Why Charles Muntz Is Pixar's Best Villain
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
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UP is one of Pixar's most beloved movies, and in the villain department Charles Muntz is easily one of Disney's best. Join me as I examine the deeper themes of UP and see what this film is really all about
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Alsooooo...This video already got more views in the first hour as my last video did in a week lol
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cmon you couldnt even get surfshark or like, nord?
Just wondering but are there any series with a good villain protagonist. Because I wondering if you would be interested in analyzing Charmander from the RUclips series, Starter Squad.
4shame, great video as always but I think you've missed the point a bit, the message wasn't necessarily to accept that the past is already gone but the importance of living in the moment as Ellie beautifully said 'thanks for the adventure, now have a new one of your own.'
It's funny how Russell attracts the bird with chocolate, something Charles wouldn't have around because it's very poisonous for dogs.
Dogs can eat chocolate, just not a lot of it
@@FourScoreSevenYearsAgo Only if it's very processed like a Snickers bar, wich it's more of a candy than chocolate at that point.
Dude…I didn’t even think of that holy shit😂
@@FourScoreSevenYearsAgo he likely avoided it entirely for peak dog performance lol
@@FourScoreSevenYearsAgo Not really. Even a small amount would make a medium-sized dog sick, have seizures and poor gut health, because they cannot digest the caffeine or 'Theobromine'. It's best to prevent your dog from consuming it at all cost because it won't take much at all!
If Muntz hadn't spent so much of his life intensely training hundreds of dogs, he probably would have found the bird earlier.
Or if he trained actual hunting dogs
@@kalo_vera that's what doug and the other 3 were meant to be, scouts basically
Hell, if he had just sold his dog collars that allowed dogs to speak he could probably retire a millionaire.
Well I mean he was intent on having this bird secured whether he lives or not, possibly the dogs (who already fly the airship) to take it back. They can speak, so they could also tell Charles' story, thus saving his image.
No he wanted the bird alive, last time theylooked at the skeleton and called him a fraud. He viewed to bring it back alive
"It's sort of a twist that Charles is even alive" made me laugh more than it had any right
"Adventure is out there!" - the antithesis of the film.
Muntz status as antagonist is established form his very first line. He convinces Carl and Ellie that a life worth living is far outside the mundane. Compare this to Ellies last message: "Thanks for the adventure" Referencing their mundane life together. The message of the film is what matter most in life is right on your doorstep.
I never noticed that before and that is absolutely brilliant. Man, this movie is awesome.
oh the doorstep, I see what you did there 😄
I think Charles Muntz is a bit like Colonel Kurtz whose unsavoury methods caused a wedge between him and American military command causing him to commit a mutiny and fight his own war with his own army. Muntz failed to get a live one and officialdom cast him out leading him to pack up with his own army to fly in a airship to the jungle of what looks like South America to capture a live specimen of the bird which resulted in him going mad, becoming paranoid and murdering people.
As for the idea that he could be talked into coming back to civilisation he would be deeply irrelevant as in the time he was gone humanity had climbed to the peak of the tallest mountain and survived, gone to space, drove cars like the Landrover over vast distances in rugged landscapes, dove to the deepest depths and sailed in small yachts single handily around the world including non stop, and even flew around the world in an airship. Telephones became more common and even could be carried around in a pocket wireless, telefax, computers, email, internet, jet fighters and airliners including jumbo jets, social media, rock, rap music, computer generated animated films and he would find the age of the gentleman explorer dead.
As for the way to life it is quite relevant with all the “Alpha Male” types telling people about the sort of life men should live. Sometimes the most interesting people are the people who sought a regular life . My great grand father maternal paternal was an apprentice barman who while on what would become the worlds longest strike in history met his wife one of their daughters would marry a man whose grandparents left West Cork for South Wales whose father was a teacher in the village but was with in the RAF until the late 1940’s he was there when the British Raj was confined to the annals of history his son became an accountant in London and helping with decimal day before meeting his wife and moving back to Ireland.
I think Muntz is a very effective villain because he is a very realistic villain: his actions are driven not by a traditional villain plot but by obsession. His need to get what he wants and prove what he wants is what causes him to damage not only others and his dogs but himself.
@@AbrasiousProductions If you don't let things go those things will consume you.
One thing that makes Pixar twist villains better than Disney ones is that they feel far more real, Stinky Pete has distain for kids after being abandoned for years, Waternoose is willing to keep his business afloat at all costs, Muntz is consumed by his desire to recapture old glory, and Cruze is desperate to keep his reputation that was built on lies. They all feel real and their motivations and actions related to them make sense
@@phnexOice Pretty much.
What I think is so tragically comidic about Muntz is that he was so tunnel visioned by his goal it never struck him that he had pretty much given his dogs human intelligence with his collars, collars that he made with early-mid 1900 technology. He could have gained fame once more but he was so blinded by that bird that it never really crossed his mind because his ego was so bruised.
Can we talk about how Muntz was pursuing a dead dream? Even if he captured the bird, would the public even still care? Heck! Would the Explorer’s Society even still be around? And even if it was would the current members even know who Muntz is? Consider that Muntz started his adventure circa-1940s or 50s and the movie takes place in 2009, when it was released. That’s about 70 years and in that time it’s not impossible for his name to be swept away by future members of the Society
Russel had never heard of him. Since he was deemed a fraud his name was likely removed from history books.
@@saphiriathebluedragonknight375 or you know nobody remembers him
I think the reason why the public won't care is because of the fact he was deemed missing and never came back. If he had stayed in society, the public would definitely remember him since he's living among them, and would continued being shunned as a fraud. And I think this is what many commenters here forgot/didn't realize. Many comments say he could've been a billionaire with his inventions, but they forgot that money and business isn't important for Muntz, but rather reputation (as the video here stated), or most specifically, trust. You can have all the money you can imagine, but money will never get people to trust/love/respect you, but rather just give a way to make them fear/use you.
