Issue 129 – Up, Up and Away

admin | July 7, 2009

petedocter

Film Ireland talks to Pete Docter, director and co-screenwriter of Disney•Pixar’s first 3D animation UP.

Since joining Pixar Animation Studios in 1990, where he began by animating and directing television commercials, quadruple Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Pete Docter has enjoyed a prestigious career as one of the leading creative minds in the field. From supervising animator (and story/character development) on the benchmark computer-generated feature Toy Story, to directing the global hit, and Best Animated Feature Film Oscar®-nominee, Monsters, Inc., Docter continues to bring his Midas touch to every project on which he works. Next for Docter is Disney•Pixar’s UP, which he directs and also serves as co-screenwriter.

FILM IRELAND: Tell me about the genesis of UP.

PETE DOCTER: Looking back, I’m not even really sure where the idea came from – it was a very organic process. Bob Peterson (co-writer, co-director) and I came up with this concept of a floating house, and that was something that spoke to me. I’m really not much of an extrovert. As a director, by the end of the day, I’m exhausted from just talking to people. So there’s this great temptation just to escape and get away from everything and everyone; and it seemed really appealing to be able to float your house off into the sky. So we started thinking, ‘Who would be in there? Why are they doing it? Where are they going?’ And it was answering questions like that that led us to this film.

What do you think UP is about?

UP is the story of Carl Fredricksen, who ties thousands of balloons to the roof of his house and flies to South America to have an adventure. On a more foundational level, it’s about discovering what adventure really is. Carl and his wife, Ellie, had always dreamed of exotic travel, seeing wild beasts and plants that no one’s ever seen before; but what Carl comes to discover is that even though he and Ellie never got the adventure they wanted, they had life’s greatest adventure: a wonderful rich relationship. The things that make life really special, our family and friends, the little events that happen every day – that’s what life is really about.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 129.