Callbacks: Redux
Callbacks have been the theme for Daily Dialogue this week and naturally I’ve been emphasizing their use in dialogue. However callbacks can be non-verbal as well. An excellent example is in the Pixar movie Up. In the story’s opening, young Ellie shares her dream with young Carl:
She flips through her book, revealing a page marked, “STUFF
I’M GOING TO DO.” Past that, the pages are blank.
YOUNG ELLIE
Well, I’m saving these pages for
all the adventures I’m gonna have.
Only… I just don’t know how I’m
gonna get to Paradise Falls.
Ellie closes the book, disappointed.
Carl has a thought. He looks at his toy dirigible.
YOUNG ELLIE
That’s it! You can take us there
in a blimp! Swear you’ll take us.
Cross your heart! Cross it! Cross
your heart!
Carl does
YOUNG ELLIE
Good. You promised. No backing out.
And with that, the end point of the story’s Plotline is established — and the visual of Carl crossing his heart becomes an action that is a called back again and again.
For example, in the wonderful Carl and Ellie marriage sequence, that symbolic act is repeated [01:50–02:00 in the video clip below]. After Carl and Ellie discover that she can not bear children, Carl brings Ellie’s adventure book to her. Then:
INT. CARL AND ELLIE’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM — AFTERNOON
Ellie paints a MURAL of their house atop Paradise Falls over
the mantle. Carl organizes a compass, map, binoculars, and
native bird figurine beneath the painting. It’s their shrine
to Adventure.
INT. CARL AND ELLIE’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM — AFTERNOON
Carl sets a JAR on a table. “PARADISE FALLS” written on it.
Ellie drops in a few coins. She looks at Carl and crosses
her heart. Carl crosses his.
Later after the court has ordered Carl out of his house, he prepares to pack his suitcase to move into a the Shady Oaks retirement home:
INT. CARL’S HOUSE, CLOSET
Carl pulls out a suitcase. A book tips over. Ellie’s
Adventure Book.
INT. CARL’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM
Carl sits in his chair, slowly paging through the book.
He turns to the page marked “STUFF I’M GOING TO DO.” He
closes the book and sighs.
Carl looks at the Adventure Shrine, and the PAINTING of their
house by Paradise Falls.
He holds the Shady Oaks pamphlet.
Carl’s brows furrow. He looks up at the shrine, and crosses
his heart.
At that moment, he calls back his original pledge to Ellie: To take her Paradise Falls.
After all the twists and turns of his adventures in South America, Carl finally manages to bring the house to the spot atop Paradise Falls:
Carl surveys the room.
The ADVENTURE BOOK rests on a table near him. He opens it
and puts Ellie’s drawing back.
He looks through the pages, remembering the newspaper
clippings and old photographs, the dreams of young Ellie.
He turns to the page marked: STUFF I’M GOING TO DO.
Carl sighs. He managed to bring the house to the falls, but
Ellie never made it.
He closes the book. But as he does, Carl sees something he
hadn’t before.
The blank pages at the end are no longer blank.
A WEDDING PHOTO of the two of them.
On a picnic. Celebrating birthdays. Another and another…
photos of their ordinary life together, the ups and downs.
Carl’s face warms. Ellie lived the life she wanted: she saw
adventure in everyday life.
A photo of the two of them sitting side by side, together, in
their chairs. Beneath it, Ellie has written:
“THANKS FOR THE ADVENTURE — NOW GO HAVE A NEW ONE!
LOVE, ELLIE.”
Carl smiles.
He looks over to Ellie’s empty chair. On the arm is
Russell’s sash. Carl picks it up.
He looks to Ellie’s chair.
He crosses his heart.
It’s a sublime moment, the Pyrrhic victory of achieving the original goal — get the house (and by extension Ellie) to the top of Paradise Falls — transformed into a new goal: Carl to go have a new adventure. And so by crossing his heart here, Carl acknowledges that he fulfilled his pledge to Ellie and opens himself up to a new adventure, one which begins as soon as he opens the door to bring the sash to Russell.
Pixar are masters at using callbacks. In fact, there are at least a half-dozen of them in the first act of Up. A good learning experience would be to view the movie again and look for the many callbacks they use, verbal and non-verbal.
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