What Muntz is experiencing is almost like (but not to the extent of course) how a person who is accused of rape despite never doing such thing will experience. It's like a betrayal for them because despite they were deemed as the bad guy despite they did nothing wrong and unless the verdict is overturned (the judge says it's a false accusation and deemed innocent) people will continue to be wary of them and no one will ever wish to be associated with them. Muntz was deemed a fraud, in other words a liar, nation/world wide. And people would never trust a liar. Friends, associates, and possibly family will never want to associate with you and sometimes even throw you under the bus. That's why Muntz was desperate. He just wants to get rid of the label. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He went to the deep end when he started killing people to get what he wants.
Ive seen no one ask themselves this: would the bird charles is looking for even going to be alive? Birds dont just live eternally young, unless its the realism of this film.
@@tlhpr0vidence579 i mean. im pretty sure it's not just one bird but a species, maybe a super rare and almost extinct species, but still there should be more than one seeing as 'kevin' had children so the one in the movie is most likely a descendent of the original one charles first saw
Fun fact, I watched Up with a friend, and they completely misunderstood the opening.
They thought that the girl was actually a boy, then the boy went off and became the villain, while the main character stayed home, found a girlfriend and regretted not going with his friend when he had the chance.
I was like "...What? How... How did you get that from the opening?"
...yeah I don't understand how they got that conclusion either 😅
That is a hilarious misunderstanding lol
You need to teach them about tomboys
That, that is honestly the strangest misunderstanding
Your friend may have a fanfiction addiction.
I feel so sad for the cartographer and botanist, the knowledge they may have gained could be lost forever
You notice all the "Explorer" hats he has and how he bumps one off in correlation with that person? I'm absolutely certain those people were Muntz fans like Carl that came there to find him specifically (and do the other things, too). Muntz probably got *those* hats from *those* people.
@@thebighurt2495
nooooo you're right oh god it's like syndrome level of malicious
not as many people but the idea that you finally get the chance in a lifetime to meet your full potential or someone you looked up to only to get murdered like you meant nothing
@@thebighurt2495 He got the adoration from his fan but could not bear the possibility of his fan taking the reputation away from him. A non existence reputation that was long forgotten. Muntz is just deep in pettiness
It is like something from Hearts of Darkness and Apocalypse Now with Muntz being the Kurtz of Up a man who went insane in the jungle.
The sad part about this is that if Carl and Ellie did make it to paradise falls, they likely would’ve succumb to muntz like all the others before them did
Munts?
I never even thought of that
Ellie would have destroyed him on seconds
Ngl, I kinda want the alternate version with "Up" as a horror story where two people in love fight for their lives against a crazed man they looked up to so greatly they tailored their lives around the chance of meeting. I guess the alternative moral if one had to exist would be not to idolize someone so much that you'll follow and mold your life around them without really knowing who they are behind the scenes.
@@striker8961 it's spelled muntz
Many people have theorized that Charles Muntz was named after Walt Disney's old boss Charles Mintz; back during the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.
Talking about Pixar villians, you should talk about Hopper from A Bug's Life. I think he's one of Pixar's more darker villians; at least in my opinion.
Agreed. I love seeing dictators get their comeuppance.
A youtuber named Rockotar made a great analysis on Hopper
@@Moss_Dude seconded. That’s a great analysis.
Hopper is an underrated villain in a forgettable movie
I've heard that too, although they've denied it. Doesn't seem like something Disney would be too upset over if they admitted it, though, so idk.
@@ZilRockbottom Because Walt was actually a pretty petty and vindictive man, and the less information you have to find that out for yourself, the better.
There's an interesting change in motivation for Charles in this movie that I don't see a lot of people take note of. The whole reason he went to Paradise Falls was to bring the bird back alive, proving that it is indeed a real living creature. However in the climactic fight near the end Charles yells that he's bringing that bird back dead or alive. He's gotten so obsessed over this bird that at this point he doesn't even care about fulfilling that promise he made so many years ago, at this point it's just the principle of catching that bird that's eluded him all these years. It's not too different from how Carl's motivation subtly changes actually. Originally his dream of going to Paradise Falls was to go on grand adventures with the love of his life, but when Ellie passed away he still stubbornly follows that dream, even though at this point going through with it would achieve nothing, it's just a matter of principle.
Do they ever say what year Up is set in as well? There's no real modern technology in the movie, so it could easily be set in the '90s Etc. Making Muntz being alive quite plausable.
Also, Muntz invented a collar that can translate dogs... He could have become a multi-millionare, maybe even a billionaire patenting something like that! Far more fame and respect than from discovering a bird in the modern world.
Then again, that could be his character, not seeing what life could offer him if he just let go of his obsession. The prime definition of the old addage: "Can't see the forest for the trees".
Pretty sure the kid had a touch screen GPS.
Tbh, that's a pretty strong message of the film-adventure is out there, and both Carl and Muntz are too stuck in the past to go see any of it beyond the things they've hyperfixated on.
Carl quite literally lived as a shut-in after his wife died and his "seeking of adventure" was actually just a desperate attempt to deny the changing of the times, one last refusal to let go of his wife despite it having been the opposite of what she wanted for him. He didn't go because he "wanted" to in that moment; he did because it was his last chance, the final slivers of freedom. It was desperate, as if his hand had been forced.
Muntz, on the other hand, was a famed explorer who devolved into much the same kind of life, and the present slipped away from him in the face of his ego refusing to let him move on. He was so unwilling to go back on his word that the eventual obsession caused him to disregard any actual sense of adventure and explorer's spirit he had left, rooting him in place for decades.
