Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Up ::
by William the Bloody
As a child, Carl Frederickson idolized Charles Muntz, a global explorer made most famous for discovering a secluded part of South America he dubbed "Paradise Falls" which is brimming with heretofore unknown species of plants and animals. Young Carl was shocked by a Newsreel one day which showed Muntz being disgraced because some scientists doubted the authenticity of some bird skeletons, but Carl still yearned to be an explorer like his hero and found a girl his age with the same dream. Carl and Ellie grew up playing explorers together and vowed one day (cross your heart!) to see Paradise Falls. Time passes and Carl and Ellie marry. They get jobs at a local zoo, Ellie working with birds and Carl selling balloons to children. They are crazy in love with each other, so even when life intervened by way of car repairs, broken leg, and a broken roof thereby making it financially impossible for them to travel, they are still happy. Then they are old, Ellie falls ill, and Carl is alone. All he has now is the old house he and Ellie lived in together so happily for years so when developers start tearing down his neighbourhood, he will not leave and sell his house. Soon it is clear these developers will use any leverage they can to evict Carl, so desperately one day he decides it's time to make good on his childhood promise and make it to Paradise Falls, old house and all, by inflating thousands of helium balloons and floating away for good. Unfortunately for Carl, a young boy named Russell was on his porch at the time knocking on doors looking to earn his "assist the elderly" merit badge and is now along for the ride.
The Good: I have to say right off that the beginning ten minutes of this film which summarized Carl's marriage to Ellie was absolutely brilliant. You got everything you needed to know about their entire life together with little to no dialogue and perfect visuals. You genuinely felt for them and could feel how they felt about each other. When Ellie dies there was not a dry eye in the house, and I mean that. Children, adults, full grown men of all types were all blubbering like babies (myself included). And jumping off of that, as the film goes on, the void of Ellie is shot pretty well at various points; her side of the bed, her seat at the table, her easy chair in the living room, et cetera and you can feel it's presence on Carl continually. The main theme of the film, I feel, is getting past emotional barriers and moving on with your life, and it is exemplified in different ways through the four main characters (Carl, Russell, Dug the talking dog, and the villain) well and subtly. The animation, as always with Pixar, is top notch. I was noticing in particular Carl's front lawn... it looked as though I could see every blade of grass and the same with the jungle scenes. The voice acting was well done, but then Ed Asner (as Carl) has many voice acting credits to his name. The kid Russell was also good, especially considering they got a real kid to do the voice and not an adult with a child sounding voice. I liked how the talking dogs spoke via a collar which gave voice to their thoughts rather than through their mouths. This way we still got typical dog mannerisms like panting, licking and growling even while their dialogue is going on. Also, the short film "Partly Cloudy" was absolutely adorable.
The Bad: The movie was moving along pretty well perfect until that kid Russell showed up. Granted, he plays an important role in the story and all, but he still grated on me a bit. It is never disclosed exactly where in the USA Carl lives, but it seems to me like he got to South America pretty darn fast. Oh and I would recommend NOT going to see a Pixar kids movie on opening night because the theater was packed with very young children, many of whom could not sit still or quiet.
Overall, I liked it. I felt the characterization was very well done and it even had a good moral. The kids in the audience found it hilarious, but I would say it was definitely funny for us grown ups as well. A fun adventure story with aspects for all audiences to find some joy or emotional connection within it.
A-
