I took Scottie to his first movie in a theater this afternoon.
The film was "Up" by Pixar.
Pixar has never disappointed me before, and with "Up", the bar has been raised even higher, and I didn't think it was possible to raise the bar higher.
"Up", true to Pixar's tradition of making untraditional films, is as different as you can get from the Disney animated classics. The main character is a feeble and bitter old man who gets around with a walker. His sidekick is a boy whose father abandoned him after he remarried. The story is about death and grief, love lost and found. It's some pretty heavy stuff for an animated feature. No wonder it's only the second Pixar film that garnered a PG rating.
Despite the grim premise and an unlikely hero, the film promises to take your heart and soul to new heights (pun intended). It's heart wrenching, and I spent half of the time sobbing in the theater.
As for Scottie's experience, it went as well as I expected. There were no less than six previews, which took more than half an hour. Even though the movie was only about 96 minutes, he lasted for an hour and half. I was able to distract him with popcorns, but that only lasted through the first hour of the movie. We went outside to the lobby for about ten minutes, during which he spent driving a 18-wheeler (a video game in the lobby). I was able to coax him back into the dark theater by bribing him with popcorns.
We were able to finish the movie together. He enjoyed the experience, but I am not sure how much of the story he actually understood. He's only 22-months today, so he didn't have to pay for a ticket anyway.
Toy Story 3 trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/toystory3/
You might have heard of this: Disney is going back to it's roots, old school style, they are releasing in theaters the first in a long time, hand drawn animated movie! It's called "The Princess and the Frog". And who said traditional animation was dead....Nope, not here.
The Princess and the Frog trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/princessandthefrog/
GOD DAMN THAT FILM WAS AWESOME.
He woke up this morning and thanked me for taking him to the movie. It's so nice.