It's even more obvious looking at Russel, who sees adventure in even the most mundane of things. It doesn't matter how simple or even childish it is, he unabashedly wanted to do anything and everything that's different or new to him. Adventure exists in every single day if you go out to find it, and Carl had forgotten that.
@@thevioletbee5879 he had one that was clunky enough to look like it came out of the 90s and both GPS devices and touchscreens existed back then (not exactly the same touchscreen tech that's in your phone today, but touchscreens none the less)
Muntz should have taken that collar and begin a Kickstarter.
I mean, i'm not sure about a zeppelin being maintained by one man all those years, but believe it or not, not all 90 year old men are chair-bound. If you lead an exceptionally active lifestyle avoiding sugary caffeine and other crap, I have more confidence in Mr. Muntz being alive than a zoomer living past 60.
I think the Roosevelt discrepancy is viewed as thus - considering Muntz is still alive in the film, it's led many to the assumption that he was likely quite young in his career, in his twenties or some such, when he left for Paradise Falls in the 30s. If we put him at that age, he would've been too young perhaps to interact with T. R. really. FDR would not be an option - FDR had the limited use of his legs, and likely was not going on any safaris.
This leads us to several theories.
- Muntz is not the real Charles Muntz. The theory... works? Kind of? But it's very lame.
- Carl is crazy. This is the other oft touted theory I see. It does make sense, of course to Carl's mind Muntz did such cool things, has such a massive ship, etc. It is of course, the very depressing option, and I'm misinclined to adopt it because it feels not to be the original creators' intention.
- Muntz is far older than is believed. Perhaps the madness of the man has fueled his life on sheer rage alone, and he has kept to a strict health regimen to stay fit even at his age.
- It is simply the magical realism of the film's world. In real life no one took a gigantic fancy blimp deep into the rainforest of South America, you couldn't fly a house with balloons, etc. This seems closest to the creators' intentions; it is simply atmosphere for the story.
- And I think my personal pick, and a simple one - Charles is simply exaggerating or outright lying. Maybe he did meet Teddy Roosevelt but as a child, and spun it to be a fantastic part of his story. Maybe he just outright made it up. This could play into Muntz's character. He may be somewhat of a pathological liar - but while taking most times he might be caught in stride, being accused of forgery made him far more distraught, because he knew it was real.
This is all headcanon stuff, but I think that in viewing it a certain way, it might reveal some interesting facets to his character.
or another theory is both Carl and Charles are dead and there view of purgatory is paradise falls. Charles dalls at the end of the movie going to hell while Carl is taking Charles's blimp as his own and going to heaven or a more peaceful afterlife. it would also explain a lot of the discrepancies about ages in the film with Charles actually doing everything he said and after reaching paradise falls dieing in the maze or by simply starving to death and then spending all of his time hunting the bird that is forever just out of reach.
Personally, I think it could also be simply explained as the movie taking place in the past-
@@wileycoyote7481 Perhaps. The movie could take place in the 90s and be largely the same.
@@wileycoyote7481 I like how absolutely no one has ever thought that this movie might not take place in 2009, not even I was thinking about that lol
Considering the original plot had Muntz wanting Kevin’s eggs because they could be used as like a fountain of youth thing or such, Muntz being so old could also be a slight artifact of that old plot
he definitely works as a twist villain
but one of the most unique ones is King Kandy from Wreck-it Ralph
It didn’t so much surprise me that he’s the villain. He’s set up as the villain pretty early on. I think what shocked a lot of people more was that he was Turbo, living in the game for probably years
@@zach415 him being turbo is definitely the bigger twist rather than him being the villain. His intro scene just screams “faux affably evil”.
@@tommyl.dayandtherunaways820 Everyone else has punny names and he's just "King Candy"? Seems a bit out of place.
Yeah I'd hardly call him a twist villain. Obviously on first viewing they get there and "I wonder who the bad guy is?" so naturally the second they ran into the explorer looking for the thing it's like "Nevermind."
I believe it is supposed to be hinted at that the jungle had some sort of magical property to it that eased pain/increased life. It has been a long time since I have seen the movie but one of the clips in this video at 8:06 shows that the boy scout (sorry, character, I forgot your name I think it is Russel but not sure and don't wanna google) notices Carl rushing away without his cane that he previously needed to move around. He also holds the house with the hose and it is the hose peeling away from the house and not his inability to maintain grip which causes him to struggle with keeping a hold on it. That isn't typical for a man of his age and previously shown strength. There are a few other things I can't fully recall off the top of my head but there are several hints that suggest the jungle allowed Muntz to continue on with feats beyond what people his age are typically capable of. The sword he is swinging around looks to be two handed, and he is breaking apart hard material specimens such as bone. Those things are heavy.
Another thing I would add to your theory about Carl's strength is the fact that he was able to throw everything in his home(except the chairs) out, despite this he shows no signs of fatigue or exhaustion ( something that should have been effected by his age.)
And in the fight sence with the swords by pulled something in there back so it may not make them completely young.(granted neither may have been experienced fighters.)
The jungle typically has a higher oxygen content in the air so that might be part of what's preserving/giving these old fellows their vitality. But yeah there does seem to be some mysticism about the place. But also it's a cartoon in which a man floats his many-tons house across the world with helium balloons, so let's not get to mired down in the physics of this world.
The likelihood of that is higher then you would think. In a previous draft of the film's script the bird's eggs had the magical property of restoring youth. This would then be used to allow Muntz to become young again on a regular basis. This version got far enough to make it to storyboards before it was scrapped so magical healing was certainly on the writer's minds.
