Anatomy of a Scene: Why the opening of ‘Up’ makes us cry every time
If there were an award for the saddest scene in animated feature history, one film would immediately come as a nuanced and compelling contender. Up is a computer-animated film released by Pixar that had everyone reaching for the tissues in 2009 and again every time we’ve watched it since.
It tells the story of a bitter widower called Carl who pursues his lifelong dream shared with his late wife and ventures out to Paradise Falls by tying a bunch of balloons to his house. Much to his dismay, he is joined by an overly eager explorer called Russell and a talking dog, finding much more than he bargained for in the mountains. Up is a beautiful, emotional and hilarious film adored by all ages, but its opening is heartbreaking.
Pixar is known for its powerful storytelling that teaches children important life lessons, even when these messages go against the characters’ goals. Up testifies to this and relies on the brilliant opening to build the story and help audiences understand the complexity of the characters and what they want, dealing with fulfilment as well as failure.
The sequence sets up everything we, as an audience, need to know about our protagonist and his love. We see them meet as children, full of curiosity and adventure, as Ellie shares her passion for exploring the world with Carl. From this, the two fall in love and marry, with a clear establishment of their different families forming our understanding of their backgrounds. Ellie’s side is full of people who cannot contain their joy, whereas Carl’s is nearly empty with unimpressed and unenthusiastic faces.
We see the newlyweds build their lives together as they start working on their new home, still in their wedding gear, showing the teamwork that makes their dreams come to fruition. A beautiful instrumental score titled ‘Married Life’ plays the opening as the couple spends time watching the clouds during romantic picnics and building their business of a South American exhibit at the zoo. One critical shot shows the couple painting a nursery for a baby they hope is about to join them.
However, this is contrasted with the first distressing shot that throws a spanner in the works, as we see a fertility doctor speaking with the couple while Ellie holds her face in tears as Carl comforts her. Dialogue isn’t needed to delineate what is happening and how upsetting it is for our characters.
The image of a baby in its mother’s womb standing over a crying couple signals all we need to know, elevating the tragedy of the scene as the one thing the couple wants but cannot have is placed beside them. From this, Carl observes a distant Ellie, clearly still coming to terms with the news. Her husband joins her and places the old scrapbook in her hands, reminding them of their dreams, which the scrapbook symbolises.
This helps Ellie see a new perspective, and then we see snapshots of the couples adding to a money jar labelled with a drawing of the falls, establishing their goal of saving up enough to get there. However, life gets in the way, and incidents such as a new tire and Carl breaking his leg take money from the jar and their dream.
The ageing couple seems not to care too much, though, as their popular business and dances together lead the jar to be placed behind some books on a shelf. Ellie seems more than happy with helping her beloved knot his tie every morning.
When Carl compares a picture of the young and adventurous Ellie he met to the older one who still has a taste for adventure but cannot act on it, he appears upset at how they never got to pursue their dreams while they were young. He then has the idea to surprise his wife with two tickets to Peru, tucking them away in a picnic basket. However, Ellie struggles to make it up the hill to their usual spot and collapses, with Carl dropping the basket to rush to her aid.
Ellie is seen in a hospital bed, where she is greeted by a stick tied to a balloon, similar to the one we saw her send Carl when they were children. Carl then enters the room, where he tearfully receives the scrapbook from his wife. He kisses her on the forehead, and then the scene fades to a now-alone Carl sitting by Ellie’s casket long after her funeral. The distraught widower returns to his empty home to begin the rest of his life without his love. There is also a significant drop in colour, hinting at how Carl now views the world.
This turn of events brings tears to our eyes every watch because of the realism in its tragedy. This is because audiences are welcomed to experience this loving and treasured relationship from start to finish, seeing all the highs and lows, only to join Carl in his heartbreak and grief. Director Pete Docter shared that exposition in this opening was essential and valued by the writers and animators. Dochter explained that if the audience isn’t attached to the characters and their story, “then [they’re] not along for the ride” (via Huffington Post). Audiences have to understand Carl and feel sympathy for him throughout the film, which the opening ensures as we have experienced this with him and are invested in him and his wife.
The absence of dialogue only heightens this, as music, imagery, and visual emotion come together to tell a beautiful love story with a sad ending. Symbols set up in this opening sequence are called back to and brought full circle later on in the film, such as Carl only wearing a bowtie after Ellie’s death because he did not know how to knot a tie without her.
The opening scene of Up is one of many emotional and powerful Pixar scenes, one that shows important characterisation and intentions. It celebrates love in its purest form but also manages to portray the tragedy of the human condition.
Grab a box of tissues and watch the powerful opening scene below.
