Up!...then down...then up again

Pixar's newest release UP came out this week on DVD and Blu-ray.

Let me start by saying that although this is not a movie review, it is going to come up in conversation (I'll try to keep it vague but it will come up). If you know what the film is about but haven't seen it, you should be fine. If you don't know what it's about and want to see it, watch it before you read this (but please come back). If you don't care what the movie is about, by all means, read away!

In the months leading up to the release (actually about a year from the first teaser - see below), I had been eagerly awaiting Pixar's new film (I have become kind of a Pixar freak but more on that another time).

And...this was going to be their first film in 3-D (mine too if you don't count Captain EO - and I DON'T count Captain EO). I had heard that this was their most emotional film to date and I heard what it was about - to try and keep it vague for those who are reading this without seeing the film - a man loses his wife before he can fulfill a promise he made to her and set's out to complete the promise. All great things, right? Right.

Then, on April 1, 2009, early in the morning, I got a phone call. The caller ID said it was my parents' house. When I answered I didn't recognize the voice on the other end. It was a pretty fast conversation:

Woman: Is this Daniel Erickson?

Me: Yes.

Woman; Hi, I am from the Santa Ana Fire Department. We are calling for you father. Your mother died last night.

And that was it.

Immediately, my thoughts went to my father. They had been married for 56 years. He has had two strokes and has limited vision. My mother did the driving, the cooking, paid the bills, washed the clothes, took care of their two cats... How was he going to get by now? Was he going to have to come live with us in our tiny place? Was he going to have to go somewhere with assisted living? My mind was spinning and, obviously my thoughts were no longer on seeing the new cartoon about an old man.

The next two months were tough. We were trying to get my brother and sister-in-law over here from New Zealand, figuring out my dad's living arrangements, trying to contact all of their friends and family (many of whom do not have e-mail and screen their calls), planning a memorial service:

Me: I thought you guys had made arrangements for cremation and spreading the ashes at sea.

My dad: Yeah we did.

Me: Where are the papers? Who is doing it? Who do we contact?

My dad: I don't know, your mom knew where all of that stuff was.

We found the papers.

I lived at my dad's place with him for the first month or so, coming up to Santa Monica to get new clothes, and attend classes when I could. Brigitte came down on weekends. If I had to come up for more than a day, we brought him up with us.

We still had no idea how he was going to get by on his own. All the while he kept telling us that he would be fine by himself and stop worrying so much. Nobody else was convinced.

What does this have to do with UP? you ask. Well, I'm getting to that. Back off.

One night, I got a call from a company that I had done some editing for in the past and they needed me for a job they were starting. They didn't know how long they would need me. Immediately, we had to figure something out. My dad couldn't come up with us (he wouldn't leave the cats) and I couldn't stay down with him any more. We all decided that we were going to give him what he was asking for and let him try living on his own.

It went really well. We could relax our shoulders a little.

In my (slightly) relaxed state, I discovered that Up was coming out in theaters the following weekend (exactly 2 months after my mom passed away). Now my thoughts on the film were from a completely different perspective. Now this was a film about a man that has spent his entire life with someone and suddenly has to get by without her.

We went. We cried, as did most people in the audience. We knew that we DEFINITELY could not bring my dad to see it. We took him to Star Trek instead - which he loved. I know, I said that he has limited vision - if you must know, he has no peripheral vision, if we sit back far enough he can see the whole screen.

In the months since, he has been amazing. He pays his bills using online bill pay. He has an exercise bike that he is on everyday, listening to audiobooks on his iPod. He has lost about 40 pounds, and says his knees don't hurt when he walks up and down stairs. He also says that the new size 40 pants we just got him are too big. He wants an iPhone so he can go for a walk and when he gets lost he can use the Maps app to get home (I don't like this idea so much). All in all he's doing great.

So now here we are, the movie is out on DVD and I see it through a different set of eyes yet again. Now I see it as a film about a man who perseveres and manages to keep going no matter what is thrown in his path.

And I still don't know if I should show it to him.

Cheers!

Daniel