My favorite part of UP is how every time Carl lets go of a fragment of his life with Ellie, he gains something both of them wanted in the process. And conversely, the more he holds on to the past, the further away he gets from the underlying desires that motivated their dreams. He and Ellie wanted a child, and by letting go of his old possessions he got to experience what that’s like by being a father figure for Russel and coming to his rescue. By letting go of his plan to put his house next to paradise falls, he got to experience the adventure he’d always dreamed of. By letting go of his house, he gained a zeppelin. And finally in the end, he gave Russel the Ellie pin, making Russel his new adventure and symbolizing letting go of the last remaining fragment of his life with Ellie. Nothing in this movie is a coincidence, every event is symbolic of Carl’s character development, and that makes it one of the most beautiful stories ever told in a film IMO. Every second of it is absolutely brilliant and I love it.
Virtually all of Muntz's canine companions are war dogs - Dobermans, Alsatians, Boxers, German Shepherds, Bulldogs, Airedales, Labradors, and the like. These breeds were all developed as guard and attack animals, their hunting and tracking abilities virtually non-existent relative to other canines. Despite being in Paradise Falls for decades, none of these dogs ever succeeded in locating the mysterious bird Muntz sought.
Dug, by comparison, is a Golden Retriever - descended from Bloodhounds (known for superior tracking abilities) and Water Spaniels (known for their hunting prowess). He was always excluded from hunting with the other dogs yet, finally striking out on his own, immediately found Carl, Russel, and (shortly after) the bird.
You do know that Alsatians and German Shepherds are the same breed, right?
lol Lab sticks out on that list as unwarlike cutesy colon three uwu gun dog that's good with kids, but it holds up, since presumably he would want his dead bird retrieved and would thus have at least one gun dog
? Labradors are also retrievers. They were bred to track not guard
Shepherds are often used for tracking though
@@Jane-oz7pp Yeah but studies have shown that many dogs used for tracking are more likely to go after a possible scent based on the perceptions and biases of their owner than they are to rely solely on their own sense of smell. So a dog that looks like a good tracker or even has a reputation for being one, may just be good at confirming the biases of its owner. For example, many police dogs are more likely to sniff for drugs on racial minorities because they sense their owners hostility towards those groups.
It infuriates me that people say that up isnt as good as the first 15 minutes, its still a good movie
It’s a fairly okay movie with an incredible first 15 minutes tbf
I thought it was still good after the first 15
@@hellodolly7989 fairly okay? I can see people thinking the first 15 minutes are the best part of the movie, but fairly okay is just harsh, maybe they should have taken away that first 15 minutes so people could appreciate the rest of the movie more.
It’s not as good as the first 15 minutes honestly. It’s still good, but the first 15 minutes were perfection. I honestly just wanted the movie to be about Carl and Ellie. I never got into the kid and dog characters.
Me too. Without the rest it would be just sad and tear inducing, but not so unique short.
In my opinion the scenes where he reads the rest of the book and then removes everything that held him down from the house to become the hero is essential ending to the story. Without it it would be just about sąd old man who lost his wife and his sense of life and it is just stating a problem without giving a solution.
And the rest of the film is essential for the context.
8:20 It’s weird that Charles would continue his search. I mean, from the beginning of the film, it looked like the scientific community already gave Charles the bird.
Is that a middle finger joke? XD
@@auraguard0212 Yes, it is.
I knew you would talk about Charles as a twist villain that works.
Myself I had a hard time accepting he was actually villainous when I watched this movie when it was released.
I was 13 back then and dealing with mild bullying in high school.
I guess it influenced my perception of our man Muntz and his evolution.
His reveal was so disturbing at least to me, I was in denial about his revealed villany repeating myself "No he can't be evil, he can't be evil".
You went through the same thing Carl did.
@@diegopalaciospaiva1501 It's actually not certain that it's a fake. The newsreel presents it that way, but the scientific methods used to reach that conclusion would be considered severely outdated today. A DNA test would've revealed the truth of whether it was genuine or not, but Muntz was obviously long gone by then.
I will say that for as big of an ego as he had, Muntz did seem genuinely proud of his discovery. I like to think he really did find the bird, it makes his downfall even more tragic.
When a character gets introduced into a story like this that focuses on just a couple key players, this late into the plot, and also happens to be a seemingly very nice guy that the protagonist idolizes: it's not exactly surprising when they turn out to be evil (especially with the dog army). The reveal comes so soon after his reintroduction that I'd struggle to even call it a twist in the traditional sense, more just a simple bait and switch.
He's a great villain, don't get me wrong, but not an unexpected one.
True, though I would argue that Pixar sometimes does not have a villain in their movies, only antagonists like Anton Ego in Ratatouille who comes around by the end. So Charles Muntz being so murderous is quite gutwrenching.
He could have just as well turned out to be someone who they just disagreed and clashed with, and Carl simply needed to shed his hero worship and become an adventurer in his own right. Then again, it's an adventure movie, not a SoL like Ratatouille, so some villany, action and a showdown is expected.
He was extremely boring. Horrible villain
I think they repeated this trope with Ernesto De La Cruz. Miguel idolized him, only to find out he was a bad guy.
Examples of similar villains?
Charles Muntz is a prime example of "never meet your heroes".
I think Charles Muntz is a bit like Colonel Kurtz whose unsavoury methods caused a wedge between him and American military command causing him to commit a mutiny and fight his own war with his own army. Muntz failed to get a live one and officialdom cast him out leading him to pack up with his own army to fly in a airship to the jungle of what looks like South America to capture a live specimen of the bird which resulted in him going mad, becoming paranoid and murdering people.
As for the idea that he could be talked into coming back to civilisation he would be deeply irrelevant as in the time he was gone humanity had climbed to the peak of the tallest mountain and survived, gone to space, drove cars like the Landrover over vast distances in rugged landscapes, dove to the deepest depths and sailed in small yachts single handily around the world including non stop, and even flew around the world in an airship. Telephones became more common and even could be carried around in a pocket wireless, telefax, computers, email, internet, jet fighters and airliners including jumbo jets, social media, rock, rap music, computer generated animated films and he would find the age of the gentleman explorer dead.
