Adventure vs Relationships
Up is about the philosophical conflict:
You should pursue experiences, achievement, and adventure.
vs
You should spend your time caring for the people around you, building relationships.
Carl starts off chasing adventure. He flies his house to Paradise Falls to find his idol, the lone adventurer Charles Muntz. However, he is unwillingly joined by the boy scout Russel, and later also the dog Dug and Kevin the bird. Russel is Carl’s philosophical opponent. He is very caring, and represents the worldview of relationships. Throughout the movie, Carl is constantly faced with the choice between caring for Russel, Kevin and Dug or continuing his planned adventure. At the midpoint they find Muntz, but they discover he is a murderer and is meaning to capture Kevin. Interestingly, Muntz is philosophically on the same side as Carl. He doesn’t care for others, and he is living his vision of adventure. After Muntz lights Carls house on fire, Carl must choose between saving Kevin or his house. He chooses to save his house and lets Muntz get away with Kevin. But then, comes the crucial scene: the epiphany scene . Carl looks through his wife's scrapbook and discovers that she had filled in blank pages with photos of their life together and written “Thanks for the adventure – now go have a new one!” This completely reframes the theme. Up until now, Carl thought he needed to neglect relationships in order to achieve his vision of adventure. But now, Ellie says that their relationship was the adventure . And at the climax, Carl chooses to ditch his house and possessions in order to save Kevin. In the final scene we see Carl give Russel the Ellie badge, confirming his changed belief. He has now firmly embraced relationships and connection over adventure.
#Pixar