One of the first things to leave our lives were the frequent trips to the movie theater, or the impulse purchasing of home movies that may only ever be watched once. Then we quit going to the theater altogether, outside of a special night at the drive-in (for a thrifty double feature) from time to time, and home video purchases of any kind became impossible to justify in most cases. We made very few exceptions out of sheer necessity.
Then Pixar released their now-classic "Up" in 2009. It was receiving near-universal praise from both fans and critics alike, and it was a movie we could take our children to see. We hadn't been to a movie for more than a year, largely due to my wife's pregnancy throughout most of 2008, but by the time "Up" was released, my son had been born and was old enough to where taking him to the drive-in wasn't an issue.
Although my wife was no longer pregnant, she was still recently post-pardem enough that the emotional heartstrings frequently tugged upon in "Up" were enough to release the floodgates. As scene after scene passed, my wife and my daughter rode an emotional rollercoaster that would have made the filmmakers proud. In our car, with my wife in the passenger seat, and my two-year-old daughter on my lap, they shed tears of sadness, followed by rib-cracking laughter, followed by tears of joy, and more laughter.
Despite not being moved by the film as much as they were, I enjoyed it immensely and vowed to do all I could to make it part of my home movie collection as soon as it became available. The problem was the timing of the release of the film. Studios were pushing Blu-Ray releases over DVD releases, eliminating promotional release-related discounts, inflating the prices of both and completely pricing my family out of the market. Movies on DVD were no longer available in the $10-15 range, and Blu-Ray pricing was typically 40-50% more. We would not be purchasing "Up" unless something drastically changed.
The funny thing is, something did change. My wife found a coupon online that gave such a deep discount for "Up" that the Blu-Ray/DVD combo package was only $10 — which was something I could justify for a one-off. Despite not owning a blu-ray player at the time, it was hard to ignore such good value, and the DVD version would get plenty of use.
That first viewing of "Up" on home video was memorable. My wife revisited the emotional rollercoaster of her first viewing, lamenting how little control she had over her emotions at the time. My daughter was also invested, but in other ways. While my wife and I related to the human characters, my daughter had a particular affinity for Dug.
During the climactic finish, as Fredricksen and Muntz struggle for control of The Spirit of Adventure, Muntz kicks Dug hard in the face as Dug is trying to aid Fredricksen, causing Dug to yelp loudly in pain. My daughter burst into hysterical tears, completely blindsiding me. Before I could so much as put my arm around her, she yelled out, "Oh no, DUG!!!!!!" More tears followed.
Her tears were as authentic as tears get. I hugged her and held her for as long as she needed to calm down. When she had finally composed herself (after leaving a puddle of tears on my shoulder), we finished the movie together, with her on my lap this time, just like that first viewing at the drive-in. While us silly adults were hyper-focused on the themes of life, loss, loneliness, and redemption, our daughter wanted nothing more than to ensure Dug's well-being.
We still love to watch "Up" as a family to this day. My daughter is no longer two, but she still hasn't forgiven Muntz for his treatment of Dug — which isn't really surprising when you consider how little progress he's made on the path of redemption.
