Up: The Human Condition in Pixar Animation

The three-minute montage of the life and marriage of Carl and Ellie Frederickson in the opening minutes of Upmight be the best animated sequence I’ve ever seen. I’ll admit being wary of the film; despite the great press and reviews, the dog and the dodo bird in the ads made me suspect Up would be the typical Disney schmaltz complete with silly jokes and sentiment that has dominated the production company since Walt’s death. However, Up is beautifully crafted and highly emotional without being sentimental at all. It will go on my list as a favorite film from last year, and it bumps Up in the Air from the “big five” films that I believe should have been nominated for Best Picture.

The strength of Upis its ability to tell a story and examine the human condition despite using animated characters. Frederickson, brilliantly voiced by Ed Asner, struggles with growing old and losing his wife, a subject never explored, as far as I know, by the art of animation.  This makes the film unique, but it also gives it an extra challenge–using a medium normally reserved for “cute” to create both pathos and drama in a Chaplinesque flirtation with the tragicomic.  The result is a tight, well written, well edited film that appeals to both adults and children.  The journey, both physical and metaphorical, for Frederickson, results in his discovering himself again after losing the thing that kept him going for decades.  We cheer for Frederickson, not out of pity, but out of our own experience with what is uniquely human. 

The most interesting thing about this film for me was the occasional parallel to the Don Quixote story.  An old man (Frederickson/Don Quixote) sets out on a quest (for Frederickson, it’s to go to the place he and his wife always dreamed of going, thus fulfilling a promise; for Don Quixote, of course, it’s to battle evil in all forms) and is accompanied by a much shorter, less trim, alter-ego (Sancho Panza, who craves an island in the novel; Russell, the boyscout yearning for a Aiding Senior Citizens badge in the film).  Like Don  Quixote, Frederickson’s quest is full of misadventures (a house lifted into the air with balloons–something I believe Cervantes would’ve given for Don Quixote had such a concept been possible at the time–seems an awful lot like a dragon that turns into a windmill to me)  all in the name and spirit of a woman who cannot appreciate his work (for Don Quixote, Dulcinea El Toboso is simply unaware of his love and disinterested in his personage; for Frederickson, the maiden on the pedestal is dead).   The Don Quixote elements also include the marvelous soundtrack, an ethereal, dreamy sound, which reminds me greatly of Charlie Chaplin’s musical composition accompanying his classic film, City Lights. 

Although I greatly  enjoyed the film, I found the entire subplot with Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz and his pack of wild dogs distracting.  Although Plummer’s character was essential to the story, the dogs did not work, providing Disneyesque “comic relief” (Alpah Dog speaks like a chipmunk when his translator shorts out; a dog who “turns good” sounds straight off a Looney  Tunes cartoon).  In short, I hated the dogs.  They were the throwback to the cutsie “kid’s” stuff the Disney company seems obsessed with having in every motion picture.  It’s distracting and took a way from an otherwise nearly perfect film.

The dogs, however, aren’ t enough to ruin Up.  It triumphs anyway, despite the dogs.  Up is touching, emotional, and beautiful.  As a film, it is an extraordinary achievement.

The professor grades the movie

Acting: Can you grade acting in an animated movie?  A
Directing: A
Script: A-
Special Effects: A+
Entertainment Value: A

Miscellaneous: A

Final Grade: A

S0 far on my blog I’ve mostly talked about films I like.  There is a reason for this–they were films for the awards season!  I must admit, this was one of the strongest years in recent memory, and I would have been happy seeing any one of the Big Five films win.  This is not usually the case; i.e., last year’s winner Snoopdog Millionaire–er, Slumdog Millionaire, was one of the biggest pieces of crap ever to be nominated for an Oscar.  I’m still recovering after sitting through that piece of drivel.  Oh, horrible, horrible, most horrible.