Isaac's Movie Thoughts: Up

This summer's Disney/Pixar film, Up, is already a few weeks old. Yet after seeing it for a second time - and being the insufferable film geek that I am - there were certain things that stuck out about the movie that I didn't quite catch the first time. Basically, these are just random analyses of the film. If you haven't seen it already, then don't read these, because they are spoilers. Also, if you haven't seen it already, then what the hell is wrong with you? Go. Now.

• We don't know much about Russell's life, but we can assume from his language that he is unaware that his father is dead. In the opening montage, we see that Carl and Ellie wanted to have a baby but were unable to since Ellie was infertile. So, in a way, Russell gets a new father and Carl finally gets a son. At the end of the film, Carl is living with Dug, the talking dog. Along with the trip they never got to take, Carl's adventure also yielded him and Ellie with the family they never had.
• Russell joins a long list of Disney characters, such as Nemo and Simba, to have only one parent.
• In the very beginning of the movie, we see a young Carl yelling "No!" as a movie theater newsreel informs the viewers that Carl's hero, the explorer Charles Muntz, was declared a fraud due to his inability to bring back the complete "monster." Yet the entire third act of the movie is dedicated to Carl and Russell stopping Muntz from capturing the "monster" - a large tropical bird named Kevin. Little would the child Carl know that it would be he who would stop Charles Muntz from ever completing his mission and therefore being perennially deemed as a scientific fraud.

• The blimp that Muntz flew to Paradise Falls was called The Spirit of Adventure. This name turns out to be literal - in the end, we see Carl is living out of the blimp while his and Ellie's house remains left behind on top of the waterfall. The meaning of this, of course, is that through his travels he left his normal life behind and gained - though late in life - the spirit of adventure.

Just some thoughts on the best movie of the year. Got anything else? Just call. Or, post, rather.