Pixar Rocks

Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.



With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show.htm

Awkwardness.

The Proposal was really good, you guys. Go see it!
But there was an awkward situation right after...
I went to the restroom and after I washed my hands, I waited for my sister at the sinks. Then this girl I knew from high school band came up to wash my hands and I was like omg hi! And I should've noticed that something was up because she was shyer than usual. I figured it was because she hadn't seen me in a while. I asked her how she was doing and she said horrible and I was like oh. Then I said, "Well, at least schools over," and she gave the most unenthusiastic 'yay' I've ever heard. She then told me that her bf had dumped her the day before and I was all, Oh, I'm sorry. Then my brain started working. If she was at the movies, she wouldn't have gone by herself and there's only one other person she was close to besides her ex...that person was [b]my[/b] ex, who I broke up with a couple days ago. They used to date, so I figured. Then she told me that she was feeling sad, so she and my ex went to see a movie. I then knew that he'd be standing outside the restroom leaning against this pillar thing directly in front of the door waiting for her. You see, my sister didn't know that I'd broken up with him since I hadn't really told anyone and she didn't know. She started to walk toward him and I pushed her toward the exit in a hurried fashion. Looking back, I don't know why I rushed. I should've played it cool. I'm the one who dumped him and he's the one who was complaining because I broke his heart and yadda yadda. Oh well.

Ludo videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ve1qIFtFJY&fmt=18

I AM GOING TO SEE THIS MOVIE THE DAY IT COMES OUT.

I like the shot of Johnny smirking in the theater.

I love the scene where Johnny and Christian are talking in the prison!

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!

Haha.

"Baby. It's not suffering. You make it sound like I'm gonna lock you in a room and have non-stop Jonas playing."

I love my boyfriend. <3

Dates.

Monday, November 12, 2007 - Wednesday, February 18, 2009
1 year, 3 months, 7 days
464 days total

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I guess it's being extended.

Fuck this.

I want to go home.

I really wish there weren't this much money involved.

=/

Sigh.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Yeah? Sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure.” But not as much as I’d like you to think. I’m not sure why I’m feeling like this at the moment. Maybe it’s the pressure on me due to the fact that it’s currently 12:24 in the morning and I still haven’t really started my homework. Maybe it’s the fact that I miss you. Maybe it’s that I really wish I were back in California, back home. Or maybe it’s because I’m not sure if I really love you, at least enough for us to last much longer.

I certainly hope that we last, but my track record begs to differ. Although it is certainly quite a feat that we’ve lasted this long. A miracle, even.

I just don’t want either of us to get hurt…

Although I’m not sure who I’m more concerned about.

“Okay.”

“=]”

“:)”

“<3” You have no idea how much that smiley changed my mood just now. I think I’m really just stressed out and can’t wait to be out of New York so I can get on with achieving my real goals already.