Up, Up … And Above Kids’ Heads?
Just because it’s a cartoon doesn’t mean it’s for kids.
By Rachel Wallace
Up is the latest release from Pixar, the same people who brought you Wall-E, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc.
The trailer for the movie is deceiving. In the previews, you see Carl Fredricksen (Edward Asner) tie thousands of balloons to his house and fly away, getting stuck with a young boy who happened to be standing on his porch at the time he took off. They are in a jungle. There is a bird and a talking dog, and another older character, voiced by Christopher Plummer. Carl comes across as almost a hermit, grouchy in his old age and not happy to be there. Humor ensues!
Seeing the movie, you actually learn that Carl has led a full life, thanks to an animated montage that could easily bring you to tears. He meets his future wife as a young boy and they have the dream of going to South America and living on top of the Falls of Paradise. You watch them grow old together and living their lives. Carl is not a hermit, but rather a man who holds onto the memory of his wife and the fact that he never got her to the Falls of Paradise. When he creates a scene in front of his home with a construction worker, he begins his flying adventure with his stowaway Russell, a young Wilderness Adventure scout.
Up finds itself in the same predicament that Wall-E faced. Through a good chunk of the beginning of the movie there is almost no dialogue and, when there is speaking, it’s elevated language that might escape a younger child. Once the house and the characters enter the jungle, the pace, dialogue and comedy picks up. If a child can sit still long enough, this is where they begin to enjoy themselves. The movie is actually very dark with its themes, although it’s disguised well with bright colors and comedy. But even a lot of the humor was subtler. There were physical gags, but not like in Monsters, Inc., where there’s one at every turn. Most of the child’s humor was sparked by Russell. Overall, the theatre remained pretty void of kids’ laughter — they seemed to be more interested in their popcorn and going to the bathroom.
I am of the opinion that Pixar is attempting to grow with its audience. Toy Story is for a whole different age level than Up. While the earlier Pixar movies were kids movies an adult could enjoy, Up is an adult movie kids might enjoy.
A strong word of warning: if your child has any fear of dogs, I would not recommend this movie. There is an army of attack dogs consisting of rottweilers, pit bulls and bulldogs. Doug is the loveable dog on the commercials, but he is the only of his kind. There are also a lot of moments that involve extreme heights. Characters almost fall out of the floating house multiple times, the dog pack dives off a cliff (although they do pan down and you see the dogs swimming away), and the bad guy is tossed off of the blimp above the clouds. Blood is shown twice, once when Carl thwacks a man on the head and once when the bird is bit by a dog. The movie quickly goes from lighthearted walking through the forest to serious action and being chased by the bad guys. There are dog chases; there is an attempt to set the house on fire and an epic old-man battle which starts out pretty humorous. While I enjoyed it, I looked over at the four-year-old sitting next to me and discovered she kept her eyes covered through most of it. I noticed no bad language, but there was a relatively high violence factor. Lots of dog bites and swinging of canes. There is also a gun which is fired twice, but no one gets shot.
It is a wonderful movie for adults, and I could recommend it to anyone with an age in double digits. The characters have wonderful depth and life to them, the storyline is a wonderful mix of reality and fantasy and the combination makes the movie one of the best of the year.
Previews included Shorts, Astro Boy, Ice Age 3, Imagine That, G Force, The Princess and the Frog, and the Pixar short “Partly Cloudy” which also includes no dialogue, but it’s short and cute about how babies are made by the clouds and delivered by storks.
Rachel Wallace lives in Southern Maryland. She just graduated with a BA in Stage Direction and Management with a minor in English from Greensboro College.