@@OscarOSullivan Plus, most people wouldn't even know who he was.
@@santos8468 Agreed a forgotten figure if he had stayed put would have eventually been exonerated by DNA
Syndrome: I couldn’t agree more
@@OscarOSullivan Many people may even ask the question - is Muntz really such a villain if he just wanted to show the world a bird?
Charles Muntz's gradual turn from being this welcoming old man to being sinister, showing that he's murdered everyone who comes to Paradise Falls, is genuinely one of the most chilling villain reveals I've ever seen.
I think Charles Muntz is a bit like Colonel Kurtz whose unsavoury methods caused a wedge between him and American military command causing him to commit a mutiny and fight his own war with his own army. Muntz failed to get a live one and officialdom cast him out leading him to pack up with his own army to fly in a airship to the jungle of what looks like South America to capture a live specimen of the bird which resulted in him going mad, becoming paranoid and murdering people.
As for the idea that he could be talked into coming back to civilisation he would be deeply irrelevant as in the time he was gone humanity had climbed to the peak of the tallest mountain and survived, gone to space, drove cars like the Landrover over vast distances in rugged landscapes, dove to the deepest depths and sailed in small yachts single handily around the world including non stop, and even flew around the world in an airship. Telephones became more common and even could be carried around in a pocket wireless, telefax, computers, email, internet, jet fighters and airliners including jumbo jets, social media, rock, rap music, computer generated animated films and he would find the age of the gentleman explorer dead.
Russel being at risk of falling down the same hole is a good point I wish you'd extrapolated on a little; he was obsessed with getting his wilderness explorer badge because he wanted his dad to come to the ceremony.
For me, what makes Charles such a fascinating villain is the fact we can all become Charles, if we insist on remaining entombed in the past. The fact that Karl was almost a parallel version of his own idol, demonstrates this could happen to anyone, and everyone, when we try to relive the best moments of our past, holding onto zany dreams or trying to correct a past wrong, it can led to either enjoyment and gratification, or wickedness and villainy. This is the lesson all of us should learn from, of letting go and moving on, have new dream and goals, and experience new things to have more memoires, thus the past is a memory and should be treated as such.
Every day I keep living is another day that I die a little inside. Because when I give up on the things I care about I give up on part of what makes me me. Yet trying to hold on to them to tightly seems to kill me inside even faster. It seems that to matter what I do death of self is not only inevitable, but has already happened. Possibly multiple times. Each one a tragedy.
I suppose that’s the nature of being on this planet.
This is first and only movie that made me legitimately cry, so needless to say it holds a special place in my heart.
One moment I like from the movie is after they escape Charles ship Carl says "I finally get to meet my hero and he tries to kill me!" I find it funny cause we first had the Incredibles where are villain was an obsess fan who was shunned by his idol (even if Mr incredible didn't intended for it be that way) and ends up becoming a dangerous person. Then we have Up thats the other side of the coin where our main character realizes that his hero that he and his wife idolize became derange from his obsession of restoring his past reputation.
Another thing I think needs mentioning is the turning point in the movie when Carl discovers that Ellie had filled the Adventure book with memories of their happy life together. Carl represents someone that didn't waste his life, in contrast to Charles who did.
He had just achieved his dream: the house was in Paradise Falls. But then he saw the book and realizes the Adventure he always dreamt had already happened in the course of his live with Ellie. Then it struck him: he abandoned Russel and the bird in the hands of Muntz, and he needs to save them. While chasing over his dream from the past, he doomed Russell, and he can't live with that guilt
@@thiagoveloso7610 Russell was punished for putting both himself and Carl in danger with his talkativeness about the bird, for his unwillingness to understand that the world did not owe him anything and don't get on people's nerves if they don't want to listen to him and don't need his help. If people told him they wouldn't listen to him, then that's the way it is. And don't care about his opinion on this matter. Russell was taught a useful lesson and a lesson in humility - from now on he will understand refusals the first time if his help is not needed, and also that sooner or later people will get tired of his talkativeness and they will even rudely drive him away, and this is a more win-win option, because he and Carl were reminiscent of Shrek and Donkey when one annoyed the other with his conversations
While I sort of understood Carl's character arc at a surface level, I hadn't realized the depth of it until this video, or how Charles mirrors him (albeit in fairness, I was rather little in this film's day and my ability to extract meaning from media beyond the immediately apparent had yet to develop). It's quite well-done, really.
Very telling that you bring up Kevin's maze when discussing why Charles can't succeed; iirc, at one point the writers wanted to dispose of him by having him baited into going inside and then getting lost.
And since you pointed out the bottle cap as a symbol of Carl literally carrying the past with him, I imagine that would add a layer of "finally letting go" meaning when he gives it away to Russell.
i think the funniest thing about UP is that at the end of the movie, Carl actually achieves his goals by letting go of them, the house literally floats down to the exact spot Carl and his wife wanted to visit after he lets go.
if that's not poetry, idk what is.
I agree
The main musical theme of Up keeps tripping me up. I'll be sitting there, enjoying it while thinking "This is so happy, but why do I feel impending depression?"
The whole idea of "living/being stuck in the past" also in a way exists in Paradise Falls itself. The place is based on the real-life tepuis of Venezuela, Guiana, and Brazil, where these flat-topped mountains act as islands in the sky, isolating the animal &plant life there. Many biologists speculated that the plants & animals of the tepui represented relict populations of organisms that have gone extinct in the lowlands; this idea helped Arthur Conan Doyle write The Lost World back in the day, about how there could even be dinosaurs and other animals known only from fossils on the mountains. I'm pretty sure Ellie even says that Paradise Falls is "a land lost in time" in the movie.
