UP: The Married Life (2009)
Director: Pete Docter/Bob Peterson
Writers: Pete Docter/Bob Peterson/Tom McCarthy
Production Companies: Pixar Animation/Walt Disney Pictures
Brief Introduction of the scene from UP: Married Life
The Married Life scene from the famous movie by Disney & Pixar, UP (2009), brings viewers into a life journey between two childhood lovers, Carl and Ellie. The scene begins with the innocent Young Ellie who outwardly expresses her liking towards Young Carl because of his quietness, which took Young Carl by surprise as he walks towards his bedroom window, out from the dark and into the moonlight.
From this short introduction onwards, the audience is then brought into Carl & Ellie’s rollercoaster of life, full of ups and downs: from their first day as wedded partners, all the way until the end of their final moments of Ellie’s last breath.
I think that The Married Life scene has cleverly captured the essence of true love and devotion by perfectly blending a solid storyline & narrative, character arc, colour palette, semiotic representations embedded within the characters’ personal belongings and music accompaniment altogether.
An Effective Story Arc
It’s interesting that within 5 minutes, this short scene from UP successfully cramped up a whole life’s journey by effectively using trackings and cuts, arranged in a mixture of linears and non-linears within an overall linear timeline. The Married Life uses a typical narrative arc containing an exposition (introduction of their childhood meet), rising action (their wedding and how they breathed life into what was once an old, crooked house together), a climax (when the two had beautiful plans to have children but are later on met with the news that they would not be able to), and a resolution (moving on to eventually lead a flourishing life, just the two of them together).
What Piqued My Interest
I’m honestly interested to understand how Pixar managed to cook up an emotional and impactful story that leaves their audience feeling extremely attached to the characters. I watched this movie back in 2009 at the cinema and it had powerfully left such an impact on me that even now, a decade later, I would still feel that heart-wrenching pain every time this scene is brought up in a conversation. So what did Pixar do right? What was the message of this film sequence?
Pixar managed to embed a sense of emotional attachment towards these characters by designing a pattern of ideally meaningful moments at settings that are repeatedly shown throughout the short film. By doing so, the audience are introduced to a framework of familiarity and relatability that passes with us through time.
The brilliant colour-scripting in this sequence portrays livelihood and celebratory occasions by using a bright, whimsical contrast of hues (eg: the couple’s wedding, the completion of their house, their new job together at the zoo and the nursery-preparation scene) and alternatively dark, less saturated colours for the hardships in life (eg: the gynecologists’ clinic scene, the tree-falling scene, Ellie’s funeral and Carl’s return to their home, alone).
Ellie and Carl’s outfits also play an important role in representing the phases of their relationship and their own individual character development. We can see Ellie and Carl starting off as a new couple with complementing outfits and holding hands, showcasing the new, strong bond and attachment towards each other which eventually progresses to a comfortable phase in their relationship where they feel content just laying side by side.
It’s also interesting to see the implementation of colours and patterns in each of the character’s outfits. On Ellie, there is a strong use of bright, striking colours with patterns that change according to what her personality- a cheerful, eager and positive person. She is presented as a go-getter, the type of person who works her way towards her goals, no matter what it takes. However, since she does often seem to have a need to visualize her expressions, Ellie is later on seen wearing a dress with fallen leaves as its pattern to signify and represent the one heartbreak that she has a tough time holding onto – the fact that she is no longer able to conceive; the one goal she was extremely excited about that is confirmed, unachievable.
On the other hand, we see Carl in a constant, uniform set of style in limited colours. It shows his personality as someone who has visions and goals but is also naturally calm, minimal, quiet and collected. The juxtaposition of these two, contrasting characters, seem to create the perfect balance in their relationship.
During the beginning and closer to the end of the sequence, we see two similar longshots that to me, have been beautifully arranged and crafted to depict the story of life and time. Positioning the first scene of Carl walking up to Ellie in a green, luscious hill with what seems to be buildings of that time, during sunrise, represents the early stages of their lives as a couple together whereas the next scene is a juxstaposition of old lives in new times where the audience sees an old, frail and sick Ellie walking up to Carl, who in opposite, is very eager to show Ellie their ticket to Paradise Falls which is a long-term goal of theirs, with the background showing a developed city of tall buildings and skyscrapers, during sunset to signify the golden hours of their now golden days.
The sequential use of ellipsis in this part of the film where Ellie and Carl have decided to move on with their lives, is an intelligent way to convey the passing of time. My absolute favourite scene would have to be the punctured tyres scene. It is to me, a metaphor of their life together as a couple who are going on life’s adventures wherever the wheel takes them- and when punctured, they break their Paradise Falls savings to signify a fresh new start over and over again; precisely what life actually is, an endless cycle of ease and hardship.
To me, The Married Life is an absolutely charming short film that brilliantly speaks about the passing of time, put together by a coherent narrative and use of camera angles, trackings, use of colours and an accompaniment of instrumental music that speaks volume about the feeling of love and acceptance present between Ellie and Carl – till death do them part.