Ellie's Badge

Remember how as kids, we used to hoard our earthly (and grubby) treasures in a shoe-box? They could be anything from a pressed leaf or flower…ticket stubs from your first movie with friends…a feather from a bemused chicken…a brightly patterned paper napkin flicked from a posh dinner table or even the metallic badge, garily painted and worn proudly on every.single.outfit, be it the trusty dungarees or the Sunday-best (much to your mum's chagrin)

When I saw UP the other day, I was transported back in time. Ellie, as a scrappy l’il tomboy had a Grape Soda Bottle-Cap Badge which according to her represented the highest honour an adventurer can receive. It was a memento that Carl carried into his adult life..a something-small that bound him to his lovely Ellie...

UP!

Carl Fredrickson is a chubby,nerdy lil boy in awe of the intrepid adventurer, Charles F.Muntz. Sharing his enthusiasm is the talkative tomboy Ellie. Ellie hopes to someday fulfil her dream of moving her clubhouse on the legendary Paradise Falls in South America.

As time goes by, Ellie and Carl get married and have an almost-idyllic life. Despite their inability to have children (or maybe because of it), they hold on to the dream of someday reaching the elusive falls. But financial obligations always intrude and just when the cherished trip is within sight, Ellie falls ill and passes away.

Carl is now a lonely, crotchety old man hanging tight to his memories and his cottage. All around him, the concrete jungle is laying down roots and threatening his little space. An unfortunate altercation with one of the site-men and Carl is ordered by the court to move into a retirement home.

But Carl (who was once a balloon salesman) has other plans up his sleeve. He uses what seem a like a gazillion helium balloons to lift his house UP and away from it’s foundations. He intends to fulfil the promise he made to Ellie. However he is unaware that he has an hapless stowaway in the form a Russell,
a Wilderness Explorer trying to earn his final merit badge for "Assisting the Elderly".

Together the two set off on an adventure of a lifetime, encountering a tropical flightless bird, Dug the dog with a talking-collar and an unlikely villain complete with a snarling team of henchmen (read:dogs).

UP is beautiful in it’s simplicity. Using an aging man as the protagonist, PIXAR weaves a tale that touches even the grittiest of hearts. One of the truly memorable bits is the montage of Carl and Ellie’s married life…silent shots accompanied only by the strains of a haunting melody, it leaves you with a knot in your throat.

And in the midst of the reaching-for-the-tissuebox moments, PIXAR does what it does best….full-on action, breathtaking animation, quicksilver dialogue. What you have is a film that offers something for all ages.

UP - Ellie and Carl's Life Montage