ABSTRACT

This essay examines the representation of the home in a variety of cartoons and animated feature films, culminating with an investigation into Up, the tenth computer-animated film produced by the Pixar Animation Studio. The film exploits the home's architectural integrity and stability. This formal maintenance is fundamental to the way in which Up floats the house into life as a tribute to owner Carl Fredericksen's deceased wife Ellie as he seeks to relocate their shared home atop the mesas-filled landscape of the fabled Paradise Falls. The chapter describes the connection between the house and animation established heritage of anthropomorphism, an artistic and interpretive process that refers to the endowment of various creatures or inanimate objects with human ability, proportion, purpose, and volition. It focuses how the respect paid to the architectural honesty of Carl's home corroborates the dwelling's status as an anti-depressant fantasy for the elderly, recently widowed protagonist.