Adventure is out there! If there was one line to describe the philosophy of Pixar’s “Up”,
that would be it! Released in 2009, “Up” tells the story of an old man named Carl Fredricksen.
After the death of his beloved wife, he sets out to do what the couple had always dreamed of:
a trip to the beautiful Paradise Falls. As he embarks on the adventure, unlikely friends are
made, and foes are faced. With its heartfelt story and themes, “Up” became another instant classic in
Pixar’s long line of hits. Be honest with us, you cried like a baby during the first ten minutes of
this film! Like the best Pixar movies, the film features a great story, emotion, and
you guessed it, characters! But out of this wild cast of explorers and animals, which ones would
make the best help on an expedition, and which ones would you be better off leaving at home?
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge, and this is Up: Good to Evil
As per usual, we’ll be starting with the most good
character and working our way down to the evil. These characters are good.
In first place, we’re giving the Gold Medal of Good to Ellie! Ellie is an
interesting character in that she doesn’t really have an active role in the film.
She dies before the story begins, and her presence amounts to less than ten minutes of screentime.
We don’t even get any dialogue from her as an adult! Despite this, Ellie has the mark of a true
adventurer. Ellie is by far the nicest and most kindhearted person to be featured in the film.
She’s a very lively person, and she doesn’t let tragedy get the better of her.
While tragedies do occur in her life, such as the revelation that she cannot have kids,
they don’t keep her down for long. This is a stark contrast to her husband Carl,
who is consumed by grief after her death. While Carl and her never get to see their dream become
a reality, that being a trip to Paradise Falls, she doesn’t let that get to her, either. Instead,
she believes that her relationship with Carl was her real greatest adventure. This shows that she
also has the ability to look on the bright side of things. Ellie doesn’t have nearly the amount
of presence in the film as others on this list do, but the life she lived has a big impact
on the movie going forward. Her death is the catalyst for Carl’s trip to Paradise Falls, and
he often looks to her for wisdom even in death. By all accounts, Ellie appears to be the nicest
and most down to earth character in the whole movie, making her a perfect fit for the golden
medal. Not so bad for a character with less than ten minutes of screentime, wouldn’t you agree?
Next up, we’re giving the Silver Medal of Good to Russell! A Wilderness Explorer,
Russell loves adventure more than anything else. With his admiration for exploring,
you could almost look at him as the child that Carl and Ellie never had. He’s full of all the
energy and excitement they had as children for sure! Now, Russell has a lot of positive traits
going for him, and also a few negative ones. For one, Russell is extremely naive. Can you really
blame him when he’s only a kid? Carl manages to convince him that a snipe is a real creature, and
he truly believes at one point that he can use a bus pass in the middle of Paradise Falls. Russell
can be quite inept at times, too. He struggles with things like making a tent, and becomes the
deadweight of the group as well. He also has a knack for getting into trouble. He’s accidentally
present when Carl’s house takes off, and he gets abducted by Muntz in the climax of the film. He’s
the instigator for a lot of the trouble that he and Carl get into during the movie. Despite this,
Russell always means well, and he tries his best to remain in good spirits, which is why we still
rank him so high. He is extremely dedicated to those around him. He’s obsessed with collecting
his final badge, as he hopes it will earn the approval of his often neglectful father. He also
becomes great friends with not only Carl, but also the many other characters the two encounter on
their adventure. As Russell himself puts it, “an explorer is friend to all, be it plant or fish or
tiny mole”! While he is somewhat incompetent during the movie, he becomes far-more self
reliant as the film progresses. He even manages to take out the fighters that attack him! By the
end of the movie, he has become every bit of the adventurer he aspired to be when we first met him.
Overall, Russell is an excellent explorer, and easily earns the badge that is our second place!
Getting the Bronze Medal of Good is the main protagonist himself,
Carl! As we meet him in the present day, Carl is a typical crotchety old man. He’s closed himself
off from others since the death of his wife, and spends most of his time within his home.
As he embarks on his trip to Paradise Falls, he makes little effort to break out of his shell.
He sees his new traveling buddies like Russell as little more than nuisances, and he just wants them
to leave him alone. There are even a few moments where he tries to get rid of them, especially
the bird Kevin. He is particularly devoted to keeping his house safe, as it is all that remains
of Ellie. This devotion becomes a weakness in some ways, however. When a construction
worker’s vehicle collides with the home's mailbox, Carl attacks him. Later in the movie,
Muntz sets fire to the house, causing Carl to try and save everything in it. Both these actions lead
to some disastrous consequences, whether it be an encounter with the police after the former,
or the loss of Kevin in the latter. Thankfully, as the story progresses, Carl starts to become more
and more his own person. He learns to live his own life, and to move on from the death of Ellie.
