It's actually rare to see the that cliché of reviewers, "I laughed . . . I cried" actually printed, but that's what JoBlo.com's Jenna Busch said after seeing the first half of the upcoming Disney/Pixar film Up, directed and written by Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc.).
"I just got a chance to see the first 45 minutes of the new Disney Pixar film, Up and my eyeliner is running," Busch writes. "I know it's Pixar, but . . . I wasn't expecting to find this funny."
Disney/Pixar's Up Stars Ed Asner, Russell Nagai, Christopher Plummer
As you've most likely heard, Up follows Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner), a retired balloon salesman who attaches thousands of balloons onto his house and launches it into the air. He then discovers a stowaway: an 8-year-old Wilderness Ranger named Russell (Jordan Nagai) who's trying to get his "helping the elderly" merit badge (Busch claims Russell is 9 but most other sources put him at 8).
According to Busch, the film starts with Carl as a boy, reading about the world famous adventurer "Charles Monk," who explores Venezuela's Paradise Falls with his dogs.
(A quick digression: there appears to be some discrepancy over this character's surname: Busch says "Monk," IMDb says it's "Mudds." Wikipedia, on the other hand, claims it's "Muntz." Given that Pixar is staying mum, and most other sources say "Muntz," that seems to be the most likely candidate.)
According to Busch, the film follows Carl as he meets Ellie, a like-minded girl who also wants to journey to Paradise Falls. Despite swearing to each other that they'll make the trip some day, events conspire against it. They work together, fail to have kids, growing old . . . and then Ellie dies.
"Now, I am by no means a crier, no matter how sad the movie," Busch says. "This sequence actually made my throat close a bit . . . now, I'm not admitting to actual tears, but I hope the person next to me didn't actually check."
Up: Talking Dogs and a Bird Named Kevin
When Carl is forced into a nursing home because a construction company covets his house and land, he devises another solution: sending his house aloft via the aforementioned balloons. It's at that point when Carl finds Russell on his front porch (as seen in the trailer).
When Carl and Russell reach Paradise Falls, they meet a talking bird that Russell immediately names Kevin (according to Up producer Jonas Rivera, Kevin is actually a girl).
They also run into "dogs who can talk, via a collar around their necks. I don't want to give away more than that, but (the) dogs are so funny that I would suggest a bathroom trip before the film . . . Anyone who has made up dialogue for their dog (oh, you know you do it...don't pretend you're above that) will laugh their ass off. Imagine the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes and his Of Mice and Men voice coming out of a dog, saying, 'My master is so smart, my master is so smart, I smell you, can I get the bird....SQUIRREL!...can I have the bird?' My face hurts from laughing."
Anybody remember 2003's Finding Nemo and the seagulls saying, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" incessantly? Did you laugh your ass off whenever those birds appeared on-screen? (Guilty)
Well, Bob Peterson helped write the script for Finding Nemo, so it wouldn't be surprising if those seagulls were his brainchild. In which case, Peterson's revisited that comedic well in order to come up with the talking dogs for this flick and, if it works half as well as Busch described, then it should be a real high point for the film.
The only concern is that Up may not know what it's supposed to be: how will Docter and Peterson combine its more heart-tugging moments with the adventure-comedy that Disney is billing this film as? Will this dichotomy be the film's downfall, or what sets it apart from other animated films out there?
At this point we're not sure, but all questions will be answered when Up comes to theatres on May 29th.
BONUS: According to Upcoming Pixar, the short "Partly Cloudy" will precede Up into theatres. Not much is known about the short at this time, but Peter Sohn (the voice of Emile from Ratatouille) is directing it.
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