This can kinda be seen in what Kevin is implied to be- some kind of flightless primitive bird. While said to be inspired by a Himalayan Monal Pheasant, a lot of people (including myself as a kid) definitely picked up some moa or even terror bird vibes. The former is an extinct bird from New Zealand, and one that's relatively "primitive"; the latter is a group of mostly South American flightless birds that went extinct during the last ice age (and were carnivorous, hence the moniker "terror bird").
Muntz also has an Arsinoitherium skeleton (this I also remember seeing him mention by name) and many other bones- he claims to have killed the animal in Ethiopia? This could kinda allude to him being a bit villainous, assuming that he has hunted the last of these ancient mammals into extinction? Then again, he could have been lying about it being alive, and simply excavated the thing as a fossil (Arsinoitherium is known from fossils in Ethiopia). Other real & extinct animals, from the thylacine (which went extinct in 1936) to some giant south american ground sloths, to an oversized Somali giant leopard tortoise, can be seen. There's also human artifacts from Africa and possibly elsewhere- it's wholly possible that he obtained these through, um, forceful methods that would be frowned upon in modern science (hunting/poaching, killing, graverobbing, colonialism, etc.).
Muntz's museum is just a big mystery to me as a biology/paleontology student and history enthusiast- and its existence can be said to point to his more sinister methods of artifact extraction and status as a villain. It's a shame there's next to zero documentation of his museum on the internet.
I like that theory
I thought I even saw some dinosaur fossils in his collection ?
I didn’t realize it until you pointed it out, but the consequences of holding onto your past hit way harder than I remember in the scene of Kevin’s capture.
Carl tries to free Kevin from her net without hesitation, but then heel turns when Muntz tries to burn his house, who Carl constantly refers to as “Ellie” throughout the film.
It’s an incredible way of taking Carl’s biggest flaw and showing the heaviest consequences it can bring. He (temporarily) sacrifices a mother trying to get back to her babies, and breaks the hearts of the new family he was forming, pushing himself away even further until he has his epiphany later on.
this is one of the movies I'm afraid to rewatch because of how emotionally taxing I know it is - it's simply too well done.
i often forget just how revolutionary and incredible up really is. my memory of it is always just that one film from 2009 that everyone talked about, but rewatching it brings back just how much the film has to offer. not to mention the nostalgia too, bc man it hits home
The difference between Carl’s and Charles’ motives, is Carl was an old man wanting to fulfill his and his recently dead wife’s dream of getting to paradise falls, a dream they were forced to postpone until it was too late, and wanted to retire and die there. Charles went to paradise falls as a young man to hunt his dream, failed, and continued to follow it until he became too old to follow it, then continued to follow it until he died.
I think Charles Muntz is a bit like Colonel Kurtz whose unsavoury methods caused a wedge between him and American military command causing him to commit a mutiny and fight his own war with his own army. Muntz failed to get a live one and officialdom cast him out leading him to pack up with his own army to fly in a airship to the jungle of what looks like South America to capture a live specimen of the bird which resulted in him going mad, becoming paranoid and murdering people.
As for the idea that he could be talked into coming back to civilisation he would be deeply irrelevant as in the time he was gone humanity had climbed to the peak of the tallest mountain and survived, gone to space, drove cars like the Landrover over vast distances in rugged landscapes, dove to the deepest depths and sailed in small yachts single handily around the world including non stop, and even flew around the world in an airship. Telephones became more common and even could be carried around in a pocket wireless, telefax, computers, email, internet, jet fighters and airliners including jumbo jets, social media, rock, rap music, computer generated animated films and he would find the age of the gentleman explorer dead.
I haven't seen this movie in years, and this video brought back my appreciation for it. Hope it gets the recognition it deserves!
I recently re-watched this movie with my nephew and niece.. I was just blown away by the movie.. Truly one of a kind movie
Personally like Syndrome the best way more screen time way more memorable and him getting an origin from the hero and him inadvertently causing the ban on superheros to begin with is so interesting to me.
Also there's the question about Muntz's zeppelin. Hydrogen doesn't get along when close to the equator in particular.
most american zeppelins at the time used helium, not hydrogen, since the US had a near-monopoly on helium at the time. it was german zeppelins that used hydrogen
Up is quite underrated to me, when most people talk about this movie they focus mostly in the initial sequence with carl and ellie, ignoring the beauty of the rest of the movie. Honestly, the moment when Carl is looking at Ellie's adventure book and sees the "thank you for the adventure, now go on to the next" or something like that made me cry much more than the initial sequence.
RIP Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer
Can I point out that even if Carl did use enough balloons that it could lift his house, it would still be impossible. My prediction for what would actually happen is it would just rip the chimney out. I mean think about it, he put all of the balloons on a single connection point, so that bar in his chimney is under the pressure of the entire house’s weight. Also, even if it didn’t rip off, the house would be very imbalanced. That bar he hooked the balloons to is very low in the house, so the house would definitely tip and be at an angle. Also also not only are the balloons strong enough to lift the house, but they are also strong enough to rip the piping under the house with little struggle. Reply banana if you read this. Also also also with how strong those balloons are, there’s no way the tarp in the beginning would be strong enough to hold them down. I’m probably looking to deep into this, but whatever.
Physics break under Soulism.
Score another point for the Pixar Theory.
also the fact that the balloons were already in the house, so it's not like releasing them would somehow increase the lift. the house should've started flying when he filled the last ballon
I also had a theory about Up. I think one of the smaller morals of the movie is “it’s more about the journey than the destination”. You can see this in the fact that Carl focuses on the “saved for Paradise Falls” page. Only until the middle end of the film does he realize that there were more pages of photos beyond that saved page. And in those pages, we’re photos of his marriage with Ellie. It could be seen that Ellie was able to enjoy the life she had, without focusing too much on the long term goal of Paradise Falls.
