Up Directors Pete Docter, Bob Peterson Interview
Disney/Pixar Film Stars Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer
Oct 30, 2009
In Part #1 of this roundtable interview, Up writer/directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson talked about developing the main characters. In this installment, they discuss making the film, and their real-life adventure in Venezuela.
Various animators have said that Pete Docter modeled Russell after Pixar's Peter Sohn and a boy in Docter's son's Boy Scout troop. Has the real Russell seen the movie, and what does he think of it?
Pete Docter: "Russell's namesake, my son's friend, was happy with the film but told me we should add dinosaurs and a spy subplot to the story. (This is why I didn't show it to him until we were finished.) Jordan seemed to like it as well, though said he didn't really recognize his own voice."
In the Up Blu-Ray, you said you were inspired by a drawing of a grumpy old man holding balloons. At what point did you realize you had a movie, and not just a premise?
Bob Peterson: "I think it was the first pitch to John Lasseter – when we made him cry (with no visuals!) – did we think we had the emotional underpinnings of the story!! Storywise we had finally cracked Carl's motivation for escaping life - that he had lived an amazing relationship with his life that ended in something not quite completed. It's a good feeling when you find that nugget of truth in your story. Humor and characters will come in and out of a story, but that nugget will remain."
Of all the exotic locales, why did you choose South America as the setting for Carl and Russell's adventure?
Bob Peterson: "We wanted our locale to reflect and resonate with Carl's emotional state in the film. The Tepuis, or table top mountains, of South America are old, isolated, rugged, dangerous but with a soulful beauty - a pretty good description of Carl! Going there gave us a good sense of what it would be like for Carl and his friends to be up there. In the film, we used a great many plants and rock shapes that we saw from the Tepui."
Was there a draft of the script completed before you took this research trip? Or was it more of a treatment/outline, which was shaped by the locations?
Bob Peterson: "We had a few drafts under our belt before we headed South. We workshop all of our stories until right before the film comes out, so we had some key elements of the story that were still in flux - mainly Charles Muntz. We hadn't figured out why he would go to South America and stay there for so long - the idea of Kevin the bird therefore was still being developed.
"We wondered about making Kevin more magical - the bird who lays golden eggs, or contained the secret to eternal life. In the end, we went with a more conventional primitive bird who's bones cause Muntz' Geographic society to doubt his credibility."
Watching the featurette titled 'Adventure Is Out There,' I was surprised to find out that six of your crew were left behind on a Tepui until a helicopter could return after weather conditions cleared up. Were you guys scared out of your wits having to stay huddled inside the 'Lou' during the storm, or did you all embrace the weather conditions and think how you were going to incorporate this into the film?
Pete Docter: "Bob and I were lucky enough to be in the first two helicopter trips, so we were already down when the storm closed in. I was in the last copter shuttle, and when we flew out we saw huge storm clouds closing in. The pilot said, "That's going to be the last trip up here for today." Uh oh... Once down, someone got us food, but we felt too guilty to eat, knowing our pals were still up there. I had stood in the Lou during an earlier downpour and it was pretty cramped quarters. I can't imagine anyone would have slept at all had they been stuck there -- neither the group on the mountain nor the group back on the ground! All part of the adventure I guess."
In conversations with Ronnie del Carmen and Peter Sohn, they both talked about the advantages of collaboration: animators adding stuff you wouldn't have thought of. Are there any scenes in particular where somebody gave you an idea that was better than you originally intended?
Pete Docter: "ALL of the scenes got better in animation! But there were certain parts that really came to life once we started in animation -- like where Russell climbs up Carl in an attempt to scramble up to the house. All the business of him stepping on Carl's nose and stomach was stuff we added in animation.
"The Bird sequence was also fun to animate. Tony Rosenast was the story board artist, and he came up with really funny stuff for that scene where they meet Kevin, but pantomime characters like Kevin only come to life once you get them moving."
Would you like to see an Up ride or attraction at Disneyland or Disneyworld, and what would you like to see in it?
Bob Peterson: "Pete Docter is so tall, that I think we could build a ride around him! Just string a gondola or ski lift up over his head, and you've got a great ride!! So far no plans for an Up ride but, of all of our films, Up seems like it would be a natural. As the voice of Dug, I'd love to have him appear in the theme park somehow!"
(In Part #3 of this interview, Docter and Peterson discuss taking the film to Cannes, and their advice for young animators.)
