Comments on: Structure: Up

By: Karel FG Segers

Karel FG Segers — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 05:12:46 +0000

In reply to gevork aladushek. Can you be a little more specific?

By: gevork aladushek

gevork aladushek — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 03:54:28 +0000

Your analysis is wack af and wrong . you need to read save the cat again. and go dara mark’s amazing book.

By: Karel Segers

Karel Segers — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 22:09:36 +0000

In reply to Penelope. Thank you Penelope. Excellent points. I also agree with you on the music. Michael Chiaccino is an amazing talent, which I only discovered through Pixar for his work on The Incredibles.

By: Penelope

Penelope — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 21:35:51 +0000

In reply to Lori. One more thing, I believe his initial refusal of the journey is not when he receives the Shady Oaks brochure, but his refusal to go on the trip he had planned with Ellie, after her death. The two tickets sit on the mantle.

By: Penelope

Penelope — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:17:59 +0000

Thank you for your very well done story analysis of Up, one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion. I agree that truck hitting the mailbox is the inciting incident. I think that Carl’s flaw that he needs to overcome is fear, and he holds onto things out of fear. It’s obvious that he is timid and fearful as a child, and I believe his need to hang onto the house also shows a fear of letting go. He leaves with the house because he fears Shady Oaks. His house is his safety zone. Notice right after the inciting incident, how he retreats into his home, and pulls the shades and curtains to hide. Also, he is so afraid of losing that house, that safety zone, that he will even risk his life and throw all other considerations to the wind to save it and to be able to stay in it.

Charles Munz’s insanity is hinted at early on, during the newsreels, and I believe that they did establish throughout the movie that he was driven, (note the scene where the dogs appear trying to hunt Kevin, and all of the traps that have been set for her.) The dogs’ abilities are built up, with hilarious effect.

I wanted to note the music, which is exceptional, and how the composer, Michael Chiaccino uses the same recognizable motif to create so many different moods. No matter how old and cynical I get, I can not watch this movie dry eyed.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 00:24:21 +0000

I teach this film to my high school film class when they study screenwriting. My new favorite moment to point out is when Russell first meets Carl and is asking if he can help Carl cross the street. After numerous refusals, Russell says to Carl, “Well, I gotta help you cross SOMETHING.” When I realized the full meaning of this, I got chills. Carl has to keep his promise (the one he CROSSED his heart about) to Ellie, and Russell is the one who helps him do that. It is a powerful use of the crossing-the-heart motif, and also lovely foreshadowing.

By: Elliciah

Elliciah — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 01:46:00 +0000

hi i was think about al the thing that up has tuch me be and my family and it come out that up tuch me more so i wish a nother “up” come out and in it hade russel growing up this time and then at the end it should have him metting his mum and dad also carl could die and kevin could come into russel house.

thank you

By: Del0004

Del0004 — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 01:26:00 +0000

I think that they are out of there mind going up in a flying house but when ellie died i felt sorry for carl so i wish a nother “up” came out but this time won with russel growing up.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:00:34 +0000

Great analysis, and mostly spot-on.

I would disagree with Carl’s purpose and weakness to overcome. RVC was closer to the truth. Carl’s weakness is GUILT. He promised (Crossed his heart!) that he would take Ellie, the woman he loved, to Paradise Falls. There is actually some fairly heavy philosophy going on here for a Pixar flick, as Ellie’s death makes Carl a LOST SOUL (because he can never fulfill his broken promise now that she’s gone.) Carl desperately clings to everything Ellie, from putting his hand on her handprint on the mailbox to adjusting the robin on the mantel just as she did, because he fears that if he ever loses his tenuous hold on his memory of her, his guilt will become total, and his soul will descend to hell (in the literary sense). That’s why Carl is so furiously adamant about making it to the Falls, even to the point of refusing to do reasonable things that would not have prevented him from accomplishing his goal and might even have helped (for example, welcoming Kevin and Dug into the fellowship from the start). It is only when Carl receives Ellie’s benediction that he is forgiven and his guilt is wiped away utterly — leaving him so spiritually reborn that he no longer needs his cane. Carl had to be willing to confront and defeat his guilt at the shrine of Ellie before he could receive his reward.

Hurt Locker was decent enough, but Up was so clearly the best film of 2009 that it was frustrating not to see it win Best Picture. It also serves as a writer’s clinic on Chekhov’s Guns, as they are fired perfectly one after another throughout the film.

By: smacleod

smacleod — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:49:51 +0000

I was surprised that the villain old guy got so psychotic when he found out Carl was hiding the bird. It’s a pretty big jump to have a welcome guest for dinner, then suddenly be threatening to lop his head off. I just wish they had a stronger justification for his madness (and of course his old age).

Really fun movie though.