The first order of business today is a call to arms. Today is June 1. That means the ranking list over at Top Web Comics has been reset. If we’re going to crack the Top 10, this is our best opportunity. So, please, for The Gipper… vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics right now.
For your trouble, you can see how Truman handles the Buzz and Woody uprising in his own inimitable style!
Today’s comic calls back to something very specific in Theater Hopper’s history. Back in 2005, Cami gave Tom an early Christmas present – Dewey, the havok-wrecking monkey. Truman and Dewey didn’t get along with each other, which is expected when a new pet is brought into the home. But things came to a head after Tom snuck Dewey into a screening of King Kong. It fill him will all sorts of terrible ideas. Of course, Truman came to the rescue the only way you can possibly hope to stop a rampaging monkey… buy flying a biplane, guns blazing.
I don’t know if you’ve seen Up yet, but if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve probably seeing Dug the talking Dog. Dug is a member of a larger pack of talking dogs and, well, long story short… at one point, three of them fly biplanes.
YOU TOTALLY STOLE MY IDEA, PIXAR!
Please note my tongue placed firmly in cheek because I TOTALLY stole the dog-flying-a-bi-plane gag from Charles Schultz, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude.
But, yeah… I have to admit it was my own comic that came to mind when I watched that scene in the movie.
Describing the dogs in biplanes scene makes me realize how completely odd Up is. Maybe even a little to idiosyncratic for its own good. But I don’t care. I love, love, LOVED this movie. Despite its flourishes, Up is probably Pixar’s most emotionally relevant film to date.
I never thought Pixar would be capable of making me care about their characters as much as they were able to hook me with Wall-E and Eve. If they can make you care about robots in love, they can do anything.
As we know, Up is the story of Carl Fredrickson, a widower who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies it to South America. But what we don’t know is where Carl got the idea.
In the film’s first act, we’re introduced to Carl’s childhood sweetheart, Ellie – a girl who, in all likelihood, for who the term “moxie” was invented. It is her childhood dream to build a house next to Paradise Falls. In a stirring, wordless montage, we see the couple grow old together, scrimping and saving to fund their bold adventure into the jungle. Before long, Ellie succumbs to old age, leaving Carl to fend for himself. Punctuated by Michael Giacchino’s brilliant score, both Cami and I were an emotional wreck after watching that scene. That’s when Up got its hooks into us – deep. After that, you’ll pretty much let a movie get away with anything – even a trio of talking talks flying biplanes.
I can’t stress the value of Giacchino’s score in this one, folks. Occasionally when Carl looks to the heavens and speaks to the ethereal Ellie, Giacchino’s score returns to the first act and drags up those memories of a life spent together. Carl’s pain becomes our pain as we remember alongside him. Absolutely fantastic work. That’s why I was disappointed to learn that Disney is not releasing the Up original soundtrack as a physical CD, but in digital download only.
I think what I appreciate most about Up, is that even though it is pulling your heartstrings, it never feels manipulative. It feels completely organic to the story. Carl’s quest to the Amazon is completely in service to his wife’s wishes. Love that conquers continents. The romantic in me can’t resist.
Additionally, Carl is joined by a young stowaway, Russell – a motormouth “Wilderness Explorer” seeking to collect his “Assisting the Elderly” badge so he can become a Senior Explorer. Rotund, yet hyperactive, Russell’s backstory as a child of divorce is only alluded to. But it is a powerful representation of what he hopes his obsessive collection of badges will achieve – his father’s attention and approval. Russell never says as much in such detail, but the animators make his despondency clear on his face. That’s note-perfect storytelling, folks. If nothing else, Pete Docter’s direction does a fantastic job of showing and not telling.
In addition to Up being Pixar’s more emotionally affecting film, I will also go out on a limb and say it is it’s funniest. Lots of rapid-fire jokes throughout, mainly courtesy of its animal cast introduced in the second act – Dug, the aforementioned talking dog and Kevin, an exotic 9 foot tall bird that joins them on their journey.
Things fall apart a little bit in the third act as Carl and Russell bump into the recluse adventurer Charles Muntz who has tucked himself away in the tabletop mountains seeking to capture one of Kevin’s species to bring back to the civilized world. At this point, the film becomes more of a farce than an adventure and if I were to lob any criticism toward the film, it would land here.
