in. I do not see depth, so like a pigeon, I move my head around a bit and can judge what’s in front of what. For the most part, I’m right-eye dominant and my left eye just provides peripheral vision. MrWhatsit is effectively blind in one eye (he has a bit of peripheral vision in it, but nothing else) and does the pigeon-bobbing thing too, especially when driving. It’s pretty subtle, though. We do go to the 3-D movies for the kids, and he usually wears the glasses, not because they allow him to see 3-D, but because they filter out the “wrong-eye” input and allow him to see the movie in normal 2-D as opposed to the weird color-blurred image that you see without any 3-D glasses at all. More on topic, I loved “Up.” I suspect that it will not be one of my kids’ favorite Pixar films – they are 7, 5, and 2, and thematically this film had a lot of weighty issues, as mentioned above. Don’t get me wrong; they all had a great time and loved the film. But I don’t see them asking us to watch it over and over again like Cars or Toy Story. I, on the other hand, thought it was one of the best animated films I’ve seen in recent memory. “But I am not Alpha! He is Alpha! …ooohhhh.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/74 "2009-06-08T14:23:24Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I could’ve sworn I said that. On re read, yes, you did. I expanded on it, but I should have noted you made the same point first. “Up” is an example of what good screenwriting really is. People often seem to think “screenwriting” equals “dialogue,” and therefore will credit a mediocre script with good dialogue, like “Serenity,” as being a good script. But a good script is 95% about things other than dialogue. “Up” delivers the goods without using a lot of dialogue and without tiring the viewer out with a lot of flat exposition. In a multitude of places it, like all good movies, shows rather than tells. It uses visual metaphors both subtle and obvious but blends them in to the story. To use one great example, Carl dragging his house around on the Paradise Falls escarpment is about as in-your-face a piece of symbolism as has ever been put on screen. It doesn’t get a lot more obvious than that; an old man, having only his possessions and memories left, who is literally tied to his house and dragging it around. And yet it doesn’t feel like they’re beating you over the head with it because it’s tied perfectly into the story; in the context of the story him pulling the house around makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/75 "2009-06-08T14:29:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > To use one great example, Carl dragging his house around on the Paradise Falls escarpment is about as in-your-face a piece of symbolism as has ever been put on screen. It doesn’t get a lot more obvious than that; an old man, having only his possessions and memories left, who is literally tied to his house and dragging it around. And yet it doesn’t feel like they’re beating you over the head with it because it’s tied perfectly into the story; in the context of the story him pulling the house around makes sense. The scene in which he has to literally jettison the dead weight from his house, and starts madly flinging old furniture, knick-knacks, etc., out the front door, where they smash onto the ground, was amazing. I wanted to cheer. Yeah, the symbolism was obvious but that didn’t make it work any less for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/76 "2009-06-08T14:33:45Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > The one thing that bothered me most was Muntz supposedly falling to his death. Sure he had some balloons on him that may have slowed his fall but it seems more likely he died. I just thought that seemed a bit dark. I guess he deserved it because it was implied that he had killed other explorers and he was certainly willing to kill a kid by dropping him from his blimp. I actually expected to see Muntz alive in the jungle at the end. When they showed the house back up at the top of the falls I thought maybe Muntz would be there cleaning up, but I guess it would be creepy to show him at Carl’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/77 "2009-06-08T17:40:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Up” is an example of what good screenwriting really is. People often seem to think “screenwriting” equals “dialogue,” and therefore will credit a mediocre script with good dialogue, like “Serenity,” as being a good script. But a good script is 95% about things other than dialogue. “Up” delivers the goods without using a lot of dialogue and without tiring the viewer out with a lot of flat exposition. In a multitude of places it, like all good movies, shows rather than tells. It uses visual metaphors both subtle and obvious but blends them in to the story. Yes! Exactly. I think this is what impressed me most about the movie. And I’m sure it’s been said already, but that opening sequence was an amazingly brilliant bit of storytelling. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/78 "2009-06-08T18:40:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > On re read, yes, you did. I expanded on it, but I should have noted you made the same point first. Quite alright. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/79 "2009-06-08T18:52:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Muntz’s obsession with finding the snipe, or whatever you want to call the bird OK, maybe I’m thick, but I just now realized the parallel there: at the beginning of the film, when Carl wants Russell to go away, he sends the lad on a snipe hunt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011/80 "2009-06-08T20:22:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I actually expected to see Muntz alive in the jungle at the end. When they showed the house back up at the top of the falls I thought maybe Muntz would be there cleaning up, but I guess it would be creepy to show him at Carl’s house. It’s hard to think of a way that Muntz could have been redeemed, so it was probably best just to leave the possibility open that he survived, but not return to him. About the only positive way I can think of that he could have been showed is for Kevin to be caring for him in some fashion - but I think it would be difficult to make that understandable in a brief amount of time, and it would detract from the story to make it longer. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really notice even the blatantly obvious symbolism of the movie while I was watching it, like Carl literally dragging his house around with him - I was far too wrapped up in the story. Nevertheless, it did touch me on some level below the conscious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-spoilers-it-has-balloons/498011.md?page=5)