“That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most…”
Pixar’s UP is such a beautifully poignant film. It’s about a 78-year-old widower, Carl Fredricksen, who travels in his floating house, powered by hundreds of helium balloons, to Paradise Falls in order to keep his promise to his childhood sweetheart. He unwittingly flys away with an adorable and tenacious trespasser on board called Russell, a young ‘Wilderness Explorer’ on a mission to earn his badge for assisting the elderly. It will break you within the first 10 minutes. The love story between Carl and Ellie is surprisingly authentic and relatable, even though it’s mostly done through visuals. Don’t let its reputation as one of Pixar’s saddest films put you off, it takes you on a remarkable journey that ends up being incredibly uplifting and heartfelt.
Sadly, Ed Asner (the voice behind Mr Fredricksen) recently passed away last month. His final project was ‘Dug Days’, a series of five animated shorts that continue Carl and Dug’s hilarious adventures as they settle into suburban life together. It premiered on Disney+ on September 1 and it’s wonderfully heartwarming and surprisingly funny.
I recently purchased this 30-piece stationery set from ShopDisney. It includes 24 postcards (featuring 12 different designs inspired by classic scenes), a pen, pencil, ‘Grape Soda’ stamp, ink pad and 2 sticker sheets. I was really the mailbox I bought it for, everything else was an added bonus. The set is currently available to purchase here.
UP means even more to me since my grandad passed. It’s a film about love, loss, friendship, adventure & hope. It’s about the little things that mean the most… the ones we often take for granted. The tiny memories between you and the one you love that appear seemingly random to everyone else: a bottle cap pin, a special chair or a handprint on a mailbox.
In the case of my Grandad: watching The Jungle Book (his all-time favourite Disney film), watching him copy all my CDs onto his ‘mini disks’ (he was convinced they were going to be the next best thing… and then everyone bought Ipods), the smell of Germolene and TCP, helping him answer all the ‘entertainment’ questions on his crosswords, his tartan bunnets and the smell of M&S ‘Woodspice’ aftershave.
What’s your favourite Pixar film? I think UP and Coco are incredibly underrated.
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