But as I said earlier, these details are almost incidental to the primary plot device of seeing Carl through on his epic quest. His is almost a Quixotic folly, but you believe in the love for his wife and cheer him on.
Of course, what Carl discovers after the task is complete and the lesson learned that adventure can be found in your own backyard, become profound for their simplicity. Carl traversed the globe keeping everything familiar to him within arms reach. But in order to achieve peace, Carl has to let go of everything that was keeping him locked inside a widower’s despondency. We witness his growth as a characters and as all his pain is lifted off his shoulders. It’s an amazing transformation.
I can’t recommend Up highly enough. It is far and away my favorite film of 2009.
What about you? Did you see Up this weekend? Did you succumb to it’s emotional right hook or did the film’s eccentricities get in the way? Leave your comments below!
I loved it, but what was going on with the dogs flying biplanes?
Remember when our old pet monkey Dewey kidnapped you and held you hostage on top of that skyscraper?
Truman rescued you FLYING A BIPLANE!
Oh, man. What if Pixar is spying on us to get ideas for their movies?
I find that highly unlikely, Tom.
He's onto us, Buzz.
I say we kill him in his sleep.
This is the only Movie I have ever seen that made me cry…I wept like a little girl about 5 times during this thing…A++
I did see Up this weekend and I do agree it was a good movie. It doesn’t beat Finding Nemo but I do say its better then Cars or Wall-E. The beginning montage was definately the best part and the animation was amazing. SO I was liking this movie then the next night I saw THe Brother’s Bloom which was AMAZING. I loved it so much with its hilarious yet complex characters and unique story, I find it way better then Up. Then again I’m more partcial to that type of genre.
P.S. I also loved the incentive sketch.
Absolutely loved it – my wife and I were both a wreck during the silent section, but even more so at another point in towards the end that was especially poignant (which I won’t reveal for spoilers’ sake, but if you’ve seen the movie, you can probably guess which one I mean).
The sentiment of Carl and Ellie was perfectly contrasted by Dug. They absolutely nailed the “every-dog” kind of mentality that anyone who has had the fortune of loving a dumb mutt can identify. I think I heard about 10 leaving the theater saying “Dug was just like my dog!” I think that’s why this movie seemed funnier than others – to me, it dug deeper into the audience’s emotions to set up the plot, and the light-hearted stupidy (or innocence, maybe?) of Dug was a great comic relief.
The other thing that I loved about this movie was the use of subtlety. So often in animation, everything is BIGBIGBIG (see the Genie in Aladdin, Bruce in Finding Nemo, etc.). Pixar has a knack for turning that mentality on its head and focusing on the small things – the slight raise of an eyebrow, or the twitch at the corner of a grin. These things made Carl’s characters that much more round to me – the facial expressions and Ed Asner’s wonderful voice acting seemed spot on and never pushed his character too far towards curmedgeon or sentimental old coot. That subtlety also makes the non-speaking parts work so well. It’s something we saw with Wall-E, and improved upon in this film. Again, a big risk that Pixar has enough equity to take, and one that paid off in spades.
Just a wonderful film – one of the few animated films that’s even better seen with a loved one.
Speaking of dogs that fly areoplanes. Gromit from the Aarman studios has been known to fly on occasion.
I’m not sure what I think about Up. It is a good film but I just didn’t love it. I had a similar experience with Wall-E last year. I haven’t truly loved a Pixar film since Ratatouille. I’m not sure what it is but the doom & gloom warnings of this could happen to humans or you as an elderly person is hard to take. I guess I’m looking for a bit more escapism in my animation than Disney is giving lately. I will give Up another viewing becasue I did not see it in the optimal setting: saw it at the drive-in without 3D (it came off as minamalistic) and late (I almost fell asleep in the scene that Tom pointed out).
On a more positive note: I also got to see Star Trek again (love those double features at the drive-in) and liked it even better the second time. Star Trek is a sensory overload and the second time I saw a lot I missed the first time.
I think we’re all forgetting about the original flying dog himself. Snoopy has put on the old cap and goggles DECADES before any of us thought it would be cool.
Scotty,
I was talking about Snoopy in the blog post when I said I stole the original gag from Schulz.
Steve,
Up is most certainly NOT a kids film. Did you know it’s the only other Pixar film except The Incredibles to have a PG rating?
