Ye Olde Fashioned Newsreel
- Are those fireworks exploding over Cinderella’s castle? Then this must be a Disney Pictures production. And there’s the bouncing desk lamp. Why, hello there, Pixar.
- Up kicks off with a black and white, 1930s Movietown newsreel that introduces us to explorer extraordinaire, Charles Muntz. He’s a cross between Errol Flynn and Howard Hughes, with a dash of Indiana Jones, and he’s just been to Paradise Falls, an exotic spot in South America that the newsreel shows in grainy detail.
- Sitting in the movie theater audience, young Carl Fredricksen is absolutely transfixed. He’s also dressed up like a Muntz cosplayer, complete with leather cap and goggles.
- When Muntz utters his catchphrase, “Adventure is out there!” Lil’ Carl gives a hearty thumbs up.
- The newsreel footage shows Muntz’s latest discovery, the skeleton of a prehistoric-looking bird dubbed “the Monster of Paradise Falls.” Then we’re told that everybody thinks Muntz made it all up. Oh, snap!
- Muntz is humiliated and stripped of his membership in the National Explorers Society. Carl is outraged, screaming “No!” at the big screen.
- Before a large crowd—and in front of his tricked-out zeppelin, The Spirit of Adventure—Muntz vows to go back to Paradise Falls to capture the monster, alive, and clear his name, adding that he won’t return to the States until he does. Smell ya later, Muntz!