10 Darkly Disturbing Disney Movie Theories
3. Carl Fredricksen Is Dead The Whole Time
Consensus says that Up is quite possibly the saddest Disney movie since
The Fox and the Hound, but hold your horses. The Pixar animation is about to
get a whole lot more depressing because this fan theory poses that the movie
isn’t merely a heartfelt life lesson in accepting loss and overcoming grief,
but rather about one man’s journey into the afterlife.
The story goes that Carl dies in his sleep after being told he must move out of the home he shared with his darling Ellie for so many years and that young Russell is a guardian angel in the making that must guide Carl towards the afterlife (or ‘Paradise Falls’) in order to gain his wings, symbolised by his ‘assisting the elderly’ badge.
Just to twist the knife a little deeper, the reason Carl’s guardian angel happens to be a child is because he and Ellie were unable to have children of their own so Russell kind of represents the son they never had.
Yes, there may be holes in this theory – notably the ending of Up when Carl and Russell return to civilisation and carry on living their lives – but it’s still more plausible than talking dogs and helium balloons strong enough to transport a two-storey house from suburban USA to Venezuela.