One movie fan has created an entirely new look for Pixar's Up. The animated film was released in 2009 under the direction of Pete Docter, who has directed a number of animated films, including Monsters Inc., Inside Out, and the Academy Award-winning film, Soul. The newly imagined trailer for Up combines Docter's adoring film with the style of horror director Ari Aster to create an entirely new film.
In 2010, Docter's Up was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Pixar's Up would take home the awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Aster's horror productions also carry a number of accolades, including those from the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, which focus on awarding horror and thriller films.
The re-cut trailer begins with the signature A24 logo before catapulting viewers into the familiar landscape of Up. Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) is confronted by a construction worker who insists that the businessmen want to buy his home in order to continue to build up the area. Like in Pixar's Up, Carl refuses, remarking that the man can have his house once he's dead. Vekze, the creator of the horrifying Up trailer, uses a series of quick cuts to various scenes from the animated film that are filled with shadows, silhouettes, and a certain emptiness that's present in the Pixar film. Carl's marriage to Ellie is a huge part of Up, and the new horror trailer doesn't leave that out. Instead, the trailer suggests that perhaps something far more sinister has happened to Ellie. The trailer is complete with the signature horror music to evoke an uneasy feeling, along with the title card that reads, "Upside Down."
The re-imagined trailer for Up adds no visuals that Up didn't already provide. Instead, the creator speeds up some scenes, chopping them at critical moments to build suspense. The surprise appearances of some Up characters and their journey to Paradise Falls are the perfect grounds for harmful, unforeseen circumstances to arrive. The trailer also introduces Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer) as a fairly sinister character right off the bat. Up viewers are familiar with Muntz's sinister motives in the film, and the newly imagined trailer doesn't shy away from them.
In using some of Aster's own style to craft the trailer, Up can now be viewed as a potential horror film. Aster has previously directed Hereditary and Midsommar, which starred Toni Collette, Florence Pugh, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Gabriel Byrne, and Jack Reynor. Aster's third feature film, Disappointment Blvd. Is set to release this year. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Michael Gandolfini, Zoe Lister-Jones, Richard Kind, and several others. Disappointment Blvd. Will also mark the third collaboration between Aster and A24.
As far-fetched as it seems to combine the styles of Docter and Aster, many who have viewed the trailer were left wondering where animated horror films have gone. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie are often highly regarded, as are the Henry Selick-directed films The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline. In 2019, The Addams Family was converted into an animated film. Selick will add to his animated horror film resume with the release of Netflix's Wendell and Wild, which includes the voice of horror director Jordan Peele. Perhaps the newly imagined Up trailer will inspire a new chain of horror animated films to be made.
Up is now streaming on Disney Plus while Midsommar and Hereditary are now streaming on Showtime.
Source: Vekze/YouTube