Tag Archives: Pixar

Lovable Oddballs

day1One thing I forgot to mention on my gushing rave review about Pixar’s Up was the new short animated film that played before the movie: Partly Cloudy. In case you didn’t catch it, here’s a video:

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In case that doesn’t load for you, or if you’re too lazy to watch (gasp! Don’t be!), here’s the story of Partly Cloudy (skip this part if you don’t want to read).  It’s about cloud people who creates babies, puppies, kittens and all kinds of nice and sweet baby stuff and the storks who deliver them. Out of all the cloud people, there’s a darker cloud named Gus, who creates the babies who are, well, less lovable. Like a baby crocodile, or a baby bighorn sheep, or a baby porcupine (thanks, Wikipedia). His delivery stork, Peck, gets stuck with all the deliveries and grows wary with every delivery, and seems envious with his fellow stork who gets to deliver the cuddly and safe babies. When Gus creates a baby shark, Peck flies away to another cloud, as if to leave Gus behind. Gus throws a fit, but then Peck returns with protective gear, proving that he won’t be abandoning Gus.

To be honest, this part of the short film almost made me cry. There was something so lovable about Gus, about how proud he was with every baby he makes. The way his eyes lights up with excitement with every baby, the way he seems to be genuinely happy in creating the little oddballs that other people would think is harmful or icky or scary.

And there’s also the way he hugs Peck, how his eyes widen with concern everytime Peck returns and looks distraught. I guess Gus must have known that he’s giving Peck a hard time with the deliveries, but he still can’t stop making the little oddballs he makes because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

I think it’s sweet. Peck’s return was the clincher in the short, like he’s saying, “I’m not leaving you, buddy.” Which he probably is, if he could speak. And even if what Gus handed him next still managed to hurt him, he was still there to stick by Gus, no matter what.

Ah, to have someone (or some people) who will stick by you, regardless of whatever odd things you do. If you have at least one person in your life like that, well, you’re very blessed. :)

Okay, someone’s being a bit too mushy, I think. It’s probably the hormones speaking now. :P But we could all learn a lot from Gus and Peck up there. :)

1/30.

Up (2009)

The Cast of Pixar's Up
The Cast of Pixar's Up

I watched Up earlier today with Gel and Cors (thanks again Gel, for earlier :D), and I asbolutely loved it. I’m a big fan of Pixar films, and most of my favorite movies are Pixar animated films — Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Cars, Wall-E to name a few. But Up just blew me away.

Up‘s trailer really does not do justice to the film. I was expecting something just simply comical, like what you see is what you get type after I saw the trailer and nothing really with the story. I was prepared to be amazed at the animation, and the funny moments and just that. But Up has a cute little story, and solid story arcs for each of the characters in the movie that it all just blends together beautifully. I can’t even decide which of the main characters is my favorite…but I’d have to say I’m partial to Dug the dog. Especially after you hear him say this after Carl drives him away by telling him he’s a bad dog:

I slept under your porch because I love you.

It makes me want to hug my pet dogs again. :)

It’s just simply wonderful, including the little background music they play everytime Carl remembers Ellie. :) Awww, to have a love that lasts like that. ♥

And this is probably the second Pixar film that made me tear up (first was Cars)! Not only once, but twice! It’s such a great movie, really, and I can’t wait to watch it again in 3D this weekend. :) If you haven’t watched it yet…well, what are you waiting for? Watch!

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Continue reading Up (2009)

Wall-E (2008)

Rating: [rate 5.0]

Wall-E What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”) and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille”) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL-E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

I’ve been curious about Wall-E ever since I’ve seen the trailer, and I’m really glad that we got this movie for Movie Night at work. :)

Wall-E is pretty much a silent movie, and the first thirty minutes or so of the movie showed what Wall-E was doing in a very deserted and polluted Earth. Together with a cockroach friend, Wall-E goes by his everyday life doing what he was programmed to do (his directive) by compacting trash, but also doing some searching and collecting of random odds and ends he finds in his beat-up lunchbox. At the end of his day, he goes home, sets aside all his collections and then watches his favorite old movie Hello Dolly, trying out their dance moves and wishing for someone to “hold hands” with.

Then comes EVE, an advanced robot (with more computer memory than Wall-E) from the Axiom, where all human beings are staying because of the polluted state of the Earth. She’s an interesting robot, one who we thought was pretty but had anger management issues and is far from demure. :P Eve pays little attention to Wall-E at first, who was smitten with her and tries to win her attention. It wasn’t until she was saved from a sandstorm that she finally paid some attention to Wall-E, who tried to win her over by showing her all his random collections (including a VERY cute dance number), but it wasn’t until he showed her the plant he found that she went into hibernate mode, waiting for the mother ship to pick her up.

Continue reading Wall-E (2008)