I like when the house comes to a rest on Paradise Falls
I feel like the bird is a metaphor for whatever ephemeral “thing” you’re trying to take from the past to the present. That would make the maze the past itself.
Congrats on the sponser! You're moooooooooovin' Up!
(very clever yet obvious reference)
Cars 3 actually DID have a pretty solid through-line, though! It was a metaphor for athletes at the end of their professional run who are no longer physically able to keep up with the newer young athletes, despite their best efforts, simply due to the effects of aging. It was about Lightning "passing the torch" to Cruz, so to speak, and finding value in the role of mentor and thus coming full circle, a parallel to Doc Hudson for Lightning back in the first film.
I agree a book I can recommend is fight or flight by Keith Earls
Everybody acts like Charles Muntz is irrelevant to the story of up and could be removed completely. However people don't realize how important he really is to nearly every plot point in the movie, in the beginning he is important as a good guy and as important as a villain.
I always thought up was more about appreciating what you have, and not getting too overly focused on your goals, not so much letting go of the past.
This, in many ways, fits better. Carl was so focused on getting his wife to Paradise Falls, that he failed to truly appreciate the life he had with Elle. Same with Charles, he was so focused on undoing his (admittedly wrongful)disgrace that he spent decades trying to undo it, when he could have easily just moved on and built a life for himself.
"And you're gonna do it nice and softly because I like it that way..."
Amazing video 4shame!
...it just hit me that Muntz is a serial killer
While I agree that Charles Muntz was a great Villain for Up. I can't quite say he's the best.
For me I believe that title falls to Anton Ego.
Nah in my opinion its the sinisterly hammy Syndrome
To me, both Ego and Syndrome are on the same level, because they are different types of villains
@@JonathanMandrake I agree!
I think all three tie, though syndrome has a special place in my heart due to his motive.
Personally, I find that Hopper is a brilliantly written villain who deserves a mention here.
Watched this move so many times as a kid and until I watched your video today I never knew his name was Charles Muntz
“And our subject today… Charles Muntz!”
“Charles Muntz, a land lost in time!”
“Never apart from his faithful dogs, Muntz conceived the craft for canine comfort!
“That’s Charles Muntz!”
“Who is Charles Muntz?”
“Mr Muntz, I was your biggest fan.”
“Mr Muntz, we aren’t really going inside the spirit of adventure?”
And that’s just from memory lol I think they say it like 60 times in the film
13:00 That was actually a note in my physics solution textbook in college. It was a question about many balloons with helium of this density does it take to lift a person of this many kilos in an air with this density. "This is why the movie Up is unrealistic".
I mean a quick search on a wiki can say that the ages can match up, Charles Muntz was 23 at the start of the film and 92 by the end. Which it's not too farfetched for Carl whose in his 70's to meet someone in their 90's
I mean I have a grandpa in his 70's and his mother my great grandma in her 90's it's not impossible and i don't really buy into the imposter or ghost theories. But may have been foreshadowed somewhere and I missed it.
“People said that the movies I review aren’t available in some countries and-“
“Just give me the VPN sponsorship already”
One thing you could have touched on was how the movie shows Carl letting go of the past: he gives the soda can badge to Russell.
Ahhh yes my fav movie, I’m a fanatic about it, and this I agree with u about it.
Only upon my last viewing did it finally click with me what “You know, it’s just a house” truly meant, I’m so glad you also described the blunt realization of the film
Oh the nostalgia.
"Never meet your heroes" is another good takeaway from this excellent movie. ^^
"Charles is the version of Carl who has spent the last years of his life obsessively chasing a dream that is long gone. Charles is a man who wasted all of his years of life trying to get the past back to the present, but of course it's impossible. You can't bring the past back, it's gone, forever".
Or to quote Kirk Douglas from the movie "Two weeks in another town":
-I came here looking for the past. I found it and to hell with it.
Charles has to be SO OLD. He was an experienced explorer when Carl was a child. Now Carl is pretty old. Charles has to be like….85? He’s in great shape for that
One of the other commenters said the film takes place in 2009. If we assume Muntz's scandal had him depart on his quest in 1939, that's 70 years. If he was in his 30s then, he's 100-110 now. Very old, but not unheard of, with as much as another ten years left before he starts pushing up against record holders.
@@Roxor128 yeah, I wasn’t basing my estimate on years, I didn’t know those, I was basing it on Carl’s age. But yeah if he was 100 and still out exploring and fighting….dude looks good for 100
between this and that "Auto is the best AI villain" video essay you have more than earned a sub from me- Keep up the amazing work!
Can't wait to look through more of you back catalog
If anyone thinks it’s weird that Muntz was still living, Director Pete Doctor confirmed he is only 23 at the start of the film while Carl is 9. In the present, Muntz is 92 while Carl is 78; a 14 year gap. It’s possible he would still be living.
And the news reel footage is from the 1930’s
The name "Paradise Falls" is a clever pun. Because Charles and Carl were both living in the past, they were also living constantly in the shadow of what destroyed the happiness of their past--in a sense, each was constantly living in the moment when his paradise fell. For Charles, this was when he was labeled a fraud. For Carl, this was not only Ellie's death, but the prospect of losing the house and the last vestiges of his life with Ellie. In both cases, they ended up directly in Paradise Falls. Note that, as a verb, "falls" is in the present tense--while they cling to the past, paradise falls for them in the present. Only when Carl lets go of losing the house (which remains at Paradise Falls) does he gain the spirit of adventure that he looked to as a child (another pun). It's very tongue in cheek.
Construction part gets me because I live in SoCal and they’re literally buying all the properties on my grandmas street and have been building warehouses, the whole neighborhood used to be homes and farms, now just endless warehouses, but my grandma and others refuse to sell so now we’re surrounded by warehouses, really sad
The past is never gone; it's still there in the past. It can't be changed, but you can certainly learn from it.
