That Damned Scene in ‘Up’

Posted 8 years ago by Movies

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The League of Extraordinary Bloggers
This post is part of The League of Extraordinary Bloggers, a weekly series of blog posts started by Brian over at Cool and Collected. Make sure to check out his site and join in the conversation if you run a blog!

This week’s challenge over on The League asks:

What movie, TV show, book, etc. turns you into a blubbering baby every time you see it?

If this post was written by my wife, the title would be Anything, Especially if it Involves Animals. For me, it takes a bit more to get the tears flowing. You know, things like Maximus dying at the end of Gladiator or the Iron Giant saying Superman before sacrificing himself to save Hogarth. The movie that takes the cake for me when it comes bringing on the waterworks, though, is Pixar’s Up.

The opening segment, chronicling Carl and Ellie’s relationship, is so perfectly touching and charming, and then suddenly sad beyond belief. Even now, after I’ve seen the movie a million times, I still tear up when Carl and Ellie find out they can’t have children, and then get happy again, only to ball once Ellie falls down and ends up in the hospital, and ultimately, the funeral home.

I’ve come to mainly blame Michael Giacchino. His amazing score is perfect during that whole sequence, and plucks at your heart strings in all the right places. Damn you Michael.

Luckily Up has enough laughs and talking dogs to make up for the fact that it makes me cry. Otherwise I probably would not want to watch that movie very often.

Make sure to check out these posts from The League, and feel free to share your crying stories in the comments.

Posts from The League:
  • Brian (Cool and Collected)

    Yep, that’s a tough scene to get through. That and the scenes in Toy Story 3 that focus on the passing of time are brutal.

  • shezcrafti

    The thing about that Up is how it’s so deceptive. You see balloons and talking dogs in the trailer and go in thinking it’s going to be some lighthearted kiddie romp, but no, oh no. Before you know what’s happening BAM! Depression!

  • I just love that scene in Up. I always admired the way this sequence worked without dialogue. Such great use of action/reaction. Such a lovely depiction of a decades-long marriage. It’s not often a movie like this shows the death of a good and sweet character. This is the death of Bambi’s mother for a new generation. And you’re right–the sequence that wordlessly expresses Ellie’s inability to have children has been a topic of conversation between my 4 year old and myself. Just about a perfect little sequence, if you ask me.