The Movie UP

The Disney animated film Up is a delightful film that takes on an adventure with a crusty old man and his unwelcomed companion. It is also a deeper film addressing loss and the need to find purpose after life has given us a separation we do not welcome.

The story arch begins with the protagonist as a young man sitting wide eyed looking up at the movie screen idolizing his hero who travels the world discovering extinct species. He eventually finds a partner and a loving relationship. All is well until they try for a child and find out that is not possible. They live a good life until his wife dies from some undisclosed illness.

The protagonist, Carl, is on a Hero’s Journey according to the work of psychologist Carl Jung, where he has to deal with the loss of his beloved wife, grief and move on with renewed purpose. Jung said these themes are universal and therefore relate to everyone in their life journey. So, let’s take a look at Carl’s journey, which is also our own.

After the death of his wife, Elle, he attempts to realize their dream to travel to Paradise Falls in South America. When they met as children, she pinned him with a bottle cap pin and exclaimed, “You and me. We’re in the club now!” He had found a place of belonging and membership. It is still the club he clings to when he sets out for the Falls.

As Elle approaches death she gives him the scrapbook containing their longed-for adventures. So, he acts out the familiar routines like Elle is still there.  Even as huge buildings encroach on his home he adheres to the past. Even his self-talk is about “we” instead of “I” showing he is still living connected to his past life with Elle.

And then one day there is a knock at his door, and he gains an unwelcome companion for his journey: the Wilderness Scout Russell. Russell shares, “He promised that he would come to my ceremony.” A foreshadowing of his father letting him down. Likely not for the first time.

Buoyed by thousands of balloons Carl’s house climbs into the sky and  they make the trip to Paradise Falls. There they encounter Charles Muntz, the explorer Carl idolized as a child. He is not an honorable man and shows his self-centeredness and ego when he shares that he has kept all the best scientific specimens “for himself” and given the lesser ones to museums.

When it becomes clear that Muntz is out to capture and kill Russell’s bird friend “Kevin” Russell asks Carl for his help saying, “Can’t we help her get home (to her babies?” Carl, still stuck on his old purpose of the falls says, “This is none of my concern.” An uncaring response showing his obsession with the past.

And a bit later we see Carl having his “ah ha moment” and he reads Elle’s last entrance in the scrapbook before her death. She writes telling him carry on and have new adventures. He realizes his new adventure involves his relationship with Russell and his desire to help Kevin and save her babies. He is a man transformed and we see his strength and vitality grow with this new purpose. He helps Kevin escape from Mentz’s airship and uses the tennis balls off his walker to distract the dog pilots and save the day.

The film ends with the awards ceremony where Russell is to be awarded a merit badge. The leader asks if his father is there and Carl speaks up, “I am here for him.” He pins the award on Russell. And then he adds an award of his own. It is the bottle cap that Elle had given him when they met. He has extended membership to Russell and now they both have belonging that extends into the future.

The thing that he and Elle wanted the most, to have a child, is fulfilled in a very different way with Carl and Russell’s relationship.

As they sit outside Fenton’s shop enjoying ice cream cones and counting the red and blue cars, an experience Russell thought he would have with his father is now enjoyed by the two of them. A new purpose has been found and a brighter future awaits.