Just want to say that I really appreciate your videos. Your content and format is consistently good quality.
You've heard of Paradise Falls. We all have. The legends. The curses. Some foolishness about it being a land lost in time. A place of ghosts. Beyond the clouds. A spectacular sight of nature. Finding it though, that's not the hard part.
It's letting go.
There are so many things about this movie that just sink in with me when I was younger, need to go back and watch it again.
Even though I kind of forgot a bit of this movie, this made me remember enough to understand it better. Really nice analysis
I've watched Up at least 50 times. It's my favorite Pixar movie and among my all-time favorite films.
It struck me right now. The bird's natural diet probably contain cacao beans, since it likes chocolate.
Thor: Well, you know what they say, “never meet your heroes”
The epitome of "Never Meet Your Heroes."
something worth noting: Charles lost sight of the "Spirit of Adventure"
He became so obessed with the destination/goal with finding the bird he lost sight of the journey- the adventure itself
Carl also forgot to enjoy the adventure as he made his way through this incredible jungle but it wasn't until he read Elli's words that he was reminded what an adventure is really about
Just a perfect movie
I wonder if Muntz got his wish and retrieved the bird how would he have ended up.
This guy and Lotso are THE best Pixar villains ever in my opinion.
Couldn't agree more
really good video!!
I really don’t like ads in the vid but that was a GREAT transition
In your video on Atlantis and why Rorke is such a good twist villain, you mention how the film itself is kinda forgotten, despite being a good film.
I'm curious to see if you have any videos planned about Treasure Planet. It's one of my favourite Disney movies ever, based on a classic book, and yet, like Atlantis, doesn't get the recognition it really deserves.
my personal headcanon is that muntz is born circa 1915 -ish and he's in his early 20s when he's thrown out of his society, circa 1934-1938. a good indicator of this is the dirigible muntz flies (not a blimp, it's a rigid airship llike the Graf Zeppelin) was basically out of common use by the late 30s, because of advancements in airplanes and the fact that hydrogen-gas airships like the Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin and the USS Macon (ZRS-5) and similar are extremely vulnerable to fire, and adverse weather conditions that aircraft of the time could much better survive.
Oooo a new video!
Man I remember the movie as if I watched it yesterday. The Charles Muntz was an underrated villain.
@@tickking when I was a kid, I didn’t realize that he actually killed other explorers who get in his way.
From the Disney Wiki article:
_"Originally, the reason why Muntz wanted to find the bird was because its eggs had a magical property that slowed aging. This storyline was_ _eventually scrapped, but by then, it was too late in production to change the fact that he was still alive and well when Carl visited Paradise Falls."_
5:05 to 5:31, I didn’t recall this scene but as soon as I saw it here I remembered it with clarity and remembered just how terrifying Muntz was. My only sticking point was his literal and physical age. Like, exactly how old is this guy? Did anger and obsession keep him alive this long? I can believe that but maybe if Carl didn’t appear as the same age as him in appearance then I’d believe this all a lot easier, I don’t know why this is such a sticking point for me
Also on that Muntz is not Muntz theory you mentioned- I dissagree on it due to it conflicting with message of the movie.
As the man who still lives due to past grudge he refuses to let go is message appropriate (and as you mentioned it's practically child friendly Moby Dick). This one is also very culture and myth prelevant motif btw
I can’t even finish up because the first 5 mins always make me cry and half the time I can’t go on because it so depressing and sad
If you think about it, charles could’ve found Kevin with the help of the other scientists/explorers that came to paradise falls. And what reason would they have to lie to him? It could’ve worked but his paranoia, obsession, and what I believe to be his need to be a one man show made more problems for him. He could’ve helped them too, they could’ve all gotten what they wanted and come back as the greatest and strangest team of explorers ever
Edit
I’m pretty sure (unfortunately) that if this movie came out today, it would be labeled “another lame Pixar movie” even tho Pixar is still good. And I think it would mostly be because people would find russel annoying, think Carl’s motive is too stupid, think muntz was another lame overused twist villain, think the concept and plot of the movie is lame and dumb, and they’d think the balloon scene is too stupid. And I still have no idea how Carl pulled it off
Your analysis of these shows is just brilliant. I love it !
I'll be honest: the few times I've seen this movie, I keep forgetting Muntz in the movie until Carl gets to Paradise Falls.
Up is one of those movies i love as a kid but just makes me sad now that im 20
I remember watching this in theaters with my family as a kid and I remember almost everyone in tears during the beginning and end XD
I have an idea for a video, you did a video about AI villains and you've done videos about twist villains, how about a video about god villains or deity villains. I find the topic of divine beings taking the villain role really interesting even if you don't believe they exist.
Edit: The reason I find the topic interesting is because Godly characters are both easy and hard to write at the same time. Like A.I. we don't really understand them despite being their creators, with gods we don't understand them mainly due to being older than time itself. The rules of a god and what applies to them make them so flexible yet they can still be hard to write sometimes. What would a god want? Would they even want anything? What would they be doing that could be considered antagonistic? How would they react to being defeated by a mortal? so many things.
What fits my criteria of what I believe a god is.
1: They have to be an ancient being.
2: They obviously need to have godly powers.
3: They must play a critical role to the universe such as being one of the first beings created or being older than the universe such as being the one who made it.
They're some villains who can technically fit into the category of a god but I made a sub-category God-Like villains and/or God wannabes. These are characters who don't fit all my criteria to be a god but still insanely close to not be classified as a god such for example a villain in a movie gains some kind of ancient power that makes them nearly unstoppable they weren't ancient and didn't play a crucial role to the universe yet still has the godly powers.
This movie had my whole theater and my mom crying 😂
That better be a lollypop and not a cigarette 😨