This arc is best shown when he begins getting rid of valuable items in his house, and all
so he can save Russell. Though they are at odds throughout much of the film, Carl ends up becoming
truly great friends with Russell, making him the parental figure Russell never really had. Not only
does he save him from Muntz, but he also earns him the elusive badge Russell has been after.
He becomes very protective of him, especially during the movie's climactic action set piece.
He also grows to love Dug and Kevin, too. In particular, he frees Kevin from the clutches
of Muntz, as he knows the explorer will not be kind to the mysterious bird. Mr. Fredricksen is
also the one responsible for ending Muntz’ schemes once and for all, saving future explorers from his
wrath in the process. While Carl does spend a large part of the movie stuck in the past
and being cranky, he ultimately grows into the character he was always meant to be. That is,
of course, a free spirited man yearning for new adventures to partake in. Carl might be a bit of
a stick in the mud, but his arc of moving forward more than earns him this third spot on our list!
Finishing off the good tier, we have the breakout star of the movie, Dug! A member of Charles Muntz’
dog pack, Dug is a golden retriever outfitted with a voice device collar. That, however, is where the
similarities end with his canine brethren. Dug is the runt of the pack. This is seen easily in his
name, which is not part of the Greek alphabet like the other dogs. While the other dogs are focused
on their objectives and pleasing their master, Dug is too busy being a dimwit. He’s easily confused,
and his mind tends to trail off. While any other dog in the pack would quickly
get the mysterious Kevin away from Carl and Russell and into the hands of their master,
Dug does the exact opposite. Dug ends up bonding with the group, and becoming friends with them.
His foolishness even has the unintended outcome of Muntz coming for Carl, showing that his lack
of intelligence can come back to hurt everyone around him. Dug is definitely not the smartest
of the animals featured in this movie, but he’s undoubtedly the most loyal. He takes an instant
liking to Carl and Russell, and after being mistreated by the rest of the pack, comes to
the realization that Carl is his true master. Dug will even get violent when Carl is in trouble,
like when he bit Muntz when he was under attack. Dug can also be a bit of a problem-solver,
managing to outsmart Alpha, the leader of the pack, during a confrontation with him. He manages
to place the much feared “cone of shame” onto Alpha. This not only results in the other dogs
laughing at Alpha in a similar manner to how they would at Dug, but also their realization that Dug
is a far better authority figure than Alpha. This effectively makes Dug the new Alpha, and while we
don’t see much of him in his new leadership role, we can only assume he’s a far better leader than
Alpha ever was! In conclusion, Dug might not have the biggest brain, but he does have a pretty big
heart. If there was ever an animated dog to be considered “man’s best friend”, Dug would be it!
That’s it for the good tier! Now, it’s time to shed some light on those
characters who are neither good nor evil. This is the Grey Area.
We only have one character in this tier, and who else could it be other than Kevin? A bird of an
unknown species, Kevin plays a pretty important role in the movie. Because of her rarity, Charles
Muntz has made it his mission to capture her, and he’s devoted many years of his life to do so.
Kevin has managed to evade her for all this time, but her encounter with Carl and friends
very nearly results in her capture. In terms of characterization, Kevin is all over the place.
Honestly, can you really expect anything more from a character that just squeaks and squawks?
Kevin can definitely be friendly when she feels it. She displays several motherly traits when
around Russell. She also, logically, acts this way around her own babies, whom she’ll risk life and
limb to keep safe. While she can definitely be nice, she isn’t without her mean moments. Kevin
can get very hostile at times. She attacked Dug during one scene, and screeched right in Carl’s
face during their first meeting. Similarly to Dug before her, Kevin is also not exactly the sharpest
tool in the shed. She’ll try to eat anything she can get her beak on, whether it be Carl’s cane,
the balloons attached to the house, or even chocolate. Maybe somebody should warn her
that chocolate is actually harmful to birds? As you can see, Kevin is quite the wild card in the
cast of “Up”. She’ll spend one moment protecting you, and the next eating everything you own!
With a personality like that, how could we not give her this sole spot in the grey area?
With that out of the way, we move towards the characters you wouldn’t want to cross.
These characters are evil.
