I personally have had a few movie moments like that. Some of those were in animated films. But I don’t think any of them affected me quite like Disney/Pixar’s ‘Up‘.

I’ve been a Pixar fan since practically the beginning of the studio, when I saw their short ‘Luxo, Jr.‘ in a presentation called ‘Beyond the Mind’s Eye‘ on PBS. My first post on this blog was ‘Wall-E Restored My Faith In Pixar‘. Needless to say I was excited about ‘Up’, I just didn’t realize how excited I should be.

‘Up’ is a film presented in 3D. I was not fortunate enough to see the 3D version, but I was amazed at the fact that the 3D bit almost seemed like an after thought. What the creators were concerned with here was, I’m not kidding, story. In my review of ‘Wall-E’ I marveled at how much story Pixar could convey with no dialogue. ‘Up’ has many moments where it is the faces of the characters, a clever camera angle, the music, that moves the story. And the story is very adult.

Stop right there!

Let me clarify something that has bothered me my entire life: the definition of ‘adult’ in animation. Here in the U.S., animation is seen as kid’s stuff. People that enjoy animation act like it’s because they’re still carefree. Like they’re more in tune with their inner child. But animated films can and should be for adults as well. This is something that I believe Pixar has flirted with and finally mastered with ‘Up’.

The film deals with a widower who, through life’s many complications, was not able to fulfill his beloved wife’s greatest dream. After her death he decides it’s time to honor her memory and her dream.

As heavy as that sounds, this film is hilarious. It has just the right mix of humor and seriousness, action and moments of serenity, to make you feel that you are living this life along with the characters.

This movie changed my life. It opened my eyes to parts of my life I’m not necessarily proud of. It made me realize that some of the day-to-day tasks pale in importance to those around us, especially those close to us.

Carl wasn't afraid to achieve a dream, Now, neither am I.

I feel like it’s New Year’s all over again. I’m redesigning some of those resolutions. Chief among them to make every effort I can to be a central part of my family’s lives. I will cherish them every moment I have them. I will do everything in my power to make sure that they do not take a back seat to blogging, or career, or any other interest that will crop up.

I’ve had a re-awakening. And a silly ‘kids’ movie’ is responsible.

I highly recommend ‘Up’. Even if it doesn’t give you a great spiritual renewal, I’ll dare you to find something not to like!

Wall-E dreams of something more...

Wall-E is a fun, thought provoking story of the last robot left active on planet Earth when all the humans leave because they’ve just crapped it up too bad for the planet to be livable anymore. This one small robot is all that’s left to clean up our mess.

Wall-E is that rare find: the film that pays homage to others without seeming pandering or obsessive. Wall-E resembles ‘Short Circuit‘s Johnny 5, but with a much more lovable personality. The guidance computer on the Axiom resembles HAL in ‘2001:A Space Odyssey‘. The main Axiom computer is voiced by Sigourney Weaver, of ‘Alien‘ fame. The list goes on, but I’m sure you’d like to find some for yourself!

Even if you’re not a sci-fi geek like me, finding these little homage easter eggs worthwhile, the story of Wall-E is truly what makes this film worth watching. This is a cautionary tale with a lot of heart. It’s obvious that the creators of this film genuinely cared about what they were trying to accomplish; which is a story that’s true to the intentions of the classic sci-fi stories. This is a story that tells humanity to ‘knock it off!’ in a fun and entertaining way.

The title of this post refers to my wavering faith in Pixar Studios. That is because I grew up as an unwavering animation enthusiast. I loved reading books about Disney’s ‘Nine Old Men,’ the original animators that brought Snow White, Pinocchio, and countless others to breathtaking life. I thrilled at knowing that when Monstro the whale is attacking Pinocchio, each bubble in the sea was drawn by hand! And then there was Warner Bros., with colossal animators like Chuck Jones, Friz Freling, and Tex Avery! Over there, they would actually psycho-analyze their characters and make sure that Bugs Bunny did things that Bugs Bunny would do! My point is, in the ‘Golden Age’ of animation, these characters were cherished and loved, and it showed.

As computer animation evolved, I remember watching ‘Beyond the Mind’s Eye‘ with fascination, but I didn’t quite believe that CGI would be able to make me care for and believe in animated characters like it’s classically hand-drawn cousin could. One short that made think I might be wrong? A little short film called ‘Luxo Jr.’ from a fledgling studio called Pixar:

Wait! Were those lamps emoting? To this day, ‘Luxo Jr.’ is one of my favorite Pixar shorts. Walt Disney once said, “My only hope is that we never lose sight of one thing, that it was all started by a mouse.” Pixar could say that it was all started by a lamp.

So I watched Pixar closely and was thrilled that they were the studio to make the first ever full-length computer generated film in 1995, ‘Toy Story.’ ‘Toy Story’ did not disappoint, and was followed by ‘A Bug’s Life‘, ‘Toy Story 2‘, and ‘Monsters, Inc.‘; ‘Monsters, Inc.’ being my favorite of them all.

Pixar lost a spark for me when they released ‘Finding Nemo‘. The humor was just too contrived for my liking. “Nemo touched the butt!” Really? That’s the best you can do? So when ‘The Incredibles‘ followed, I was not expecting much. I am a huge superhero fan, and have heard enough ‘He wears his underwear on the outside’ jokes to last me a lifetime. What I should have paid attention to was that it was written and directed by Brad Bird, the director of ‘The Iron Giant‘, my all-time favorite animated flick. Pixar was back in the game. Then comes ‘Cars‘. With a plot pulled straight from ‘Doc Hollywood‘, ‘Cars’ is, to me, the least original Pixar film. And I may be delirious with disappointment over ‘Cars’, but doesn’t Michael J. Fox’s car kinda resemble Lightning McQueen?

The studio that had made me care about a lamp could not make me care about cars. But, ‘Cars’ is one of the most merchandised Pixar films, other that ‘Toy Story’, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.

‘Ratatouille‘ was another Brad Bird gem, but the thing that was starting to bother me is that Pixar films were starting to all look the same. Could my favorite CGI studio be going stale?

Absolutely not. Wall-E is another film from Pixar that has changed the way things are done. Wall-E even integrates live action footage so seamlessly that it took me a minute to realize what was happening! This was something Warner Bros. attempted in ‘Happy Feet‘ with jarring results. ‘Wall-E’s look is solely it’s own, from the dirty last remains of Earth to the prestine inner sanctum of the Axiom, this is Pixar at it’s finest.

And technical aspects aside, it all comes back to heart. Something Wall-E has in abundance.