10 Heart-Breaking Pixar Backstories You Probably Missed

2. Russell€™'s Absentee Father - Up

Another backstory hint that has been explored before, Russell's familial history is only fleetingly mentioned in Up and revealed in short, sharp bursts that are designed not to have immediate impact because the audience (through Carl) only sees an annoying little kid who is a distraction from the real business of adventure.

Clearly Russell is a child of divorce and there's little room for him in his father's new life, which seems dominated by his new partner who views Russell as a reminder of a past life she'd prefer her man didn't have. It's your typical wicked stepmother sort of situation, with Russell forced to try and force any attention he can from his father by over-achieving as a scout as his father stews under the spell of his new love. He's got such a big heart that the idea of him being so utterly abandoned is beyond gut-wrenching.

And just how dysfunctional do a family have to be to allow their son to continue to have a relationship with the man who claims they flew away together in his house and embarked on an adventure on which they discovered a talking dog, a bird called Kevin thought mythical by the science community? Yes, it's true, but it sounds exactly like the kind of thing a kidnapper - or worse - might spin to the police.