Jan 29 2008First Look at Pixar's Next Gift From God, 'Up'

To fully understand why it is so miraculous each time we behold a new glimpse of Pixar's film wizardry, you have to understand what goes into making a Pixar film. They make a big show of all the fun pools and air hockey tables and holograms and stuff that make up their massive compound, but that leaves out all the hard work done behind the scenes.

When you were in grade school, did you ever have to dissect owl droppings, hunting for bits of undigested rodent bones in the hopes of assembling a full specimen? That's what making a Pixar film is like, except instead of owl droppings, it's God's own shit, which the many skilled artists painstakingly shovel through in the hopes of finding enough lovable characters and heartwarming plot elements to construct a feature film. Above is a full element they excavated--a complete field mouse skull, if you will--and here is what they hope will eventually come of it:

Director Pete Docter described Up as a "coming-of-old-age story" about a seventy-something guy who lives in a house that "looks like your grandparents’ house smelled." He befriends a clueless young Wilderness Ranger and gets into lots of altercations. Says Pixar: "Our hero travels the globe, fights beasts and villains and eats dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon."

The first thing you'll probably notice is that this Pixar film is a departure from their norm, wandering into the realm of 2D animation. It asks the question, what has God been eating differently, and will it affect Toy Story 3? Only time will tell. Never mind; it's just concept art.

New Image From Disney-Pixar's 'Up' [Pixar Planet]