When Cami and I described the film and its emotional content to friends, they acted surprised. It wasn’t what they expected based on the advertising..
But then, you can’t sell a kids movie on the premise of the dreams differed, the battle against loneliness, letting go of the past or seeking approval in father figures. It pitches a little too high.
I also enjoyed Trek the second time. I saw it first on film, then digital projection to have a little personal comparison.
Tom, loved the intensive sketch! For me, at least, that’s what they’re all about!! Continuing the story in the strip… I couldn’t pass on that. Good luck with June ratings.
Seeing the Trailers for UP really turned my wife and I off from it. It just seemed a little too odd, and more of a kid’s flick than Wall-E was. But, after reading your review it may have changed my mind. And that’s what I was really waiting for: a review that would give me a true idea of the movie, because the trailer really didn’t I think. It seemed like it wasn’t going to touch on the great emotions and adult themes like Pixar films have done lately… just seemed like a fun little escapade for the kids. Thanks for the info!
I hadn’t realized there was more to the comic till I came over here to vote since the LJ code is broken. The first two panels are funny on their own but the last two are even better.
Howler,
I’m trying some new things with the LJ feed. Sorry, it’s being wonky right now.
I haven’t seen it yet but was thinking about going to see it tomorrow. Did you see it in 3D or not? I’m really curious as to which way will be better. 3D may not showcase the color & detail as well. Plus it costs more. I think I’d like to see it both ways but I’d love to know how people have been watching it.
Brig_xen,
I went out of my way not to see it in 3D. Up was not a film that gave consideration to 3D during it’s creation. It was something that was slapped onto it by Disney as an emerging trend of the last few years. In other words, I think it’s a gimmick.
That’s not saying I wouldn’t mind seeing Up in 3D at some point. I just didn’t want it to color my interpretation of the film the first time around.
Hey Tom long time viewer first time poster…blah blah blah…anyway…i am in love with UP…whoever said it didn’t reach the standard of finding nemo is just crazy….finding nemo(along with CARS) are the most over rated of the pixar movies..anyway thank god i saw UP in 3D because i was able to pretend to adjust my glasses when in reality i was wiping my tears away..what an emotional ride that was….i recommend this film to everyone..i’m even considering a second viewing….the only thing that pissed me off about this movie was the trailer for Toy Story 3…now i’m glad the movie is coming out..but to advertise it SOOO far in advance?? everyone in the theater was cheering when they saw woody, buzz..etc…but then when the release date for the film popped up everyone completely turned on the trailer and BOOED…i’m not liking this trend of such early advertising…i mean over a year in advance..come on
Our theater didn’t have the trailer for Toy Story 3, which I thought was kind of odd. Usually Pixar takes the opportunity to promote it’s next movie during it’s current movie. Might have been a mix up in the projection room, splicing trailers together, though…
People actually booed when they realized it was a trailer? That’s kind of harsh!
Sounds like the Toy Story 3 trailer is only attached to the 3D prints of Up. As for the trailer being out a year early, I don’t have a problem with that. It is Pixar’s next movie after all and there’s probably not much finished footage so a teaser like that is understandable. Nothing wrong with wetting people’s appitites. Can’t believe people booed at the release date, I put it up on my Facebook page and a few of my friends went crazy for it. Some of them didn’t even realise that Toy Story 3 is in production.
I was actually quite sad with this movie. I mean, I absolutely adore everything Pixar, but I walked out of that movie just with a feeling of… not caring? I fell for the characters, I laughed at the jokes, and felt completely emotional at points of the film, but the adventure, or the story itself I guess, left me totally uninterested. I felt most empty when the trio of dogs showed up, made to almost appear as if they were your common Saturday morning cartoon henchmen to the main villain. Once I saw them cooking food and flying airplanes, I felt as if I was watching a Dreamworks movie, and it felt daft and shallow.
Either way, even with everything I just said, I still think the movie was fantastic. Scenes by themselves were so powerful they made the movie golden. But as an entire film, telling the story of the adventure they were on, I felt as if it was lacking. Needless to say, this is the first Pixar film that I felt that the magic didn’t stick with me, that is, aside from Cars… but even then, Cars has its own specific kind of Disney charm.
Up made me cry and even recalling it’s scenes choke me up.
The adventure bits towards the end were rather unnecessary, but overall, I loved it.