In further proof of the emotional resonance and technical mastery of Pixar’s “Up,” a building company in Utah has constructed a replica of Carl and Ellie’s home from the 2009 movie. The Salt Lake Tribune has the full story.
As Blair Bangerter of Bangerter Homes watched “Up” one night with his family, he was struck by the “incredible lengths the masters at Disney/Pixar had gone to in creating such a wonderfully presented house and felt like a true to life version could be attempted,” according to a Bangerter Homes press release quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Salt Lake City, UT, has the longest running and one of the largest parade of homes in the country. The Bangerters thought it fitting to recreate the “Up” house for this year’s 65th anniversary of the parade.
The recreation was made to stunning detail. Identical furniture from the film graces the house’s living room, arranged in the same spots as in the movie. Mantle piece decorations are exact as well.
The house’s designers watched the film over and over, making sure that any glimpse of any room seen in the movie was brought perfectly to life. That includes the eclectic pastel colorings of the outdoor paint job and the mail box with Carl and Ellie’s hand prints. Bangerter Homes did their best to fill in the spaces we don’t see of the house in the movie with designs true to the movie’s spirit and time period.
One would expect that such a stunt house, albeit one made with a lot of care and attention to detail, would draw some extra interest in this year’s Salt Lake Parade of Homes. Indeed, one family from suburban Salt Lake attended just for the “Up” house: “”We saw the ads in the paper for it and it piqued our interest, so we decided to do the Salt Lake Parade [of homes] this year,” said the family to the Salt Lake Tribune. The family might not have made the 45-minute drive into the city for the parade this year if not for the “Up” attraction.
What’s more unexpected, and what testifies to how much “Up’s” story resonates with audiences, is how many people came from even farther away just to see the house. Bangerter Homes reports that people drove from Arizona and California to see it, and the story of the home has hit newsstands worldwide.
The Salt Lake City Parade of Homes ends on August 14, so if any Disney/Pixar fans are lucky enough to have the means to travel to Utah’s capital, they’ll need to do so by then to get a tour of the house. The house is up for sale and predictably it already has some interested buyers.
The rest of us who can’t make it to tour the house in person can view a video walkthrough by the Salt Lake Tribune on YouTube here.
Related Articles:
Pushing “Up” into New Territory
Decorating Tips From Our Parade of Homes Tour
Art Show Coming to Downtown Disney