First up, we’re giving the Bronze Medal of Evil to not just one foe, but two! With that taken
into account, it should come as no surprise that Beta and Gamma are in this spot on the list! The
lieutenants of Muntz’ dog pack, Beta and Gamma are a rottweiler and bulldog duo respectively.
Out of all the dogs in the pack, these two are only behind their leader Alpha and the lovable
Dug in terms of screentime. Beta and Gamma are definitely not as evil as the next two characters
on the list, but they do enough to make them deserving of this spot. Throughout the film,
they make several attempts to take out Carl, Russell, and everyone else who stands in Muntz’
way. They chase after Russell and Dug when Carl starts to realize Muntz’ true intentions,
and they even pilot biplanes in an attempt to knock them out of the sky.
While they do some dastardly deeds, there are two things that hold them back on this list.
Besides just not being as evil as the others, they are a lot more inept than the following
two characters. While piloting the planes, all it takes is for Russell
to shout “squirrel” for them to lose focus, immediately dropping them out of the battle.
The second reason they are here is because they do end up becoming good. While we don’t get to
explore them much after turning a new leaf, we still feel it’s enough to prevent them from being
lower on the list. Beta and Gamma aren’t the most dangerous dogs you’ll ever encounter, but these
are definitely two to look out for! Unless you’re around a bunch of squirrels, that is!
The Bronze Medal of Evil is going to the leader of the pack,
Alpha! A Doberman Pinscher, Alpha is easily the most intimidating of the dogs that take after
Muntz. That is, if you only judge him from his appearance, however. Alpha may lead his pack,
but he often lacks the ability to be taken seriously. That is all the result of his
voice collar, which has a malfunction that causes him to sound like a chipmunk.
While the other dogs will always listen to him, they aren’t above laughing at him and
his voice. This is enough to cost him the golden medal, but that isn’t the only hindrance. He,
like the other dogs in the pack, also has a change of heart at the end of the movie.
Like the others, it doesn’t offer enough characterization to get him out of the evil tier,
but we do feel like it is worth mentioning. Still, Alpha has enough to get him the bronze.
He is far more aggressive than any of the other dogs, leading him to get far more violent when
around characters like Russell than the other dogs would. He’s also the leader of all the dogs,
which makes him a fitting follow-up for the recipients of our last medal,
Gamma and Beta. And since he’s in this spot, his master must not be far behind....
Earning the Gold Medal of Evil is the main antagonist of the film,
Charles Muntz! In his younger years, Muntz was a renowned explorer, loved by fans of all ages.
That all changed after he found the bones of a bird in South America. The scientific community
turned their back on Muntz, seeing the bones as nothing more than a fake. This reaction
galvanized Charles to find an alive bird of that same species, a mission he is still on at the
time the movie takes place. When Carl and Russell finally meet him, they learn he is nothing like
the man Carl admired as a child. Muntz in this movie can be seen as the foil to Carl. Like Carl,
he is obsessed with trying to make this grand dream he has had in his head for years a reality.
Both characters are also cranky shut ins, shells of their former adventurous selves.
The characters begin to splinter off, however, when one makes a choice, and the other doesn’t.
Carl begins to move past his wife’s passing, while Muntz would rather remain trying to recapture
the fame and glory of his youth. As the foil to a character who we placed on the good tier, it only
makes sense that Muntz gets a spot on the evil tier. As a villain, he is the one that all the
others follow the orders of. It is also implied in the film that he has killed explorers in the past,
making him the only character on the list that we know has actually killed anyone.
If that doesn’t get him this spot, we don’t know what else would! He’s incredibly obsessed
with capturing this bird, to the point where he doesn’t even care whether he gets it alive or
dead. He also has no problem dispatching anybody who tries to get in his way of achieving his goal,
whether it be Carl or Russell. With his cruel personality and actions, it makes the most sense
for us to give Charles Muntz the dubious honor of being the most evil character on the list!
Before we end things, how about we reward a few characters with the medals that fit them best?
The Darwin Medal goes to everybody’s favorite canine,
Dug! He may have a big heart, but a big brain he does not!
The Pride Medal goes to the villain of the movie,
Charles Muntz! His refusal to move past his glory days more than earns him this one!
We’re giving out the Wrath Medal to Alpha! Though he doesn’t have the most intimidating voice,
he more than makes up for it in terms of aggressiveness!
Lastly, we’re giving the Gluttony Medal to Kevin! If you are willing to eat balloons,
is there really any other medal you could get?
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking. And tell us what we should
cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist,
where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons,
shows, and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked.