Disney/Pixar’s Up has been the rage of reviews since it opened. Looking fun and having a cool story, I decided to take my 6th grade daughter and her friend last weekend, and was joined by just about every other family in a 10 mile radius – the theater was packed with kids in age from young toddlers to older teens.
It’s not a surprising site these days to see young kids in a PG movie. Most animated movies these days are PG and most turn out ok. In this case, though, perhaps we all should have previewed the film before taking our kids – or perhaps the reviewers should have looked at the film more realistically from the eyes of kids under 13 instead of through their very adult lenses.
We all entered that theater expecting the terrific animated adventure we had read about in reviews. We were all aware that the start of the film included a quick image of the passing of main character’s wife – but then expected the mood to lighten. It never did. Not a single person left that film with a happy look.
The movie was, indeed, a cinematic masterpiece in many, many ways. However, it was just too emotionally charged well beyond the opening montage with action that was far more intense for small children than any review had described. Ed Asner’s character, Carl, was so clearly in love with his late wife, Elle, that you could feel his grief throughout the movie. That theme was palpable until the very, very end – so much so that I had a few moments where I felt choked up. Looking over at my daughter and her friend during those times, they, too, had tears in their eyes.
Part of the issue, by the way, was the melancholy music which, other than the adventure moments, was incredibly pervasive. The other part of the issue was the bad guy – the adventurer we met in the opening scene when Carl was a small boy. He turns just plain creepy and evil – Indiana Jones nemesis evil, but animated.
Having now seen the movie, the issue is that the reviews all looked at the movie for it’s Oscar-worthiness and not for it’s kid-appropriateness. For example, Atopic Popcorn wrote: “Pixar has crafted a film that is their finest to date and so far, is the best film of the year.” No where in that review does it dissect the emotion of the flick or whether this really is a movie meant for kids under 13 at all.
However, another review from the Telegraph gives us a more realistic assessment of Up by noting that this is the first animated film to ever open at the Cannes. That alone is telling and an indicator of the overall emotional temperature of the film. The review goes on to say: “The film, in its aerial beauty and its melancholic undertow, recalls Albert Lamorrise’s The Red Balloon and Hiyao Miyzaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle. No recent animated picture has been quite so suffused with an awareness of human mortality.”
There you have it: “melancholic undertow” and “human mortality”. The only part this review left out is that those 2 themes were every present and quite intense.
So, who is Up meant for? Adults for sure, teens if they know what they are in for, and mature tweens. Keep in mind this is PG…and really should be PG-13 given the thematic content.
Well, gosh. Maybe parents should research what they're taking their kids to, instead of relying on a couple of letters, or the fallacy that animation = kiddy fare.
I don't think the fact that Up opened at Cannes is any indication of the "overall emotional temperature of the film." It's recognition that Pixar creates quality films. With each release, more and more people are starting to acknowledge this. There have been plenty of movies to open at Cannes – Indiana Jones included – that lack emotional temperature.
While I agree that the opening of the film is very powerful and the villain was creepy and sinister in a Kurtz kind of way (obviously he was a reference to Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now), the film's second act bordered on the absurd. Talking dogs, giant birds and floating houses? In every way, it was the wacky kids movie people were expecting.
I'm not sure how you walked out of the theater unhappy. Yes, the overall theme of mortality in the film is a bit of a downer, but there was also an important message about life and what you do with it. I walked out of the theater and said to myself that I'm going to cherish every single day I have with my wife and my family and never take that for granted.
Had we had more realistic reviews before seeing Up, most of us would have left our kids at home and found Up a great movie for many reasons. But, a movie becomes a different experience when seeing it with your young child – and that's the point of my post.
SPOILER ALERT!! Try to keep an open mind on this. Can you name another disney or pixar "kid" movie where a human character attempts to murder a human child? When Muntz ties Russell to a chair, puts him on the ramp, and walks out, as far as he's concerned, after he closes the door, that child is dead. Any jury would convict him of attempted murder. I think this went over many adults' heads, inc. mine, but not my son's. He didn't "know" as we do that there's no chance pixar would kill the child. I definitely agree that the reviewers have done a disservice to parents on this one, and in general it seems to highlight how little attention is being paid to the film being reviewed.
My sister and I took my year old son and his 4 year friend to see this movie over the weekend. You are absolutely right, it's not meant for little kids. After the death of his wife, the possible miscarriage of the baby (I'm not sure if she lost the baby or she couldn't have babies) the old guy being sent to a nursing home and the weird, mean dogs, we got up and left. I only wish I would have left sooner. Before seeing the movie I checked reviews and never once did I read a review that the movie was not geared for little kids. The movie theatre was awesome and refunded my money, so I'm taking my son to see G-Force when it comes out:)
Hi Dr. Gwenn,
Well, I wish I had looked at this before my 5 year old daughter went to see it with her father! What a mess! He was explaining it to me with tears, which is NOT like him. Now, my daughter is an emotional mess! Scared of death, has scarey thoughts and is scared one of us will die. I didn't realize it would do this to her, our neighbor saw it and said "how cute" it was. It really messed up a very sweet, well adjusted, happy child here. I say shame on Disney for not advertising a warning along with it.
I think it is very important that you research movies before you go and see them with young children. With technology now you can easily check out a movie trailer from your cellphone.