There isn't an opening scene as devastating - or emotional - as Up's.
Pixar's 2009 release went on to become one of the studio's best received of all time, and while there are plenty of other sequences that drew plaudits from moviegoers, the opening montage featuring Ed Asner's Carl and his wife Ellie is the scene that everyone remembers.
That's partly because it features what could be considered a cruel ending, but regardless of the couple's fate, the journey Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and Pixar's animators take everyone on in that opening is breathtaking.
Carl and Ellie embody love and togetherness in a way few other cinematic couples have, with Up's opening scene beginning with the pair's marriage and progressing right on through their life together.
There isn't a line spoken, and yet it's made abundantly clear that Carl and Ellie simply adore each other. It's what makes Up's journey such a compelling one, and while Pixar delay Carl's happy ending for another ninety minutes, it's one worth seeing play out first hand.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
